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The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

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A big sideways slip on Mars

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter today released an image of a really spectacular transform fault on Mars, a spot where the ground cracked and two sections moved sideways to each other. In this case, the sideways movement was about 300 feet. The image is posted below the fold.

Compare that with the Japanese magnitude 9 earthquake on March 11, which only shifted the seabed sideways 165 feet while raising it 33 feet. The quake that moved these two pieces of Martian bedrock sideways must have been quite a ride.

Martian fault, close up

Some additional comparisons: The fault is located in Ius Chasma, a side canyon at the western end of Valles Marineris. Valles Marineris is the largest canyon in the solar system, and would completely cover the United States if you put it on Earth. Ius Chasma is only a small side canyon estimated to be about 550 miles long and about 5 to 6 miles deep. Yet, that makes it five times deeper than the Grand Canyon and twice as long.

The image below shows the overall region where the fault is located. Though the fault lines up with the northwest-to-southeast ridge to the southeast, there is no obvious evidence of faulting along or beyond the ridge (shown more clearly in the full uncropped image). A close look at the uncropped wide image also shows more faulting to the west on the same plateau, but none nearby below or above the plateau. This suggests that even though the ground shifted a great deal to produce these particular faults, it probably did it in a somewhat localized manner.

There are many other faults visible in the wider image, suggesting also that there were multiple events that shook the ground.

However, though it seems safe to assume an earthquake caused these faults, scientists really don’t know at this point. We have never placed seismographs on the Martian surface, so we really have a limited understanding of its innards.

Wide image of Martian fault

Genesis cover

On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.

 

The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.


The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
 

"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News

One comment

  • hmm no siesmos on mars yet , we should have done that a long time ago , or included something in the rovers , i guess maybe we assumed they wouldn’t find anything interesting? . awesome post Ty!

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