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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five ways of doing so:

 

1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.

 

2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it to
 
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.


Birthday bleg

Behind the Black officially premiered July 1, 2010, and has been up and running now for twenty months. I make it a point to post often and regularly on issues of space, science, technology, politics, and history, subjects that interest me personally. Except for one short period a year ago when family matters kept me away from the computer for several days, I have managed to update the webpage frequently every day during that entire time.

Because of this, traffic to the site has steadily grown. For this I thank you, my readers, especially those who love to add their own two cents to the webpage in the comments. While I certainly do not agree with all those who comment, I very much appreciate the open and intelligent nature of the discussion.

During that time I have resisted begging for contributions. Though I added a tip jar link to the webpage about three months ago (located in the right column below the search box), I have made very little note of it because shilling for dollars seems crass, and I feel that if I am doing a good job people will naturally look for it in order to donate to the webpage to keep it going.

However, today is my birthday, so I feel I have the right to do some self-promotion. Moreover, for the past fifteen years I have made my living as a freelance science writer. The business, however, is changing, and I am finding that I am becoming increasingly reliant on the income I make from at my own website over that earned by selling articles to magazines.

Thus, if you are a regular reader of Behind the Black, please consider giving the website a donation, no matter how small. Not only would I appreciate it greatly, it will help make it possible for this website to continue and grow.

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 or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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

9 comments

  • Kelly Starks

    I was honestly going to subscribe – you grovel well, and it is your birthday- and found my paypal accounts locked now that I pulled my checking account from it.
    ;/

    Not my best weekend.

  • JGL

    Dear Mr. Zimmerman,

    Happy Birthday.

    When will you look into and do a story on Andrea Rossi’s E-cat energy catalyser (L.E.N.R.) ?

    Very interesting technology and I beleive he has a device under U.L. application and also an application with the patent office.

  • Mr. Zimmerman thank you very much for your work on this site! By stopping by here once a day I am alerted to many intersting things I would have missed otherwise . I can’t afford to donate at the moment but I will say I often post links to your site elsewhere and tell my friends and family about you . one of these days I’m going to get a real job …. i’m so tired of parking cars . and happy birthday!

  • holy smokes i just read the cold-fusion wikipedia article . it is kinda long

  • jwing

    From one transplanted New Yorker to another, I will be donating to your site. I don’t normally donate to websites but honestly, your site is one of the most infomative, eclectic non-news sites I’ve experienced. I most enjoy the science angle. Please don’t change it to a more current news site as I believe this is its greatest appeal. Hope Arizona is treaing yo well…and don’t forget to visit the Black Hills of South Dakota as we have some excellent caves (Wind Cave and Jewel Cave). If you visit Rapid City, don’t hesitate to email us. We’d love to meet you at a local public house on us. Jim

  • Mike

    Happy Birthday Bob! I discovered you and your website listening to The John Batchelor show, and find both your interviews and site to be informative and interesting. Please keep up the excellent work.

  • Kelly Starks

    Could have sworn I included a happy Birthday wish! :(

    Hope you had one!!

  • Happy Birthday Bob! Spoke with you a few months ago on The Space Show. Will try to make a donation soon. That reminds me; gotta go check PayPal. Expecting some money myself :-)

  • Do you have an address, perhaps a PO box to which I can send a check? Keep up the good work.

    -David

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