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Readers!

 

The time has come for my annual short pre-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.

 

Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four 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.

 

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Caving in Nevada

I finally have an hour free here in Nevada.

For the past three days we have been intensely hiking up mountains over a vast area of Nevada. The goal has been to locate and map caves for the Forest Service in some of the most remote areas of the state. So far we have focused on mapping known caves, putting the possible discoveries aside for later work.

Jason Knight and Anthony Smith

The hiking has been spectacular, though very exhausting. For example, one cave was located only about 3,500 feet from where we parked our cars. The problem was that it also was about 1,800 feet above us in elevation. Thus, we found ourselves going up hill at probably the steepest angle for any hike I have ever done. Plus, the cave was located at about 8.600 elevation, so you were doing this hiking at high elevation with its thin atmosphere. To top it off, much of the hike was up a scree slope, made up of loose pebbles and rocks that would slide down one foot for every foot you climbed. The only way to manage it was to focus on one step at a time, and take many rests.

To put it mildly, it was a slow trip, taking about two and a half hours just to reach the cave entrance.

The cave at the top was worth it, however. After a rappelling down a 40 foot pit, we entered a 600 foot long cave with many formations. The register in the cave showed that the last cavers to visit this remote place had been there in 2009, with the previous visitors from 2002.

Other caves were less challenging to reach, but also less interesting. In the picture on the right Jason Knight (with Anthony Smith to the left) is about to poke his head into a crack that ended up only going about two body lengths. We had been more hopeful the cave would go farther, but alas, that is how things go sometimes.

I’ll have more to say after I get back. Right now I have to go to down for breakfast before heading out again.

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

2 comments

  • Tim

    And you used to complain about the steps at the Twelfth! Looks like fun!

  • Hi Tim,

    I don’t remember complaining about the steps at the Twelfth. What I remember was complaining about was the fact that it seemed to rain almost every Wednesday night, and that in the months of December, January, and February my gun would often not work because it was too damn cold! :)

    Say hi to all at the range. Both Diane and I miss you all.

    Bob

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