April 5, 2023 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
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 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
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 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
I’m sure there’s an obvious answer I’m overlooking, but how does Rocket Lab – an American company – get permission to launch from New Zealand? Are they different from SpaceX because of the size of the rocket? Is it because SpaceX is a defense contractor?
Hi Gary,
Good question. Rocket Lab was founded and incorporated in New Zealand first. The company got flack because they took USAF contracts, so they incorporated also in the U.S.A.
I know what you are thinking: ITAR. There is no ITAR in N.Z. vs. U.S.A. and Rocket Lab was coming in with the technology. If it was the other way around, there would be no way in hell to go from U.S.A. to N.Z. with rocket technology.
Thanks, Jay. There was an aside about Rocket Lab during the podcast which stirred by near dormant brain cells.! :)
This is not true. Rocket Lab is required to have — and gets — an export license for every rocket-related part, drawing, spec, or engineering analysis it sends from the USA to New Zealand or allows a New Zealand national to have access to, even if both are located in the United States. It doesn’t matter where the technology or even the part itself originated. If a part designed and built in New Zealand is sent to the USA and, say, fails its receiving inspection, an export license is required to send the part back to New Zealand.
Gary‘s question seems to be related to the suggestion that SpaceX should move out of the U.S. to avoid the delays that are imposed by the FAA and other government agencies. There is no reason why SpaceX cannot launch from other countries, such as Virgin Orbit launching from the U.K., which is why SpaceX has made the suggestion that it may enter the point to point market (e.g. launches between New York and Tokyo, etc.). U.S. rocket and satellite companies can launch outside the U.S., but they remain subject to U.S. laws and regulations, including ITAR limitations, as mkent noted.
When Rocket Lab chose to incorporate in the U.S., it took on the onus that the U.S. would impose upon it with its laws, regulations, and ITAR limitations. U.S. companies cannot avoid these just because they launch outside the country. Rocket Lab believed that the benefits of incorporating in the U.S. outweighed the additional burden.
However, as Virgin Orbit learned the hard way, launching outside the U.S. means that local laws, regulations, and limitations apply as well. Once again, Virgin Orbit had believed that the benefits of demonstrating that they could also launch from the U.K. outweighed the additional burden, but they turned out to be terminally wrong. The U.K. is not as eager to become a spacefaring nation as they had let on, and the Virgin group paid a terrible price.
Because the U.S. considers SpaceX’s technology to be American, similar to Russia and China considering their technologies to be theirs, SpaceX cannot just move out of the U.S. and take its technology with it.