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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
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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.


Blue Origin update on New Shepard and New Glenn

Capitalism in space: Blue Origin officials today provided an update on both its suborbital New Shepard spacecraft as well as its New Glenn orbital rocket.

First, the company’s CEO, Bob Smith, was quoted as saying that New Shepard would fly three more flights unmanned prior to its first manned flight, and that manned flight will occur before the end of this year.

Smith has made similar promises in the past, so if you are skeptical it is entirely understandable. They have already flown their second New Shepard craft six times successfully. It is unclear if they are they going with a new craft for these manned flights, or using this older test vehicle.

Second, the company released two short public relations videos touting the completion of the first fairing for their orbital New Glenn rocket. In addition, they still expect production of that rocket’s BE-4 engine to begin this year, with a first maiden flight next year.

That predicted launch date still fits the revamped schedule they announced back in October 2018, which suggests they have not experienced any major issues. The next year however will tell the tale.

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

5 comments

  • Ray Van Dune

    The obvious question is why so slow? Looks like SpaceX is going to put humans in orbit before BO even gives a few of them an ultimate roller-coaster ride! And SpaceX is probably going to beat presumptive aerospace leaders Boeing and Lockheed putting humans into orbit, too.

    Is it because BO is limited by Bezos’ wealth, while SpaceX is playing with (future) StarLink cash flow? But isn’t the BE-4 engine selected for the new ULA Vulcan? Is that not a sufficient / secure enough / timely-enough revenue stream? Is BE-4 holding up Vulcan, or is Vulcan holding up demand for BE-4?

    Maybe the question is more properly not why BO, Boeing and Lockheed are so slow, but how is SpaceX so fast… and is it too fast?!

  • V-Man

    They have a different definition of “complete” than I do. I see no acoustic protection, no latches, no mounting lugs of any kind. And maybe I’ve been spoiled by SpaceX, but just thinking that they are going to throw this away… Ugh.

    (Also, why start with the fairing? Shouldn’t they have a working booster first?)

  • Edward

    From the article: “The Jeff Bezos-backed rocket company pumped the brakes on its test flight program last year

    It would have been nice for them to tell us why Blue Origin slowed down last year.

    Meanwhile, over the past two years they have had a year-for-year schedule slip on New Shepard, which is a bad sign. A project that is not converging toward completion is a project in trouble.

  • Wodun

    Slightly OT, here is a video tour of ULA with Bruno thanks to smarter everyday. Some good bits of info about Vulcan. There is a part 2 and a pad tour if you search the channel.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=o0fG_lnVhHw

  • Edward

    wodun,
    Thank you for the link. I also liked part 2 and the visit to the pad.

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