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Readers!

 

It is now July, time once again to celebrate the start of this webpage in 2010 with my annual July fund-raising campaign.

 

This year I celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black. During that time I have done more than 33,000 posts, mostly covering the global space industry and the related planetary and astronomical science that comes from it. Along the way I have also felt compelled as a free American citizen to regularly post my thoughts on the politics and culture of the time, partly because I think it is important for free Americans to do so, and partly because those politics and that culture have a direct impact on the future of our civilization and its on-going efforts to explore and eventually colonize the solar system.

 

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Boeing to do second unmanned test flight of Starliner

Capitalism in space: Boeing officials said yesterday that they now plan a second unmanned demo mission to ISS of their Starliner manned capsule in order to make sure they have cleared up all the issues that plagued the first unmanned flight in December.

The company on Monday confirmed a report in the Washington Post that it will fly a second uncrewed demonstration mission — which Boeing calls an Orbital Flight Test — before astronauts ride a Starliner into orbit.

“We have chosen to refly our Orbital Flight Test to demonstrate the quality of the Starliner system,” Boeing said in a statement Monay. “Flying another uncrewed flight will allow us to complete all flight test objectives and evaluate the performance of the second Starliner vehicle at no cost to the taxpayer. We will then proceed to the tremendous responsibility and privilege of flying astronauts to the International Space Station.”

Right now they are aiming for an October/November launch date.

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

5 comments

  • Richard M

    Should have a been a no-brainer, obviously.

  • sippin_bourbon

    I like this decision. I think they realize they need to take a few extra steps to inspire the proper confidence in their product.

  • Captain Emeritus

    Good idea.
    Now, get rid of those Russian motors and the bottle rocket boosters.

  • Rose

    Captain Emeritus, Uncle Tony (with help from cousin Jeff) is working hard to grant your first wish, but is doubling down on your second concern. The September (though the Wuhan bat plague may postpone it as it has with other Space Force launches) launch of NROL-101 will be the debut use of the GEM-63 on the Atlas V, in advance of the GEM-63XL’s use on the Vulcan.

  • Richard M

    Let’s not lose sight of the fact that the Atlas V performed flawlessly (as it always does) on the test flight. It was Boeing’s Starliner that was the trainwreck.

    I’m also not a fan of Vulcan’s expendability or use of undank (however upgraded) solids. But I have to say, the new stats on the Centaur V upper stage are just amazing. It’s a beast — lots of prop, decent thrust, and incredible longevity. A fair bit of what was supposed to be in ACES but not in Centaur V looks like it may now be included in the base Centaur V –hydrolox thrusters pulling from the main tanks for single fluid operation with no hypergols, and a multi-month mission kit capability. Seems it’s just a refueling port shy of being a truly incredible space tug.

    Even if Vulcan can’t stay competitive enough to survive past the late 2020’s, Centaur V could end up having a highly productive life as an ACES tug into the 2030’s and beyond.

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