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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:

 

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China successfully launches three astronauts to its space station

Launch of Shenzhou

The new colonial movement: China today successfully used its Long March 2F rocket to place three astronauts into orbit to begin a six month mission to that country’s new space station.

The image to the right is a screen capture from the live stream, mere seconds after launch.

It appeared to me that the rocket’s first stage might have had grid fins to control its reentry, but I am not certain. Either way both it and the four strap-on boosters will crash in China.

The Shenzhou capsule will dock with the station in a few hours.

The leaders in the 2021 launch race:

36 China
23 SpaceX
17 Russia
4 Northrop Grumman

China has now moved ahead of the U.S. in the national rankings, 36 to 35.

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

6 comments

  • Jay

    Anyone notice during the liftoff all those panels flying off? I hope those were not the grid fins!

  • Mark

    Since China has now moved ahead of the US 36 launches to 35, I am going to repeat my post from earlier today:
    If you dug deep into the bowels of the CCP, I bet you would find a ‘Department of National Pride’. This department probably churns out a few high profile policy papers for the Communist stalwarts on the 205 person Central Committee.
    One policy of national pride that was on display last summer was the race for gold medals at the Olympics. The US just edged out China in gold medals 39 to 38, and it could have gone either way.
    Bob’s Post tells us that the U.S. and China are now tied at 35 successful launches.
    I’m betting that the Chinese already have a plan for 2021 to have the most launches by the end of the year. Along with their Martian rover (based on theft of design & IP of US past rovers), Chinese Space accomplishments in 2021 should provide quite a propaganda victory that the Communists can use to help the world forget about that biological weapon unleashed against the world in 2019.

  • Mark: You might want to take a gander at my last annual launch report, posted at the start of this year. It will give you some context on what is happening now.

  • Jeff Wright

    They mean business…

  • James Street

    “That’s no moon. It’s a godless commie space station.”

  • Mark

    That’s a good assignment from Bob, and I will add it to my weekend reading list.
    Just curious – Is 2,157 words your longest post? :)

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