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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
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652

 

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.


CST-100 name to be unveiled on Friday

The competition heats up: Boeing has announced that it will reveal the name of its CST-100 manned capsule on Friday.

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

  • Nick

    I have enjoyed listening to Bob Zimmerman on The John Batchelor Show for some time now and decided to visit the web site. I was even deciding between a one time donation and a subscription. Then I saw the first article was a tirade on the VA. That was a total turn off. Sorry, but I get enough politics on Fox and other channels. What does that article have to do with space?
    As of now I’ll just stick to the occasional enjoyable updates on the radio and skip the political side show on behindtheblack web site. Too bad. I was looking forward to it.

  • I mostly post about science and space, but if I see something that I think is important, than I will write and post about it. If that offends you, then fine, it is better you avoid what I have to say.

    However, I am always honest and forthright, and base my comments on facts, not opinions. I would think that you would find that a refreshing change from the silliness on television and cable.

    Moreover, my post on the VA was not a “tirade” as you put it, but a straightforward description of a recent inspector general report on the corruption at the VA. Do the facts upset you so much you want to avoid them?

    Anyway, I make no apologies for my effort here. I just find it sad that so many Americans want to run away and hide.

  • mpthompson

    Keep it up Robert, I enjoy the mix you provide.

  • Jetjockey

    Dittos, mpthompson!!! I too love the mix! I rarely miss all 4 hours of the JBS thanks to the podcasts. Look forward to your segment.

    I lived in Tucson and worked for Gates-Learjet back in the early 80’s. Lived on Sarnoff St. everything east of us was open desert. My how times have changed!

  • Steve

    Agree, I also enjoy the mix and was brought here by the John Batchelor show segments. I stayed (and have now subscribed) because of the content here, especially the common sense posts and comments (something in short supply these days….)

    And for the OP: Space IS politics, and much of politics affect space, the two cannot be separated.

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