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Readers!

 

The time has come for my annual short Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, the support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

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January 14, 2022 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

Embedded below the fold in two parts.

To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, well worth your time, go here.

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

4 comments

  • BtB’s Original Mark

    Another solid week for the John Batchelor Show including Mr. Z.’ contributions. In addition to what Bob covers here on BtB, I’ve listened to other guests discuss Kazakhstan; Ukraine / Russia / NATO; China; and the Energy Crisis in Europe.
    Many of these stories have an indirect effect on space exploration.
    For example, for Kazakhstan, one of Russia’s spaceports is located in Baikonur, Kazakhstan. About two months ago Bob covered the story of the UAE providing funding towards a joint project with Russia & Kazakhstan to upgrade the oldest Soyuz launchpad at Baikonur. So now you know that at least some of your additional gasoline expenses are going towards space launches in Kazakhstan:)
    In regards to Ukraine, as Bob has reported on Jan 1, if tensions between the US & Russia escalate high enough over the Ukraine crisis, this would most likely affect the US Russian joint operation of the ISS.
    Moving on to the subject of China, Gordon G Chang is one of Batchelor’s China Experts. There are numerous economic, military, and political developments in China that will have some type of effect on the Chinese Space Program.
    This goes to show that BtB Space stories just don’t exist in isolation, but are very much connected to Geopolitics, History, and the current Global Economic trends.

  • Phil Adair

    Thank you Robert for sharing your insight and perspectives on such a variety of subjects. I look forward each week to hearing you on John Bachelor’s podcast and reading your articles on Behind the Black. I too grew up watching our country’s space programs develop over the years and so appreciate having you keep us all up to date as space programs evolve from government run to commercial space. These are truly exciting times. Thank you again, you’re doing the Lord’s work!

  • Questioner

    A jump to another topic: I am happy for Dr. Kipping, who was looking for exomoons for so long without success that it now seems to have worked!

    We Discovered a New Exomoon Candidate!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Blej3YvveCI

  • BtB’s Original Mark

    Questioner – thanks for that link.
    From the exomoon wiki page – “For extrasolar giant planets orbiting within their stellar habitable zone, there is a prospect a terrestrial planet-sized satellite may be capable of supporting life.”

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