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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.

 

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July 18, 2024 Quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay. This post is also an open thread. I welcome my readers to post any comments or additional links relating to any space issues, even if unrelated to the links below.

 

 

 

 

  • Today in 1966 John Young and Michael Collins launched on Gemini 10
  • This mission completed the first entirely successful docking, followed by a rendezvous with a second target spacecraft. Gemini 8 had docked but had to abort shortly thereafter due to out-of-control thruster, and Gemini 9 couldn’t dock because the shroud did not release properly from the target spacecraft.

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

3 comments

  • David Eastman

    In that Rocket Lab photo, I count nine first stage and 6 second stage parts. It looks like in the back of the photo they have components for two complete rockets lined up for integration. Lots of work going on in that not very large production floor.

    From the way those Blue Origin legs kind of flapped down and then stiffened during the last stage of their deployment, it looks like they’ve made them relatively complex. Good for getting them into a small spot for stowage out of the air stream, but I bet it comes back to bite them on reliability and/or speed of re-use.

  • pzatchok

    Those legs do look overly complex and I can not see a point of shock absorbing in the design.

    But I was thinking that those big covers could double as a form of guidance for the craft. Sort of like the grid fins on the Falcon 9.

    It would take individual control of each leg but it might save on engine tilt/gimbaling.

  • sippin bourbon

    It takes 8 to 9 seconds to get them deployed. Falcon looks like 4 to 5.

    It may not seem important, but Falcon only deploys them in the final few hundred feet.

    I have always assumed they wait for when legs will have minimal aerodynamic effect and not create as a small change the direction of the rocket on final approach. A small change higher from the ground could have big results. And, also, because at faster speeds, the leg shrouds would have to fight the air pressure to deploy. Again, these are assumptions. If someone has more data or documentation, I would love to see it.

    In some ways the BO system looks closer to aircraft landing gear. That stiffening at the end looks (appearance only) like it happens when the hydraulic ram in the lower half fills, acting as a lock. Depending on speed at deployment, I hope those little top flats are resilient for the air they are going to catch air.

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