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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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June 15, 2023 Quick space links

Courtesy of BtB’s stringer Jay.

 

 

 

 

  • Kuiper official urges governments to regulate the methods used by satellite makers to maneuver their satellites
  • I like Jay’s comment: “How many satellites does Kuiper have again? Zero. Damn arm-chair satellite companies!” The timing of this statement, a day after the WEF issued its proposed government guidelines for de-orbiting satellites, suggests Amazon supports that effort, but has a different approach as to how those rules should be implemented.

    In other words, Amazon wants to dictate how others build their satellites. Or make it illegal for them to do so as they wish. Seems a great plan for eliminating one’s competition.

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

  • Sayomara

    Sometime companies are bought for the regularity permissions they already have. Not sure if that would help any of the new space companies or even spacex. Maybe ULA can pull some strings with the FAA.

  • GaryMike

    Life is a messy process. And some folks you meet are not worth the effort to navigate their messiness because avoidance is simpler.

    Sometimes just watching them die is for the better.

  • pzatchok

    I am sure most here have heard of this already but just in case.

    https://time.com/6287589/tesla-ev-charging-business-model/

    Musk accidentally makes a 5 billion dollar a year business.

  • James Street

    Well that didn’t take long. I remember Robert predicting when Trump formed Space Force that it would become just one more layer of bureaucracy.

    “Space Force general admits she lets ‘anti-LGBTQ+ laws’ impact hiring decisions — resulting in ‘less qualified’ personnel”
    https://www.theblaze.com/news/deanna-burt-space-force-lgbtq

  • pzatchok

    James Street

    Remember that she was speaking at a PRIDE event.

    She did not quote any specific laws. Which would all be state laws against hiring, which do not exist.
    She said that the laws stopped her from hiring hundreds of eligible lbgtq people into her command. Sounds a bit fishy. But then again Virginia must not have any lgbtq people in it at all because of those laws.

    I do not believe it.

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