To read this post please scroll down.

 

Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four 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.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:

 

4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed 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.


Long March 5B core stage falls to Earth

Around 10:15 pm (Eastern) the Long March 5B core stage reentered the atmosphere over the Arabian Peninsula, with pieces landing in the Indian Ocean north of the Maldives to the southwest of India.

China has attempted to minimize its behavior here, claiming that most of the rocket burned up and that the chance of any damage was low. Big deal! If you are a responsible spacefaring nation you don’t build rockets that are designed to do this.

Remember, at least three more Long March 5B launches are scheduled in the next the years. As presently designed all will dump that core stage somewhere on Earth in an entirely uncontrolled manner.

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

8 comments

  • Alex Andrite

    “… The issue here is not the danger, but China’s gross negligence and violation of its treaty obligations …”

    (Treaty obligations ? TREATY OBLIGATIONS ? …….. WE DON’T NEED NO STINKIN ……..”)

    oh … sorry. Perhaps I am being to critical, but then I am (fully) aware, after having worked there as a field service rep for a U.S. / Japanese assembly equipment company, that the CCP considers our belief in their lies, ….
    our Problem, not theirs.

    They lie. We believe. Stupid us.

  • eddie willers

    Larry the Cable Guy had a Tweet yesterday with the odds of where the rocket would come down.

    Land – 5 %
    Water – 11 %
    Wile E Coyote – 84 %

  • Jeff Wright

    The best photos of the LM (CZ)-5 first stage are at Spaceflight 101’s article “China’s new Heavy Lift Rocket rolls to Hainan Island Launch Pad for Shakedown Mission” and at the website “Tiananmen’s Tremendous Achievements” story:
    “China’s Ambitious Space Program.”

    You might want to see if Charles Vick or Mark Wade made any drawings of the first stage by itself—compared to some old Scuds (hypergolic V-2s essentially) for comparison…seeing as the LM-5 core also flew right over Riyadh as per Marco Langbroek at http://www.sattrackcam.blogspot.com

  • deadrody

    “If you are a responsible spacefaring nation…”

    Well, seems like the problem is that everyone knows China is no such thing. We can wish and hope and lament and wring our hands, but the reality is, this is how China acts. Better to deal with the reality than with for another.

  • MDN

    So where is our government in lodging a formal complaint about this with the UN or whatever international body administers the treaty? We MUST push for the rule of law, or you know the next step will certainly be to ignore treaty obligations colonizing the moon and elsewhere.

  • David M. Cook

    – MDN The Biden administration has been told to keep it‘s mouth shut by president Xi.

  • Kevin Harte

    Has it been ascertained the distance from any sea vessel or human being the point of splashdown? What happens when people are injured and property is damaged? Does the CCP have any scruples or responsible stance on this? The CCP is not a friend to the world community.

  • Edward

    A smart country learns from its own mistakes. A wise country learns from other countries’s mistakes. Since China has been dropping expended stages on its own citizens and other countries have had this same uncontrolled reentry problem but have learned to solve it, China is neither wise nor smart.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *