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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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Lucy update: Engineers testing solar panel fix on ground

Engineers for the asteroid probe Lucy have begun doing ground tests on a duplicate solar array motor on Earth to see if their plan will work to get the partly deployed solar panel in space opened and latched.

If all goes right, they are aiming for an April attempt at deploying the panel.

In the meantime, the spacecraft continues its coast outwards, presently being about 30 million miles from Earth. Even though one solar array is not fully open, it appears the spacecraft is getting “ample power” for its present operations. It is unclear if this power — with one solar panel not fully opened — will be sufficient once the spacecraft reaches the region of Jupiter’s Trojan asteroids, much farther from Earth.

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

2 comments

  • John

    From the article, “On January 5, Lucy completed a test to look at the dynamics of the spacecraft in order to characterize the solar array.” I wonder if that is just governese for, “we maneuvered the craft to see what would happen.”

    The real test occurs is space. That’s that big open area with no air where there’s no gravitational effect in unaccelerated flight. I just want the team to know that’s different than the ground tests.

  • Edward

    John pondered: “I wonder if that is just governese for, ‘we maneuvered the craft to see what would happen.’

    It would be more of a comparison of the predicted responses with the reality. I did not get the impression that they tried to shake loose the panels (gores).

    Don’t worry, though. We engineers know that our various tests (deployment, thermal vacuum, acoustic, electromagnetic (e.g. antenna range test), functional tests, etc.) are simulations that only approximate the space conditions, but we try to make them as accurate as practical. Part of the test analysis is a comparison of the test results with the model’s predicted results. After launch, we get to compare the reality with the tests and with the models.

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