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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. There are five 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. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription, which takes about a 15% cut:

 

4. Donate by check. I get whatever you donate. Make the check payable to Robert Zimmerman and mail it 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.


May 8, 2025 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.

This is late because I was stuck in a doctor’s office for an extra two hours because the idiots misplaced my file. (Ain’t it great how Obamacare digitized all medical records so they would never get lost?)

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

3 comments

  • Jeff Wright

    Caterpillar used to have some lunar art–back before everything went Komatsu

  • James Street

    On Thursday U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy unveiled a new U.S. air traffic control system.

    “Overview
    The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) faces a rapidly growing, complex and demanding aviation sector, with commercial air travel returning to pre-COVID levels and new entrants, including drones, advanced air mobility, and commercial space. The air traffic control system is based on outdated technologies that are unable to meet these demands. The system is showing its age – which leads to delays and inefficiencies.”

    “This proposal seeks to transform the United States’ air traffic control system from its antiquated system to a modern system capable of meeting the demands of today and the future. This proposal will build a new, state of the art, air traffic control system that will enhance the safety and efficiency of our national airspace. ”
    https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2025-05/Brand%20New%20Air%20Traffic%20Control%20System%20Summary.pdf

    *

    “The plan is comprised of four infrastructure components:
    1. Communications
    2. Surveillance
    3. Automation
    4. Facilities”

    “Critical actions include:
    • Replacing antiquated telecommunications: with new fiber, wireless and satellite technologies at over 4,600 sites, 25,000 new radios and 475 new voice switches.
    • Replacing 618 radars which have gone past their life cycle.
    • Addressing runway safety by increasing the number of airports with Surface Awareness Initiative (SAI) to 200.
    • Building six new air traffic control centers for the first time since the 1960s and replacing towers and TRACONs.
    • Installing new modern hardware and software for all air traffic facilities to create a common platform system throughout towers, TRACONs and centers.
    • Addressing the challenges that face Alaska by adding 174 new weather stations. ”
    https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/us-transportation-secretary-sean-p-duffy-unveils-plan-build-brand-new-state-art-air

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