November 8, 2024 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast
Embedded below the fold in two parts. Both segments are specifically focused on looking at the changes in America’s space policy due to the election of Donald Trump.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
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
Embedded below the fold in two parts. Both segments are specifically focused on looking at the changes in America’s space policy due to the election of Donald Trump.
To listen to all of John Batchelor’s podcasts, go here.
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
Mainstream media is dead.
“Elon Musk: Citizen Journalism Is the Future”
(2 minutes)
https://rumble.com/v5nwgr2-elon-musk-citizen-journalism-is-the-future.html
***
November is TDS Awareness Month
https://t.ly/L77Ri
I think John Batchelor is confused in this episode. SLS never launches Starship or Blue Origin’s Blue Moon lander. On Artemis 3, the first manned landing, a Super Heavy launches an unmanned Starship to low Earth orbit (LEO). Then seven additional Super Heavies launch seven additional Starships to LEO one at a time to rendezvous, dock, and refuel the first Starship. The refueling Starships all return to Earth. Then the first Starship flies to lunar orbit.
Once all of that happens, an SLS launches a manned Orion capsule to lunar orbit to rendezvous and dock with the Starship waiting there. The crew transfers to the Starship. Then the Starship separates from the Orion and lands on the moon. At the end of the mission Starship launches itself from the lunar surface and docks with the Orion. The crew transfers to the Orion. It separates from the Starship, flies back to Earth, and lands in the ocean, leaving the Starship behind in lunar orbit.
On Artemis 4 and up the same things happen except Orion and Starship both dock with the Gateway in lunar orbit instead of each other. This allows the Starship to be left at the Gateway to be refueled and reused on additional missions. On Artemis 5 an unmanned Blue Moon lander is launched by a New Glenn and flies to the Gateway where it will meet up with its crew arriving on an Orion. The reusable Blue Moon will be left at the Gateway to be reused on additional missions.
I don’t think Blue Moon and Starship can both be at the Gateway at the same time, so I suspect Starship will not be reused that way, but that’s just me. The architecture is meant to support it.
The reason NASA doesn’t want to launch crew from Earth on the Starship / Super Heavy ts because neither has a launch abort system.
I’d also like to say that the Gateway makes a lot more sense when paired with a more traditional lander such as Blue Origin’s Blue Moon or Dynetics’ Alpaca. In that case the lander is left at the Gateway to be refueled and reused on additional missions. It never returns to Earth, so it doesn’t have to have a heat shield or aeroshell, and its shape and structure are not constrained by such things. Also, each mission to the lunar surface can be to a different location. It doesn’t have to go to a single base. It can fly to the equator, the northpole*, the southpole*, or anywhere in between — even the far side.
In addition, while at the Gateway it can be refueled, refurbished, and even repaired. There is a crew available, an airlock for EVAs, a robot arm for assistance, and a steady stream of fuel, supplies, and spare parts arriving on regularly scheduled supply ships. For the ability to explore the entire moon and not just one particular point, it’s a very useful facility.
*I know “northpole” and “southpole” are not usually single words, but this [redacted] iPad won’t let me type them the way they are supposed to be typed.