Scroll down to read this post.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands. Instead, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. 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.
 

3. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.


OCO-2 in orbit

Second time’s the charm: A Delta 2 rocket successfully launched the Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) into orbit on Wednesday, five years after the first OCO was lost at launch when its Taurus XL rocket fell into the ocean.

The Earth-observing satellite is designed to globally track the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

I have to note that if the science of climate change was so “settled,” as President Barack Obama keeps insisting, why did we then spend half a billion dollars on this satellite? Wouldn’t it make more sense to drop the research and focus entirely on saving the planet?

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 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

6 comments

  • Matt in AZ

    Are new Delta 2 rockets still being manufactured, or is this launch using a leftover from a final production run?

  • mivenho

    I thought that atmospheric CO2 was a known quantity. Does it require verification?

  • geoffc

    Matt,
    A little of both. Major components for 5 more existed, and this used one of them up. They had to reopen some facilities for things. But mostly it was older pre-existing hardware.

  • “I have to note that if the science of climate change was so “settled,” as President Barack Obama keeps insisting, why did we then spend half a billion dollars on this satellite?”

    It’s a way to say your doing something without accountability.

  • joe

    In my mind, any data that come from this satellite is suspect, the motives are suspect and the agency that launched this bird is suspect, I do not trust the scientists or the government to produce true numbers, only an agenda that I do not agree with. The federal government is so broke and has unfunded obligations that would bankrupt the world, that they will do anything to get their carbon tax imposed and at the same time hurt lower income people with bills that are not payable, I think the end result will be something like Mao’s revolution, no one wins except party members.

  • Pzatchok

    As long as the raw data is available to the public the ways it can be manipulated are limited.

    Think of it like a picture. Some people might see a ghost is the background and everyone else sees smoke from a fire.

    Nether is provable until the next set of data comes in. IE the next picture, one that either shows the ghost clearly or now shows the fire making the smoke.

    Data is just data and its manipulation is wholly based on the the guy doing the initial interpretation and the gullibility of the audience.

    In the case of global climate change/ global man made warming or what ever you want to call it now, the public is getting more and more skeptical of those crying that the sky is falling. the problem is that many politicians see this as a way to gain more power for themselves and government so they promote it even if they don’t really believe in it.

    There will always be those who believe in GW just like there are those who believe in communism. Even though it has been proven over and over again to never work in the long term.

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 *