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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.
 

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4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
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October 3, 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.

  • Astronomers detect phosphine in nearby brown dwarf
    This is the same molecule that astronomers thought they might have maybe detected in the atmosphere of Venus. And just like then, this brown dwarf detection has been followed immediately with joyous cries “We’ve found evidence of life!” Hardly. They have found unexpected chemistry, but that is a far cry from a biosignature.

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

6 comments

  • “We’ve found evidence of life!”

    ‘Star Maker’ Olaf Stapledon 1937

  • Richard M

    I’m still not sure that Lunar Outpost’s Rover is the best one in development. But I am glad that NASA was able to get multiple rovers into development. No matter what NASA ends up doing, it’s at least possible that other commercial clients might pursue some of these for their own missions.

  • Richard M

    Casey Handmer, a JPL alum, has a sobering X post about impending layoffs at JPL. Excerpt: “JPL, which was bursting at the seams five years ago with Psyche, Perseverance, Europa Clipper, NISAR, and MSR now has nearly nothing going on. JPL has gone through booms and busts before, but in the past its technology was advanced enough that it was critical infrastructure for military space, it had friends in Congress, and its competition from other NASA centers and private space companies was embryonic in comparison. Unfortunately, I predicted this in a series of papers and a 2021 blog on Starship. JPL got complacent and it has been surpassed in many areas.”

    One can only hope that this forces reform now just in how JPL operates, but the entire model of NASA’s science directorate’s methods of procurement. They are going to have to lean more heavily on commercial capabilities whether they like it or not.

  • Richard M

    Oh, sorry, I somehow left out the link to Casey’s post:

    https://x.com/CJHandmer/status/1974240270356201544

  • John

    Is the phosphine in the room with us now?

  • Jeff Wright

    Right next to the phlogiston.

    Phosphine=exobiologist ectoplasm

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