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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.
 

3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:

 

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


On the radio + September 18, 2018 Zimmerman/Batchelor podcast

The Batchelor podcast is embedded below the fold in two parts. Meanwhile, I will be on the radio for extended appearances both tonight and tomorrow night. Tonight I make what I think will be my first appearance on Beyond Reality Radio from approximately 12 midnight to 2 am (eastern). Tomorrow I make another one of my long appearances on Coast to Coast from 12 midnight to 2 am (pacific).

Every one of these should be a blast.

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

5 comments

  • wayne

    Yo, Mr. Z.:

    092018 – Space Exploration with Bob Zimmerman
    Beyond Reality Radio
    https://youtu.be/0sZPo3jQqu8?t=1465
    (cued to approximately the start time)

  • wayne

    Referencing “when did space exploration begin?”
    I might want to tag it as 1946.

    V2 test, White Sands, 1946
    First film of earth from “space”
    https://youtu.be/962jIlZqYy4
    2:35

    (there are longer versions of this available)

  • wayne

    the 19 minute version (with narration)

    V-2 rocket tests at White Sands
    https://youtu.be/l6aI4fh69rQ
    19:30

    “Initial V-2 assembly efforts produced 25 rockets available for launch. The Army assembled an Upper Atmosphere Research Panel of representative from the Air Material Command, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL), Army Signal Corps, Ballistic Research Laboratory, Applied Physics Laboratory, University of Michigan, Harvard University, Princeton University, and General Electric Company. German rocket scientists of Operation Paperclip arrived at Fort Bliss in January 1946 to assist the V-2 rocket testing program. After a static test firing of a V-2 engine on 15 March 1946, the first V-2 rocket launch from Launch Complex 33 was on 16 April 1946. As the possibilities of the program were realized, GE personnel built new control components to replace deteriorated parts and used replacement parts with salvaged materials to make more than 75 V-2 sounding rockets available for atmospheric and solar investigation at WSMR. Approximately two V-2 launches per month were scheduled from Launch Complex 33 until the supply of V-2 sounding rockets was exhausted; reduced frequency of V-2 sounding rocket investigations from Launch Complex 33 continued until 1952.”
    “Rockets returning to earth intact created an impact crater about 80 feet (24 m) wide and of similar depth which filled with debris to a depth of about 35 feet (11 m). In an effort to preserve instruments, dynamite was strategically placed within the airframe to be detonated at an elevation of 50 kilometres (31 mi) during downward flight at end of the high-altitude scientific observation interval. These explosives weakened the rocket structure so it would be torn apart by aerodynamic forces as it re-entered the denser lower atmosphere. Terminal velocity of tumbling fragments was reduced by an order of magnitude.”

  • Steve Earle

    Wayne: Fascinating info, thanks.

    “….dynamite was strategically placed within the airframe….”

    Sounds like an episode of Wile E. Coyote vs Roadrunner LOL!

  • wayne

    The dynamite thing’, was a new one on me! (I cannot vouch for it’s accuracy! But it akes perfect sense.

    Another great factoid “300 railcars filled with V-2 rocket parts were shipped to White Sands…”

    Mr. Z., great show! I always expect “aliens, et al” on these type of shows, but I was pleasantly surprised.

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