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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.


Orbital Sciences has confirmed a September 15 launch date for the first Cygnus capsule mission to ISS.

The competition heats up: Orbital Sciences has confirmed a September 15 launch date for the first Cygnus capsule mission to ISS.

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

4 comments

  • wade

    this is Not competition or Anything But a Hoodwink Fooler to the Public . it is as IF we have Lost All rocket Abilities after W. von Braun died. its ALL a Game towards the people to blatantly Screw Us Out of our Money. i had a Close Look at this and Other projects presented to the Public including that junk from Space X which is Only a modern version of what WE Had in the NASA Gemini Program 50yrs Ago. they must Think that All people are Stupid. what a Joke along with that bogus SLS crap

  • Tim

    Wade, Wade, Wade. Why are your panties in a bunch?
    And why the disdain for American manufacturing!?
    TCH!!

  • David

    So what if the capsule technology is old-fashioned? They still build the C-130 Hercules, a design from before I was born, because it fits a need really well and is a proven performer. I’m still pulling for a better, safer spaceplane too, but capsules will probably still make better economic sense for a lot of jobs.

  • wade

    yes Tim and David, a capsule is Still the best Proven and Economical space vehicle. and the C-130 is a solid workhorse. i seen the fire resulting of one crashing many years ago after a stall due to pilot error. Yet, even though these private companies have made Astounding achievements, it is as If , we the People have been given the tech of mid 1960s achievements that the World Governments possessed Back Then. and That is the Source of my frustration expressed here. there are A Lot of developments coming in Space Planes and i feel that these will be The New Ground or avenue of Development. Runway to Orbit and back to Runway has been somewhat ignored on the Forefront yet many stacks of dollars have been spent on development of these machines, and a lot of Tech is still hidden from the Public regarding these Vehicles.

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