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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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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


Rogozin tweets: ISS cooperation to end

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Russia’s aerospace corporation, Roscosmos, today confirmed in a series of tweets that Russia intends to end its partnership at ISS due to the sanctions imposed on Russia due to its invasion of the Ukraine.

Rogozin however did not provide any details other than saying:

Specific proposals of Roscosmos on the timing of the completion of cooperation within the framework of the ISS with the space agencies of the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Japan will be reported to the leadership of our country in the near future.

I predict the following:

1. No more barter flights, exchanging Russian and international astronauts on each other’s capsules.
2. No more mutual research on the station.
3. Russia leaves as of ’24, after it adds its remaining modules.

Once those extra modules are launched and installed on the Russian half of ISS, Roscosmos will be more capable of separating its half from ISS and fly it independently. There will be engineering challenges, but this plan will give them two years to address them. It will also give everyone else the time necessary to plan for that separation.

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13 comments

  • Jeff Wright

    Maybe by that time Putin goes Tango Uniform…toes up. His should be the only “sanction.”

  • GaryMike

    I’ve always know it as T*ts up.

    A little extra disrespect.

  • Ray

    In college we said “T**ts up Batman”

  • LocalFulff

    I just saw an interview with Rogozin on Chinese TV (CGTN). The ExoMars rover, an ESA-Russian cooperation, is dead. Russia provides the launcher and the Mars lander, and that’s cancelled now, according to Rogozin (who have over dramatized things in the past).

    Too bad, it was to drill 10 meters deep. It would’ve been launched later this year. Making a new lander might not be done until the Mars conjunction 2027, especially as the economy tanks very severely and permanently with hyperinflation and debt collapse, blackouts industry bankruptcies and food shortages. I expect ESA’s budget to be cut by at least half this or next year.

  • ” . . .food shortages”

    “All they want is food, for God’s sake!”

    Ben Richards (Ahnold)

    ‘The Running Man’ 1987 Glaser

    Fun fact: The director Paul Michael Glaser likely needs no introduction to some, but was ‘Starsky’ on the 1975 TV show ‘Starsky and Hutch’. The one with the cool Torino.

  • sippin_bourbon

    Mr Z

    What makes you believe they would bother with the additional modules if they plan to end cooperation?

  • sippin_bourbon: Those modules have been under construction for decades. It is my belief that if Russia breaks off the partnership, it will accelerate their construction and get them launched, so that their half of ISS can be separated.

    Remember, Russia runs its space program like NASA runs SLS, slow and mostly to create fake jobs. If they really need to get these modules launched, that will change very quickly.

  • sippin_bourbon

    The reason I question it is that managing a space station is an expense.

    On top of everything else, after the Ukraine dust settles, will they have the means to run an independent space station.

    I can see them wanting to partner with China. I am not sure I see China wanting to partner with them. Remains to be seen.

  • Klystron

    I think China has too much national pride to piggyback on a Russian station. They are already pursuing Tiangong and I think it would be a step backward for them. Perhaps more likely might be for Russia to partner on Tiangong in the future, if China will have them.

  • Jeff Wright

    “Fake jobs” Robert? R-7s don’t build themselves.

  • Edward

    Jeff Wright,
    If a country is serious about building a space station and its modules, how many decades should they spend building those modules?

    Russia was serious about launching Soyuz rockets (R-7s), so they didn’t take decades to build any one of them. It isn’t the R-7s that provided fake jobs, and it isn’t the work at JPL that are fake jobs, but if the U.S. were serious about manned deep space exploration, SLS would not have taken so long to get this far. The whole idea of using existing parts and technology was for NASA to get back into manned space sooner, not later. We are approaching two decades since Columbia, and NASA still depends upon Russia and private companies to get its astronauts into space. Congress has not been serious about a manned space program. The SLS jobs are not serious jobs (my apologies to the workers at NASA and to my friends and co-workers who moved to SLS and Orion, but your leaders are not using your talents, skills, and knowledge to the best of your abilities).

    Rocket Lab and SpaceX are definitely serious about space, and other launch companies may be, too. So are several satellite companies and some other space-oriented companies (e.g. Made in Space and Nanoracks).

  • sippin_bourbon

    While Russia has more experience in space and in space stations, I think the situation would be Russia piggy backing off China. Mainly for monetary reasons.

    What portion of the ISS bill does Russia pay?

  • pzatchok

    I don’t think Russia has the lead in space experience anymore.

    Time in the game yes.

    Technical experience nope not even close to China let alone the USA.

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