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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:

 

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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.


Russia to lower launch price of new Angara rocket

Capitalism in space: According to its 2019 financial report, the Russian manufacturer of that country’s new Angara rocket intends by 2024 to lower launch price from about $100 million to about $57 million.

The high cost price of the latest Angara carrier rocket before the start of its serial production is due to the need for the Khrunichev Space Center to work at two sites, the press office of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos told TASS on Monday. “Before the production process is fully moved to the site of the Polyot company in Omsk, the Khrunichev Space Center has to work at two production sites, which creates additional overhead costs,” a Roscosmos spokesman said.

As part of its trials, the Angara rocket is being produced singly instead of serially, he said. “After the serial full-cycle production is launched, the item’s cost price will decrease,” the spokesman said.

Essentially they are claiming that the cost will drop once they start full production.

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

2 comments

  • Jay

    So far they have only two launches of this rocket, both in 2014, one sub-orbital and one to GEO. Still one more test flight to go. The payload capacity is similar to the Falcon 9 and it is to replace the Proton-M.

    So I saw a website that is also carrying this story: https://www.kxan36news.com/rocket-angara-was-three-times-more-expensive-proton There are some grammar and spelling errors, but the numbers look good. So the current price for the Angara-A5 is three times that of the Proton-M and will be one and one-half times the cost once in production.

    Just some notes on the two:
    The Proton-M uses UDMH as fuel vs. Angara with its LOX/RP-1 engines. Angara can lift more than the Proton. The Proton-M has had 109 launches with 98 successes and 11 failures.

  • Max

    Rocket technology has been developing since the 40s. You would think with all the advancement of technology, Successful rockets would become commonplace by now. Apparently it’s not so simple… It’s funny that space X makes it seem effortless in comparison. Futuristic vision of private investor, combined with tenacity and capabilities unshackled by government handcuffs. Free enterprise is awesome.

    Any clue yet as to what the Iranians put in space? It seemed to surprise everyone.

    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-iran-successfully-military-spy-satellite-israel-should-worry-revolutionary-guard-corps-1.8798308

    “a small orbiting satellite with a payload of up to 50 kg (110 lbs) to low Earth orbit. “It’s military use is limited,” Rubin explains, adding that its altitude is too low to be used for communication. “It can be us only for reconnaissance, but with limited performance.”

    There’s a lot of concern that a rogue country such as this could be used as a tool. A nuclear weapon launched to take down the grid with an EMP. In theory 90% of the population could be dead before power can be restored. (that’s not including any counterattacks)
    A recent evaluation of our vulnerabilities concluded that “nine” key transformers is all it would take from a terrorist action to take down the grid and our economy as well as military installations which have become dependent on external power sources.

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