Scroll down to read this post.

 

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


Russian filmmakers safely return to Earth

Capitalism in space: A Russian Soyuz capsule safely returned three Russian astronauts to Earth today, including the two filmmakers that spent the last twelve days filming scenes on ISS for a movie.

Russian actress Yulia Peresild and producer Klim Shipenko landed with cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy of the Russian federal space corporation Roscosmos on Sunday (Oct. 17). The three descended aboard the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft to a touchdown at 12:35 a.m. EDT (0435 GMT or 10:35 a.m. local time) on the steppe of Kazakhstan.

The landing concluded 191 days in space for Novitskiy, who wrapped up his stay on the station by playing a bit part in the movie Peresild and Shipenko were there to film. A joint production of Roscosmos, the Russian television station Channel One and the studio Yellow, Black and White, “Вызов” (“Challenge” in English) follows the story of a surgeon (Peresild) who is launched to the station to perform emergency surgery on a cosmonaut (Novitskiy).

The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.

 

Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.

 

In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.

 

Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

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 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.
 

3. A Paypal Donation:

4. A Paypal subscription:


5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed 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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.

11 comments

  • George C

    Such rescue mission movies are never by the book routine. There always has to be extra elements of drama such as equipment failures. I wonder if they were filming the crew of ISS when the return capsule problem happened?

  • Joe

    Glad they are back safe and the thruster issues did not cause them problems.

  • Gary

    I wonder if their presence and filming had anything to do with the “accidental” booster firing. Could they have been staging a shot which went wrong?

  • wayne

    Armageddon (1998)
    Russian Cosmonaut scene (“…this is how we fix problem…”)
    https://youtu.be/OIh78GiTqrE
    1:52

  • Mark

    Wayne – can you provide a film clip from the upcoming movie The Challenge, about a Russian doctor, played by Yulia Peresild, who travels to the space station to treat a sick cosmonaut?

    While I hope the rumor is true that the recent new ISS clothing regulations involve tank tops, I state unequivocally and for the record that I have the utmost respect for the film work of Russian actress Yulia Peresild. Peresild starred in The Edge which was nominated for the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
    Yulia is also in ‘The Golden Horde’ which I just recently added to my Prime streaming watchlist. ‘The Golden Horde’ is about ancient Russia under Tatar-Mongol rule.
    And I bet I’m not the only one on BtB wondering if pictures featuring Zero-g eye candy will soon leak out of Roscosmos. Let’s Go Russia!

  • Patrick Underwood

    Mark: I congratulate you on your impeccable aesthetic judgment.

  • Questioner

    Finally – after a long time – a pretty woman in space again.

  • John hare

    Questioner, towards the end of a six month mission, Phylis Diller would start looking good.

  • Jeff Wright

    Ha!

  • Ray Van Dune

    In high school my much more worldly friend told me that with the lights out, they are all movie stars. I have never verified this, but apparently my friend made a valiant effort to do so.

  • Edward

    Gary asked: “Could they have been staging a shot which went wrong?

    In this case, they were performing a routine checkout of the spacecraft before putting a crew into flight, and it had nothing to do with the film project. Think of it as a pilot walk around or a pilot checklist. The problem was that the thrusters would not respond to the command to shut down. A routine procedure became exciting, which is usually a bad thing.

Readers: the rules for commenting!

 

No registration is required. I welcome all opinions, even those that strongly criticize my commentary.

 

However, name-calling and obscenities will not be tolerated. First time offenders who are new to the site will be warned. Second time offenders or first time offenders who have been here awhile will be suspended for a week. After that, I will ban you. Period.

 

Note also that first time commenters as well as any comment with more than one link will be placed in moderation for my approval. Be patient, I will get to it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *