Scroll down to read this post.

 

Readers!

 

The time has come for my annual short pre-Thanksgiving/Christmas fund drive for Behind The Black. I must do this every year in order to make sure I have earned enough money to pay my bills.

 

For this two-week campaign, I am offering a special deal to encourage donations. Donations of $200 will get a free autographed copy of the new paperback edition of Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, while donations of $250 will get a free autographed copy of the new hardback edition. If you desire a copy, make sure you provide me your address with your donation.

 

As I noted in July, 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. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally 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.


Saturday launch of Falcon 9 uncertain

With a delay of the static fire test from today to tomorrow, launch of the next Falcon 9 is now questionable for Saturday.

The company has not said one way of the other, so Saturday’s launch is still possible, assuming Thursday’s static fire test comes off successfully.

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

2 comments

  • Ann Wilson

    What did you think about the recent radio show Jimmy Church did on Coast to Coast with the guy who claims Stanley Kubrick filmed and orchestrated the Moon “landing” in 1969? I always believed we went to the moon until this guy mentioned
    the “Van Allen radiation belt” way out past the ISS. He said it would require lead shielding on the moon capsule to be
    6 feet thick in order to prevent frying the astronauts. Then he said the Russians have said it will take them until 2030
    to put together the technology and rocket power to land on the moon.

    Also, that famous earth rise photograph–wasn’t that shown in the film 2001- A Space Odyssey?

  • Edward

    Ann Wilson wrote: “Also, that famous earth rise photograph–wasn’t that shown in the film 2001- A Space Odyssey?”

    You are probably thinking of the “reborn” astronaut, Dave Bowman, as he watches over the Earth. Or maybe the sun rising and its rays touching the obelisk to set off the signal.

    Ann wrote: “He said it would require lead shielding on the moon capsule to be 6 feet thick in order to prevent frying the astronauts.”

    The Van Allen belts are strong, but not *that* strong. Otherwise there would have to be similar shielding on the ISS. Whenever the ISS flies (sails?) through the South Atlantic Anomaly, it (and other satellites in similar orbits) receives a dose of radiation similar to the bulk of the Van Allen belt.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Atlantic_Anomaly

    The Van Allen belt does have higher radiation than the surface of the Earth, but it will not fry astronauts that pass through as they escape Earth orbit or come back to Earth. The higher radiation dose to the astronauts is accounted for when planning a mission, there is a radiation-exposure budget, and there are dosimeters to verify that the astronauts did not exceed exposure limits.

    There were concerns that a large coronal mass ejection (back then I think they were called ion storms) could cause very high doses, but that did not happen on any of the missions.

    This also applies to satellites headed for geostationary orbit (GEO) or are escaping Earth orbit. The Van Allen belts do not fry the electronics, but a satellite stuck in a transfer orbit will get a high exposure over the course of several months (several scores of passes through the belt), as was the concern with the Air Force’s Advanced EHF 1 satellite (it was raised out of the belts before much or any damage occurred).

    Go back to believing that we went to the moon. If we hadn’t, the Soviet Union would have immediately and vigorously called us on it.

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 *