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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.


September 27, 2016 Space Show appearance

For those that want to listen to me discuss Elon Musk’s speech as well as other space matters for two hours, you can download the podcast at The Space Show website. David Livingston also provides at this link a short summary of some of the topics we covered during last night’s show.

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

  • Calvin Dodge

    For the caller who appeared to be concerned Mars didn’t have enough carbon dioxide, its atmosphere weighs in at 25 trillion tons, and it’s at least 95% carbon dioxide.

  • J Fincannon

    There is plenty of CO2 to make O2, but you still need the other half of the rocket fuel. I suppose you have to either bring it and make it from something else on Mars.

  • Localfluff

    J Fincannon, The H4 in the CH4 has a mass of only 25%. In the reaction O2+CH4, H only makes up 9% of the combined mass (and you obviously need a bit more O2 than CH4 so the real mass share is even lower). Hydrogen will have to be brought from Earth or be extracted from underground H2O on Mars. There’s a shortage of it on Mars, but a small problem to carry it there if needed.

  • Edward

    Localfluff wrote: “Hydrogen will have to be brought from Earth or be extracted from underground H2O on Mars.

    It may not be easy to pump the underground water (which is not guaranteed to be there), as it may not flow as quickly as on Earth and may be slow to replenish the well, leaving the well dry or a low-flow source. However, another source is the ice at the poles, especially the north pole, which has less CO2 ice covering the water ice.

    Musk noted this polar ice during his presentation on Monday, but he did not mention underground water as a source. Most likely he did not want to give anyone the opportunity to criticize the colonization idea due to lack of available hydrogen (since the underground water is not guaranteed).

    Mars will be a difficult place to explore and colonize. Heinlein told us that “The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress,” but Mars will be no picnic, either.

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