To read this post please scroll down.

 

Readers!

 

My July fund-raising campaign to celebrate the fifteenth anniversary since I began Behind the Black is now over. I want to thank all those who so generously donated or subscribed, especially those who have become regular supporters. I can't do this without your help. I also find it increasingly hard to express how much your support means to me. God bless you all!

 

The donations during this year's campaign were sadly less than previous years, but for this I blame myself. I am tired of begging for money, and so I put up the campaign announcement at the start of the month but had no desire to update it weekly to encourage more donations, as I have done in past years. This lack of begging likely contributed to the drop in donations.

 

No matter. I am here, and here I intend to stay. If you like what I do and have not yet donated or subscribed, 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 four 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 or subscription:

 

4. 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.


SpaceX completes second Starship/Superheavy dress rehearsal countdown; no launch licence yet from FAA

Though SpaceX has now successfully completed a second Starship/Superheavy dress rehearsal countdown in preparation for its targeted June 5, 2024 launch date, the FAA has still not issued the company a launch licence.

The report at the link is very optimistic about the FAA issuing the license, though there as yet no indication that it will do so.

There are two ways to return to flight. Previously, all Starship mishaps were closed using Path One, which means the FAA accepts a SpaceX-led mishap investigation report, where the operator identifies corrective actions for the vehicle and implements them on future flights.

For this flight, SpaceX chose Path Two, which involves an FAA public safety determination. In this process, the FAA makes a safety determination based on all available information to see if the previous flight involved safety-critical system failures. If successful, a return to flight can be conducted even without the closure of the mishap report.

In a statement to [NASASpaceFlight], the FAA reported: “After a comprehensive review, the FAA determined no public safety issues were involved in the anomaly that occurred during the SpaceX Starship OFT-3 launch on March 14. This public safety determination means the Starship vehicle may return to flight operations while the overall investigation remains open, provided all other license requirements are met.

SpaceX has not yet received FAA license authorization for the next Starship launch.”

We shall see. I suspect the people at the FAA want to issue that license. I also suspect that the White House is demanding the full investigation be completed beforehand.

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

3 comments

  • David Eastman

    I read that a little differently than you do. To me, it seems that the FAA has explicitly accepted and agreed with the “no public danger” declaration, so the investigation/report part IS done, and there is no longer room for “no, we’re going to require a full investigation.” If they were going to do that, they couldn’t have made the announcement of a finding of no public danger. Now we get the normal two week delay between when it’s fully in the FAA’s court and the license being delivered.

  • David Eastman: I hope you are right. However, it is a grave error to under estimate the willingness of the Democrats in the White House to abuse their power. If they want to, they can command the FAA hold off, even now, and if they do, the FAA will hold off.

  • DJ

    To complicate matters severely, Elon Musk has become somewhat of a Trump supporter (even if only for the travesty of justice), and they are doing a downhill on “X”. That is sure to Biden’s ire going. So let’s see how that is going to play out. It appears that the FAA wants to get this done. The various programs are relying on Starship being successful.

Leave a Reply

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