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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. 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.

 

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SpaceX launches commercial satellite with first used Block 5 first stage

Capitalism in space: Last night SpaceX successfully placed a commercial communications satellite into orbit using a previously flown Block 5 first stage.

The turnaround for this first stage was only a little over two months. It successfully landed on the drone ship in the Atlantic, and they plan to fly it a third time later this year. You can watch the launch here.

The leaders in the 2018 launch race:

22 China
15 SpaceX
8 Russia
5 ULA
4 Japan
4 Europe

China still leads the U.S. 22 to 21 in the national rankings.

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

3 comments

  • Mike

    It would be interesting to track the count of launches vs boosters used as this will begin to widen significantly once SpaceX starts re-flying boosters many more times.

  • Dick Eagleson

    The post-Shuttle record for actual reuses of reusable space hardware is held by the now-retired #2 version of Blue Origin’s New Shepard. It flew five times. Could be that this now-once-reused Block 5 stage will surpass that record sometime next year. By that time, though, Blue may have upped its own record using the #3 version of New Shepard.

    The least-flown Shuttle was the ill-fated Challenger. It flew 10 times, the last time to its destruction. It made it to space 9 times. The most-flown Shuttle was Discovery. It flew 39 times. A Falcon 9 Block 5 stage has a reasonable shot at surpassing the Challenger’s reuse mark. After three or four refurbs, a Block 5 stage could even exceed Discovery’s record sometime in the early 2020’s. BFR and BFS vehicles, though, seem likely to take over the reuse record book after that.

  • wodun

    Whether or not this specific F9 wins any records is tough to say but when they actually finish the Block Five and stop fiddling with it, we should see a high number of reuses. Will be interesting to see how big their fleet is.

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