Scroll down to read this post.

 

Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. I keep the website clean from pop-ups and annoying demands. Instead, I depend entirely on my readers to support me. Though this means I am sacrificing some income, it also means that I remain entirely independent from outside pressure. By depending solely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, no one can threaten me with censorship. You don't like what I write, you can simply go elsewhere.

 

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.


SpaceX stacks Starship on Superheavy on orbital launchpad

Starship mounted by tower on Superheavy

Capitalism in space: SpaceX for the first time used the giant arms on the launch tower at its Boca Chica orbital launchpad to stack Starship on top of Superheavy, with the fully stacked giant rocket to act as a backdrop to Elon Musk’s update on the project scheduled for airing tonight at 8 pm (Central).

You can see a time lapse of the several hour process here.

The use of a launch tower to stack a rocket is apparently a first, and provides solid evidence that SpaceX’s plan to catch Superheavy with that tower and put it on the ground has a chance of success.

SpaceX has not yet announced how Musk’s presentation will be aired, but when this information is available I will embed it on Behind the Black.

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 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

8 comments

  • Typo alert: Last sentence: “embedded” should be “embed it.”

  • Michael McNeil: Typo fixed. Thank you.

  • JhonB

    I was suprised when I went to the web cam today and saw it. I have been waiting to see this for a while. I know they did it some months past, but took it down right away and I missed it. She’s a beauty…
    Ohhh, Nooo, am I allowed to say “She’s” Did I offend someone or make some one have to go to a safe space? (G)

  • Andi

    JhonB – It depends on what the rocket identifies as.

  • Questioner

    Congratulations: I didn’t expect these monster arms to be able to work with this level of precision. It would be interesting to find out how the alignment went in detail with which technical aids. The auxiliary arm seemed to play a role in this.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S65P4plylo4

  • Questioner

    A handful of heat shield tiles were expelled off when Ship 20 was placed on top of the booster 4. Just a little thing.

  • Michael

    JhonB

    While on a trip overseas I passed a coffee shop with a poster in the window explaining why ships were always referred to as “she”; about eight or nine reasons were given. I went in to see the proprietress – very nice lady (although clearly not Russian). I explained that while I agreed with the poster in general I did have one question. She asked me what the question was and I responded “why is ‘she’ referred to as a ‘Man-o-War’ “?

    The whole conversation ended in a few laughs and coffee.

  • Jeff Wright

    What gets me is how Starship-SuperHeavy looks to be the true heir to the B-36 Peacemaker….with Cena’s Suicide Squad character in the cockpit….saying the rest of aerospace history has now been retconned out of existence
    B-36 and Atlas had a baby Starship-and that’s all. SR-seventy-who? Shuttle-what?

    There was the Gooney Bird, the B-36, Atlas and SS/SH…and that’s it for the history books!

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 *