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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.
 

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4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
 
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Want to find out which American company is winning the race to ferry astronauts to the ISS? Go here.

Want to find out which American company is winning the race to ferry astronauts to the ISS? Go here.

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

7 comments

  • Kelly Starks

    Ah… as to milestone completion status:
    Boeing: 17 of 20; 85%
    SpaceX: 13 of 17; 76%
    Sierra Nevada: 8 of 13. 62%

    Why do they have different numbers of milestones to complete?

  • Kelly Starks

    Ah… as to milestone completion status:
    Boeing: 17 of 20; 85%
    SpaceX: 13 of 17; 76%
    Sierra Nevada: 8 of 13. 62%

    Why do they have different numbers of milestones to complete for the contract?

    Certainly makes Boeing look way ahead.

  • David M. Cook

    I think Boeing is only building a capsule/service module, while SpaceX is developing an entire launch system. Not sure what Boeing intends to use for a booster.

  • wodun

    Either a Delta or an Atlas. Wikipedia says any launcher but I don’t recall what they intend to test it on.

  • wodun

    Ya, considering that the milestones for each company are not based on common criteria but rather individual contract obligations, it seems an almost worthless metric.

  • Kelly Starks

    They were going to use the Atlas-V, same as the Dream Chaser.

  • Pzatchok

    The race is only won when someone goes to the station and comes back safe.

    First team to the goal wins all others are just losers. Second place is just the first loser.

    In the corporate world the only real winner is the guy who can do it for the cheapest cost in the shortest amount of time.
    Which might be any of them in the long run.
    NASA used to be able to send a bunch of people up at once in the shuttle, but it cost to much and took to long.

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