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Readers!

 

The time has come for my annual short 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.

 

Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.

 

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
 
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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.


Why you must never buy a used smartphone

Link here. Essentially, the phone will often be stolen, and will inevitably be blocked, leaving you with a brick.

Posted from the airport in Madrid, awaiting my flight to Israel. I am also sitting here enjoying some fantastic European airport fast food, far better than one sees in the U.S. Lox and anchovies with cream cheese on a wonderful piece of flatbread. I had a similar experience flying through Italy a few years ago. In this area the Europeans have Americans beat.

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

8 comments

  • It’S a mystery to me why US airports don’t showcase local cuisine. Some do a better job than others. There was (and still may be) a great BBQ place in the Memphis terminal, and if you search you can get a Chicago dog in Midway, but mostly it’s the same over-priced, generic food everywhere.

  • Garry

    I couldn’t agree more, Blair.

    I’m always amused at the section in Tokyo Station (train) that features fresh local specialties from all over Japan. A businessman goes on a trip, and is obligated to buy something for his co-workers / family. He doesn’t have any time during the trip, so after getting off the train upon his return to Tokyo, he stops by the table for the place he just came from and picks up one of the local specialties, probably fresher than it would be had he bought it locally.

    Genius, and the logistical nightmares are only exceeded by the outrageous profits!

  • Robert Pratt

    D/FW and Houston’s G.Bush have good food selections including local/regional outlets.

  • DJN

    As a buyer of multiple used phones over the years, the article could be just like a thousand others warning “Never buy a used (insert item here)” Yep, craiglist can be dicey but you can do the transaction meeting the seller in the local branch store of your carrier. They will verify the phone. Ebay and Amazon are very good, and often less money than Craigslist.

    +1 on DFW. Love that Pappadeux in Americans terminal.

  • bernie

    ebay scores sellers based on rating by buyers, and doesn’t tolerate user fraud…I have purchased everything from $1 items to cars on the site without any issues, and just bought a used iphone5 for $70 this week…that’s not to say i can know the thing wasn’t stolen, but i can count on it being in a condition and usable as described, or else i do have recourse, including full refund if it would come to that…

    i’m new here…apollo 8 was both a fascinating mission and time…i was 9 and following along with walter on tv…i hear different stories from time to time, but my understanding is that this was originally meant to do what apollo 9 then did the next time up, an earth-orbital rendevous/docking wring-out, but was accelerated to get to the moon on fears (well, concerns) the soviets had something going and that we might miss another first…that makes this perhaps the riskiest mission undertaken- particularly as they had no lem, which saved the later apollo 13 crew

  • Edward

    bernie,
    You are correct about Apollo 8. Robert has a book called “Genesis” (see the banner on the right), which I bought around 2002, long before I found this site. It is excellent, and I reread it last year.

    Another aspect about Apollo 8 is that the Lunar Module (LM) was not going to be ready to fly in time for Apollo 8’s planned LM test flight, so the decision to fly to the Moon did not upset its test schedule. Apollo 8 would otherwise have had to fly later than planned. Interestingly, Jim Lovell was aboard both Apollo 8 (command-module pilot) and Apollo 13 (mission commander).

  • bernie: You should read the book, Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8. Rather than guessing it will answer all your questions about the mission. And it’s for sale here cheap!

    I also hear that the author is pretty good too. :)

  • wayne

    Bernie–
    I’ve been waiting for a chance to link to this:

    Robert Zimmerman –
    “The Future of Space Exploration & Apollo 8”
    The Moore Show: May 2013
    https://youtu.be/jSMnjT-OuJA
    56:12

    Give a listen, and then order the book!
    (I was fortunate to witness the launch of Apollo 8 as a kid, the most spectacular thing I ever saw.)

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