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Readers! A November fund-raising drive!

 

It is unfortunately time for another November fund-raising campaign to support my work here at Behind the Black. I really dislike doing these, but 2025 is so far turning out to be a very poor year for donations and subscriptions, the worst since 2020. I very much need your support for this webpage to survive.

 

And I think I provide real value. Fifteen years ago I said SLS was garbage and should be cancelled. Almost a decade ago I said Orion was a lie and a bad idea. As early as 1998, long before almost anyone else, I predicted in my first book, Genesis: The Story of Apollo 8, that private enterprise and freedom would conquer the solar system, not government. Very early in the COVID panic and continuing throughout I noted that every policy put forth by the government (masks, social distancing, lockdowns, jab mandates) was wrong, misguided, and did more harm than good. In planetary science, while everyone else in the media still thinks Mars has no water, I have been reporting the real results from the orbiters now for more than five years, that Mars is in fact a planet largely covered with ice.

 

I could continue with numerous other examples. If you want to know what others will discover a decade hence, read what I write here at Behind the Black. And if you read my most recent book, Conscious Choice, you will find out what is going to happen in space in the next century.

 

 

This last claim might sound like hubris on my part, but I base it on my overall track record.

 

So please consider donating or subscribing to Behind the Black, either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. I could really use the support at this time. 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. Takes about a 10% cut.
 

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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.


World View gets new lease from Pima County

Because the original lease was ruled unconstitutional under the Arizona state constitution, Pima County yesterday approved a new lease for the high altitude balloon company World View.

The original deal had the county build the building. World View would lease it for 20 years, guarantee employment of 400 people, and then buy the facility for $10 at the end of the lease. This was ruled unconstitutional.

Lesher said [the new lease] will give the county more flexibility and a safeguard when it comes to those terms and they’ll be able to base the appraisal price on a percentage of the fair market value. Another big change – the employee benchmark has been significantly lowered. In the original contract, World View was required to hire 400 workers, now that’s down to 125.

Until more details are provided, it is unclear what has changed to make the new deal acceptable to the courts. I suspect the big change is that World View will not have an option to buy for $10.

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

5 comments

  • James Street

    “the county violated the state’s gift clause by building the $14 million headquarters for the company”

    Seems to me all you need to launch a balloon is a vacant lot. I watched one launch from the parking lot of a pizza restaurant once.

  • Col Beausabre

    It’s more than just a launch pad for a hot air balloon. It’s got the corporate offices – you know, finance, human relations (to help employees relate to humans, presumably), marketing etc. Plus it would have facilities for building and maintaining the balloons and gondolas (picture assembly area and one or more balloon hangers to store, inspect and maintain). Plus, I am sure the passengers expect a full scale reception area and lounge – not a shed or “stand over there” – to greet them once they arrive. Catering facilities to serve both the lounge and gondolas with potables and comestbles, of course You also need a base for the recovery equipment, vehicles and crew – methinks we’re not talking about the pick up truck my buddy, a hot air pilot used. And communication, flight prep and crew locker facilities. I am sure, I’ve left some items out. Think small airline and you’ll get the idea.

  • Ray Van Dune

    Just to emphasize – this is a hydrogen balloon, not a hot-air balloon. A hot-air balloon would have to be much larger to be capable of lifting such a weight to such an altitude.

    I am not implying that commenters here are claiming it is a hot – air balloon, only reminding readers that there is an unfortunate tendency to assume that any modern balloon uses hot – air.

    Hydrogen has been the lifting gas of choice for most of the history of ballooning. For applications such as this, only hydrogen or helium are feasible, and likely only hydrogen is affordable.

    My impression is that the built-in parachute system would survive any hydrogen explosion, as it is located below the balloon.

  • Ray Van Dune: World View’s balloons use helium, not hydrogen. See:

    https://worldview.space/technology-and-safety/

  • Ray Van Dune

    Apologies to all, but the reference I looked up specifically said hydrogen, but of course now I can’t find it!

    No it wasn’t Wikipedia or ChatGPT.

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