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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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Behind The Black
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The view from the cockpit

An evening pause: This short video shows us what it is like for the pilot and co-pilot as they prepare for departure from Frankfurt, Germany, on a cargo flight to Africa and beyond. Note that even though the crew is German and the airport is German, all communications with the control tower are in English. Note also that their altitude is recorded in feet, not meters. The American big lead in the commercial airline industry in the first half of the 20th century allowed it to set the standards, including the use of feet and English in these matters.

Hat tip Tom Biggar.

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

10 comments

  • David Eastman

    Reminds of an old joke. Apparently the Munich air traffic controllers are notorious for being very sharp and short of patience. After having to repeat instructions to a British Airways concorde a second time, the air traffic controller snaps “Haven’t you flown to Munich before?” To which the british pilot responds “Several times, old chap. This is the first time I’ve landed here though.”

  • Andi

    Small suggested edit : “there elevation”
    Suggest “their altitude”

  • Andi

    Oh, and they also measure speed in knots

  • wayne

    David-
    Good stuff!

    RAF Raid on Munich
    https://youtu.be/Yxb3OoHBtlk
    4:57

  • Andi: Oh yes, I forgot about that. Adds weight to what I wrote.

  • sippin_bourbon

    I am not sure that was always true.

    I seem to remember many early US aircraft that used MPH on the airspeed indicators.
    We switched to the NM (and kts) later.

  • sippin_bourbon

    Also, I think English was the default language for air traffic control after WW2.
    Language proficiency for pilots was not mandated by ICAO until 2008.

    Regarding my prev post, it looks like the US officially adopted the NM in 1954, however, it was already in heavy use in the industry.

    It also just makes sense for long distance travel, being that a NM is based on a minute of arc of latitude.
    I found it helped when I was learning basic navigation.

  • Andi

    From Wikipedia:

    “Prior to 1969, airworthiness standards for civil aircraft in the United States Federal Aviation Regulations specified that distances were to be in statute miles, and speeds in miles per hour. In 1969, these standards were progressively amended to specify that distances were to be in nautical miles, and speeds in knots.”

    Didn’t realize that the changeover was that recent

  • Steve Richter

    sure looks like a lot of functions can be automated. That is, if safety is the top concern. All the checklist items were based on confirming readings and indicators the plane is giving to the pilots. Just point a camera outside the window and send that signal to operators in Bangalore. That would be used to make sure the plane was taxiing and flying itself correctly.

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