An evening pause: Performed live 1987. The piece however begins with a spectacular six minute drum duet performed by Phil Collins & Chester Thompson. The level of musical communication going on between these two drummers as they play is literally impossible for a non-musician to conceive.
Hat tip Chris McLaughlin.
Capitalism in space: The American smallsat launch company Firefly Aerospace announced today that they will be partnering with a private Israeli company to use the design of Beresheet to build their own lunar lander for NASA.
Firefly Aerospace announced that it is partnering with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) to create a new lunar vehicle based on the crashed spacecraft’s blueprints. Firefly says this lander will build upon “lessons learned” from the accident to ensure that the new lander does not meet the same fate.
…If Firefly does mount a lunar mission, the company’s lander, called Genesis, will leverage much of the Beresheet design as well as the IAI team’s flight experience. “Firefly Aerospace is excited to partner with Israel Aerospace Industries to provide the only NASA CLPS program flight-proven lander design,” Shea Ferring, Firefly’s vice president of mission assurance, said in a statement. The name of the lander is also a nod to Beresheet, which means “Genesis” in Hebrew.
It appears that a group of engineers from the non-profit SpaceIL, that built Beresheet, have teamed up to form their own company. It also appears that they have some rights to the spacecraft’s design, and could take them with them.
Firefly is competing for a NASA contract to land on the Moon. This deal strengthens their bid considerably.
An evening pause: Performed live, 2014. The project goal for the two pianists, Adam Kromelow and Angelo Di Loreto, is to arrange and play the music of the band Genesis.
Hat tip Danae.
Since a new ebook edition of my first book, Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, was released in the summer of 2013 the reviews and sales have been excellent. However, in changing distributors in late June, causing the kindle price to rise, the reviews on amazon.com have temporarily disappeared. We are trying to get them back, but I would be very grateful if any of my readers who read and enjoyed Genesis would take the time to go to amazon and post a review of the book there.
I am not asking for good reviews. I am asking for honest reviews. I am quite confident that the quality of the book will make those reviews good reviews, without my asking.
It took Amazon a bit longer than everyone else, but the ebook edition of Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8 is now available for Kindle at amazon.com.
And of course, it can also be purchased at all other ebook bookstores, as well as here at Behind the Black.
Update: My Tuesday appearance on John Batchelor has been moved up to tonight (Monday) from 11 to 11:30 pm, during which we will be discussing Genesis, the election, and some space news of the day,
Just a note to explain the light posting yesterday and possibly today. I am reviewing the proof for the new ebook edition of my first book, Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8. Because the book is now out of print in both hardback and paperback, I want to have this new edition published and available for sale before the end of this month, which is why I must focus on getting that done quickly.
