Just want to let my readers know that I will be out of town, caving in the mountains southeast of Tucson this weekend, out of range of the internet.
Because the comments presently need to be manually approved by me because the spam filter is still not working, no comments further will be approved until Sunday evening. If you post, be patient, your comment will appear then.
I really dislike doing this, but someone has to pay the bills, and this website is one way I do it. February 5 will be my sixty-first birthday. As I have done the past two years, I am posting a birthday bleg, requesting donations to help fund the existence of Behind the Black. If you like my webpage and want to support it in any way, please consider donating something. I would be grateful for anything you can give.. Some people have even subscribed, sending as little as $2 per month.
The tip jar can be found in the right column, below the search box.
An update on my eye problem. I just returned from the doctor. The retina has reattached itself. It looks like all will heal properly over the next week or so, assuming I continue to be diligent about treatment.
I will probably not resume posting until tomorrow, as today I still have to keep my head positioned a certain way so that the treatment can work properly. (I will explain this all when I can sit in front of the computer for long enough to write something substantial.)
Regardless, thank you to everyone who has wished me well. I appreciate it more than you know.
For the next few days posting will be very light, as today I developed a detached retina in the right eye and will undergo treatment tomorrow to fix it. The doctor is optimistic, but I will be unable to sit and stare at the computer much after tomorrow’s procedure until probably Wednesday.
If all goes well I should resume posting on Wednesday, with a two hour appearance that night on Coast to Coast to discuss climate, environmentalism, and the corruption of science because of politics.
I will be appearing with David Livingston on the Space Show tonight, beginning at 7 pm (Pacific). The show is webcast live as well as podcast. Feel free to call in and ask questions or make comments.
Should be fun, especially considering the good start private space has had in 2014.
This weekend I am out of town for another weekend of caving as part of a cave mapping project I am involved in here in Arizona. (I am the cartographer.) Thus, posting will have to wait until I return Sunday evening.
On the air: Tonight I will be guest for the first hour of Coast to Coast with George Noory. Our initial focus will be the various missions now at or heading to Mars, but who knows where things will go from there.
For those of you who wish to hear me talk at length about climate and space issues, I will be on the air tonight for about two hours on the Space Show with David Livingston.
And if that’s not enough, you can listen to me again for two hours tomorrow night, September 18, from 10 to 12 am (Pacific) on Coast to Coast with George Noory.
Should be fun, as always.
For those that might want to hear more of my thoughts about the state of the American space effort, I will be on Coast to Coast with George Noory tonight from 10 to 11 pm (Pacific).
This past weekend Behind the Black celebrated its third anniversary. I did it by posting very little, as the news in space, to my mind, has been very quiet, while the news in politics and culture has been very depressing, something I am growing tired of reading. It seems to me that freedom is dying, both in the United States and worldwide, being chipped away bit by bit until no one alive knows what the word means anymore.
Moreover, on July 4 Diane and I will head north to the Grand Canyon (our third trip together to the bottom) for ten days vacation, so expect posting for that time period to be very light or nonexistent.
I do intend to post until then and once I get back. If you have liked what I have written and posted these past three years, then please consider the idea of contributing to the website. The tip jar is in the right column, near the bottom.
And if you really want to find out the moment I believe American society began to die, you might want to consider reading the new ebook edition of my first book, Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8. The book tells the story of one of our country’s grandest achievements, and how that triumph ironically ended up teaching an entire generation all the wrong lessons.
For those intereseted in listening to my most recent appearance on The Space Show on June 11, the podcast is available here. Discussion of the show can be found here.
Tonight I will be appearing once again on Coast to Coast with George Noory, from 10 to 11 pm (Pacific), to talk about the end of the Kepler space mission as well as what the space telescope accomplished and will yet still accomplish. We should also touch upon some other space topics as well.
Tonight David Livingston will air the 2000th episode of The Space Show, what has become the world’s leading media outlet for the discussion of space exploration and the aerospace industry.
The Space Show began in June 2001, and in the ensuing dozen years David has interviewed almost every single big mover in the business of space exploration. I myself have been honored to appear on his show more than thirty times, a fact for which I am deeply grateful, since there are people far more important than I in this field.
It is difficult to measure the significance to space of David Livingston’s effort during these past twelve years. When the Space Show began, SpaceShipOne had not yet flow, the X-Price had not yet been won, and the idea of private space and space tourism were considered wild and absurd ideas. Twelve years later, these ideas are now common knowledge and are likely to be main path for the human race into space. By giving a forum to supporters of commercial space, the Space Show under David’s leadership made this paradigm shift possible.
Thank you David! When the solar system is finally settled, the colonists should remember that without his important contribution their journey to get there would have been far more difficult.
I spent the day driving to Orange County, California to attend the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Southern California Aerospace Systems and Technology Conference tomorrow, where I will be the keynote speaker at their evening banquet. Though I will be at the conference, I expect to be able to post tomorrow periodically.
Tonight is radio night here at Behind the Black. I will be on two different syndicated radio shows, one in the United Kingdom, The Moore Show, followed by two hours live beginning at 10 pm (Pacific) on Coast to Coast with George Noory.
Both interviews should be a lot of fun. I intend to talk a bit about today’s SpaceShipTwo flight and how that lays the groundwork for the future of space travel. The subject of climate will also be a topic on both shows.
Tonight I will be doing the first hour with George Noory on Coast to Coast. Should be fun, as I will be reviewing the present state of the American space industry and how it is steadily pushing NASA out of the way as we learn how to get into space, without the government.
Posting this weekend is light because I am attending a class here in Tucson on cave rescue. Today, Saturday, was a mostly in class session going over the basics, most of which I am very familiar with from many years of experience. We did spend ninety minutes learning how to carry people around in a sked or sled, two different types of equipment used to carry a patient through difficult cave passage. In this case the terrain was simulated by going up, over, under, and around scaffolding and vehicles inside a garage. Lots of fun.
On Sunday we will be doing a mock rescue, whereby we will arrive at a cave entrance where we will have to locate the patient in the cave and get that person out of the cave safely. Should be most interesting.
Tonight I am on The Space Show with David Livingston, so if you have any questions you’d like to ask me, you can do it tonight live, starting now (7 pm Pacific).
Among cavers there is a saying: “The most dangerous part of any cave trip is the drive to and from the cave.” Well, that might just apply to trips to Israel. On my last flight home on Thursday there was a woman sitting behind me wearing a face mask, the kind used to protect the wearer from other people’s germs. In her case, however, it was to protect everyone else. During the whole flight to Phoenix she coughed continually.
On Friday night my throat felt scratchy. By Sunday it was clear that I had caught a bad cold. Today is day five, which is usually the worst. I had intended to write up my last report about my trip to Israel but I just don’t have the energy. The best I can do today is post some news items, do some easy reading for another Astronomy article I’m writing, and tape an appearance tonight on the John Batchelor Show. The longer essay will have to wait until tomorrow.
Update: Just for your added pleasure, the image below the fold shows the view of Bethlehem from the main highway south out of Jerusalem. The tunnel and high security fence were installed after the most recent intifada. Before then you had to drive through town, which was slow, but also dangerous as Bethlehem is controlled by the Palestinian Authority. During the intifada the danger became acute as commuters would have rocks thrown at them, and some were even shot at. The security fence, condemned by all the world, was an attempt to protect commuters from this threat.
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First of all, thank you to all who have donated money to Behind the Black. You cannot imagine how much this is appreciated.
Second, I am stuck in Atlanta due to bad weather, including a tornado, plus the typical lies of airport employees. Had the Delta airline agents told me the truth about the bad weather in Atlanta when I was still in Phoenix, I would have grabbed a different flight to get to New York and make my flight to Israel. Instead, they lied — a typical behavior I have found from too many airline customer service agents — and told me I would have no trouble meeting my New York connection. I didn’t. They lied. GRRR.
Anyway, as I am here I have decided to try to take advantage of the delay to begin the tedious process of adjusting to Israeli time, getting up at 3 am, which is 10 am in Israel. Hopefully this will make the transition in Israel much easier.
