Moon Landing Conspiracy= Rubbish

[Loredoctor]

It is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch (40 years). Quite possibly one of the greatest feats in human history. Yet, some people want to deprive us of pride for that event. In that light, I bring you counter arguments to the Moon Landing Hoax Conspiracy . . .

www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html#crater

www.clavius.org/

[Vader]

They landed on the moon, no doubt about that.

However one theory still is possible. The US gov and NASA wanted the event would be aired on TV. Therefor it was important to have good and impressive pictures. What if transmission from moon had failed? They would have made fools of themselves not being able to show live footage with all the media attention worldwide. So they needed a backup plan. This is where Hollywood comes into it. Parllel to the moon landing they made films in thestudios to use as a plan B should transmission from moon should fail or deliver footgae that was not impressive enough to show.

This would explain why people find "glitches" in the footage and still it would not deny the fact that the moon landing really took place.

Anyway, they were on the moon and that is all that counts.

[High Lord Tolkien]

uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20090716/tsc-uk-na ... 37f0f.html

"Moon landing tapes got erased, NASA admits"

[Cail]

My first job out of college was overseeing the tape vault at Goddard Space Center here in Maryland. Those tapes were still there when I left in 1991.

[Savor Dam]

(superceded by Loremaster's edit)

[sindatur]

Excuse me, not to quibble about the details, but this is the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, not the 35th.

Having spent 13 years as a NASA consultant (a long time ago...but not quite that long), maybe I'm a trifle picky about such things.

My sister wouldn't quibble about it since the landing was on her 8th birthday, so if it was the 35th Anniversary, she'd be a couple years younger than me, instead of a couple of years older Most people in their upper 40s would be happy to shave 5 years off their age.

[Loredoctor]

Excuse me, not to quibble about the details, but this is the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing, not the 35th.

Having spent 13 years as a NASA consultant (a long time ago...but not quite that long), maybe I'm a trifle picky about such things.

Damnit. My error! I made a mathematical mistake.

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

The US gov and NASA wanted the event would be aired on TV. Therefor it was important to have good and impressive pictures.

The problem with this idea is that the television picture from the Moon was, in fact, horrible.

Though I've no doubt that the Moon landings were genuine.

Conspiracy theories are for and by idiots, IMO. Of course, the latter often cash in on the former.

It is the anniversary of the Apollo 11 launch (40 years). Quite possibly one of the greatest feats in human history. Yet, some people want to deprive us of pride for that event.

More than anything, that's what pisses me off about these conspiracy theorists.

Whether it's "faked Moon landings," or "ancient astronauts built/made possible [insert impressive human achievement here]," it's a slap in the face to all Humankind, past and present.

[Loredoctor]

NASA LRO sees Apollo Landing Sites

[wayfriend]

Conspiracy theories are for and by idiots, IMO.

That's what they want you to believe...

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

That's only what I want THEM to think I think.

[Zarathustra]

Yet, some people want to deprive us of pride for that event.

This is what gets me, too. It is the single greatest achievement in human history. For 40 years now, we have been a species that has fought our way up the gravity well of our home planet and put ourselves on another world. The fact that we--the people living when it happened (okay, I missed it by 2.5 years)--can ever take this for granted, it's just sad. But when people actively spread their ignorance and miscomprehension to other people by promoting a conspiracy theory like this, it's raping human history. A very rudimentary understanding of physics, optics, and astronomy is all you need in order to be sure that the conspiracists' arguments are pure ignorance. I'm not saying landing couldn't have been faked. But the reasons to believe it was faked are all products of misunderstanding and gullibility. It cheapens this achievement, this monumental hurdle of intelligenece and ingenuity, for people to be so ill-informed that they allow themselves to be convinced by idiots about something this important. It is a sad testiment to our education system that people are so ignornant in basic science that this kind of myth can even gain traction.

I was watching a program about it on Fox News. Geraldo Rivera kept repeating that this was "the greatest achievement in 2000 years." Of course, what he means is that there's no way we can ever top Jesus. Sure, technically, he had advantage because he was God incarnate, but we're never to forget our status as "less than." Not even landing on the freakin' Moon is impressive enough to some people to finally give ourselves credit for being the most badass thing the universe has ever produced (that we know of so far). People are still worrying about wax wings.

So I was just struck by the irony of a "journalist" who can't bring himself to admit that this was more important than some religious milestone (of a religion that only a fraction of humans believe), and yet he's having a serious discussion about whether or not a real event was faked.

[High Lord Tolkien]

I think you're giving Geraldo too much credit.
He's not that deep a person.
"2000" could mean anything.
lol



I totally agree.
It really is the greatest thing mankind has ever done.
I was talking to my daughter about it this weekend.
She's nine and was asking a lot of questions.
Just answering them with the little that I know reminded me how awe inspiring those astronauts are.
After I explained that the Apollo rocket got smaller and smaller as the fuel was used up she asked how they had enough "gas" to get back to the Earth from the Moon.
That started a conversation about the massive amount of thrust needed to escape Earth's gravity, gravity in general and that on the Apollo missions they just barely had enough fuel to get back.
Then when I started telling her about the dangers involved like the tragedy of Apollo 1, Challenger, Columbia and Apollo 13 I remembered again that Astronomers are, and there's no better way of saying it, Brilliant Bad-ass Motherf#ckers!
And after some more questions like using the bathroom in space I finished like I always do that whenever I look at the Moon that without fail I think that AMERICANS went to the Moon and not only did they bring a car with them but played some golf too.

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

The same applies to inane theories about aliens or mole people or whoever building the pyramids.

It's almost a kind of racism. "Those primitive bastards could never find the wherewithal to build the pyramids; erect the Easter Island statues; carve giant heads in Central America; raise Stonehenge, etc." The list goes on and on.

Their having such an eager audience is the saddest thing of all.

[Hashi Lebwohl]

Conspiracy theories are for and by idiots, IMO.

Not necessarily. Conspiracy theory research can be quite fun because of the...interesting...things that get connected and the explanations that are offered as to why something did or did not happen.

Some facts in various conspiracy theories really can make you stop and think, though. Case in point: the Babushka Lady. She is seen clearly in the Zapruder Film holding a camera; from her vantage point she would have been able to take clear pictures of the Grassy Knoll and the fence separating Dealy Plaza from the railroad tracks. To date, though, no one has ever come forward claiming that she is the Babushka Lady, no family members have claimed this, and whatever pictures might have been taken have never been published.

Why not? The pictures would be worth a fortune, if sold.

Either the pictures have been lost--possible, since the camera and pictures would be almost 46 years old by now...or they don't show anything useful/valuable--improbable, as they would have shown the Kennedy limousine from a different and closer angle...or the pictures were destroyed, which could have been done by the family or jack-booted government thugs.

Anyway...conspiracy theories are fun, as long as you don't take them too seriously.

No, the Moon landing was real. If it were a lie, then too many people would have been in on it and the truth would have been told by now.

[[Syl]]

www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/07/20/buzz- ... 41664.html

[stonemaybe]

I don't blame anyone for having a healthy dose of cynicism thses days.

[Demondime-a-dozen-spawn]

Some of the cynicism "these days" is justified by the events of "these days".

Cynicism today about the veracity of a well documented Global event that occurred 40 years ago is cynicism for its own sake.

[High Lord Tolkien]

The more I think about it the more unreal/impossible/awesome a moon landing seems.

The fact that we did it in the '60s and 70's with what would be considered primitive technology today just makes it all the more fantastic.

What blows my mind the most is what was involved with leaving the Moon.
There was a rocket compartment in the Eagle.
It fired and in the low gravity of the Moon it was able to achieve orbit but this is where my mind goes "wtf?".
How did it link with the orbiting Columbia?
To me, that was an amazing feat considering what they had to work with.
I mean, how were they able to maneuver the Eagle to link up with the hatch on the Columbia? Was it by radar and sight?

When I think about what those Astronauts did I almost well up in awe.
They are Gods among men to me (in that they stood upon the Moon anyway).

As I was reading up on what was the name of the orbiter I found this gem:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_11#Lunar_ascent_and_return

While moving in the cabin Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker that armed the main engine for lift off from the moon. There was initial concern this would prevent firing the engine, which would strand them on the moon. Fortunately a felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.[34] Had this not worked, the Lunar Module circuitry could have been reconfigured to allow firing the ascent engine.

On the return to Earth, the Guam tracking station failed, which would have prevented communication on the last segment of the Earth return. Repair was not possible until a staff member had his son, Greg Force, do repairs made possible by his small hands. Force later was thanked by Armstrong.

Years later, it was publicly revealed that Nixon had prepared a speech to be given if the mission resulted in death. The lunar module had not been tested to assess if it could launch from the moon surface

[aliantha]

While moving in the cabin Aldrin accidentally broke the circuit breaker that armed the main engine for lift off from the moon. There was initial concern this would prevent firing the engine, which would strand them on the moon. Fortunately a felt-tip pen was sufficient to activate the switch.[34] Had this not worked, the Lunar Module circuitry could have been reconfigured to allow firing the ascent engine.

Jeebus, they went up there with duct tape and rubber bands, didn't they?