We choose to go to the moon...

[Szilard]

So about 40 years ago, Apollo 11 decided to go to the moon.
Now there is this website reliving the whole mission.
www.wechoosethemoon.org
:smallbiggrin:

[Ichneumon]

I heard we lost the original tapes, or actually wiped them and re-used them again for something esle. That's really typical. Mankind finally does something great and we loose the footage to proof it...

[Szilard]

Actually... (http://gizmodo.com/5315998/nasa-releases-restored-moon-landing-footage) NASA is working on restoring the tapes.

[Ichneumon]

Actually... (http://gizmodo.com/5315998/nasa-releases-restored-moon-landing-footage) NASA is working on restoring the tapes.

I understood those are copies of the tapes, they lost the original recordings.

[Flame of Anor]

I understood those are copies of the tapes, they lost the original recordings.

What I heard was that what was broadcast live all over was the feed from a video camera pointing at a monitor showing the broadcast from the moon. They thought they'd lost the original, higher-quality, direct-from-moon tapes, but they recently found them.

[Hazkali]

it was a soundstage on mars

Obligatory XKCD reference (http://xkcd.com/202/). The moon landings were ace. Mankind stepped on the moon! If only Science & Technology had that sort of money now, Mars would be a piece of cake.

[Serpentine]

If you're interested in such things, I recommend the movie The Dish <.< Australian film about broadcasting the moon landing.

[Tykas]

I still look out my window at it and think, wow, thats alot of cheese.

[Flickerdart]

I still look out my window at it and think, wow, thats alot of cheese.
Then close the CharOp window and go outside or something.

[MethosH]

Sir... I need to thank you for that link. Thank you.

[charl]

I like the back-up speech they had prepared in case the lander got stuck on the Moon and they couldn't bring back the crew. That's a good one, from a purely rhetorical perspective.

[Ichneumon]

I like the back-up speech they had prepared in case the lander got stuck on the Moon and they couldn't bring back the crew. That's a good one, from a purely rhetorical perspective.

You have a link? I'd like to read that speech.

[Avilan the Grey]

Scariest though is that the stupid idea of the "fake" is getting traction. Admittedly if you do a poll, a lot more people that actually believe it is a fake will show up than what the actual percentage of the population is, but when a Swedish newspaper did an online poll 40% thought it was fake.

:eek::frown:

[Serpentine]

That reminds me. An ad for Catalyst has got me wondering, what did he/they say just before saying that?

[Ichneumon]

Found them http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0808051apollo1.html

[The Bushranger]

I've often mused that I live 40 years too late...

[Ravens_cry]

I've often mused that I live 40 years too late...

You lived in a time when photos could from a moon orbiting spacecraft, taking pictures of artefacts almost 40 years old could be seen and shared world wide. That's pretty special I would say.
www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html

[Random832]

You have a link? I'd like to read that speech.

More readable copy than the typewriter scan at the other link: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/In_Event_of_Moon_Disaster

[Haruki-kun]

Scariest though is that the stupid idea of the "fake" is getting traction. Admittedly if you do a poll, a lot more people that actually believe it is a fake will show up than what the actual percentage of the population is, but when a Swedish newspaper did an online poll 40% thought it was fake.

:eek::frown:

People mostly say it's fake because they love the whole concept of the conspiracy theory.

I read a while ago that there was one event that couldn't be faked: when Neil Armstrong steps on the moon and dust flies up. It rises easily because of the lack of gravity, but falls back down quickly because of the lack of air resistance. Supposedly, you couldn't fake this on Earth.

You couldn't fake this on Earth, period.

[Crimmy]

Not supposedly, my dear 'Ruki.

Truth is, people don't believe because they think being "conspiratory" is actually either "good" or "hip".
One of my friends doesn't believe in the moon landings because.
Just "because".

And then he rambles on and on that the moon was set in a studio, that the "photos of the earth" are fake, they just got one great artist to draw it and use it as background.

In my opinion, mankind has reached far enough to get to the moon. I believe that was real.

[Pyrian]

I read a while ago that there was one event that couldn't be faked: when Neil Armstrong steps on the moon and dust flies up. It rises easily because of the lack of gravity, but falls back down quickly because of the lack of air resistance. Supposedly, you couldn't fake this on Earth.

You couldn't fake this on Earth, period.Heh, that's kind of subtle. The same effect is a lot less subtle when they're riding around in the buggy kicking up a ton of dust none of which billows. While technically fakeable, creating a vacuum chamber large enough to produce the footage involved would have been a feat comparable to going to the moon, anyway. Also dramatically contradicts the flag-waving bit, which is what gets most people: if they staged this in a vacuum studio (which they'd've had to, to prevent all atmospheric billowing) then the flag waving in the wind couldn't have happened, either.

[RTGoodman]

Some other neat Apollo/moon-landing related news I just saw - the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken some nice high-resolution photos of the Apollo landing sites (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2009/07/17/apollo-landing-sites-imaged-by-lro/), and their good enough pics that you can actually see the abandoned part of the landing craft from Apollo 11, and the landing craft, tools, and BOOTPRINTS from Apollo 14. Very cool stuff.

[Metal Head]

I've always wondered if the "we never landed on the moon" rumors were a result of the cold war. Simply, the claim usually is that the moon landings were faked to win the space race. So, perhaps the USSR decided to start spreading these rumors in a subtle manner as a method of making this accomplishment seem less significant? It wouldn't be very difficult. They would only need for their agents to start mentioning it around people. It's certainly a much more plausible conspiracy theory, although I don't think I could really prove it. Still, it's an interesting possibility. And it would be hilarious if it was true, because so many people would believe a conspiracy theory because of an actual conspiracy.

[charl]

I've always wondered if the "we never landed on the moon" rumors were a result of the cold war. Simply, the claim usually is that the moon landings were faked to win the space race. So, perhaps the USSR decided to start spreading these rumors in a subtle manner as a method of making this accomplishment seem less significant? It wouldn't be very difficult. They would only need for their agents to start mentioning it around people. It's certainly a much more plausible conspiracy theory, although I don't think I could really prove it. Still, it's an interesting possibility. And it would be hilarious if it was true, because so many people would believe a conspiracy theory because of an actual conspiracy.

The Soviets have been accused of doing stuff like that in the past. Check this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet-run_peace_movements_in_Western_Europe_and_the_Unit ed_States) out for example.

[Miklus]

Those consiracy people are so annoying. But at least NASA got the moon rocks to prove that they have been there. They where kind enough to give a few to other nations. So unless you think most of the worlds geologists are in on it...

Where is that clip...ah, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

I feel a lot better already.

[Supagoof]

I still look out my window at it and think, wow, thats alot of cheese.
Year ago we though the moon was made of cheese. Then we raced to the moon, discovered it wasn't, and haven't gone back.

Behold the power of Cheese!

((One of my favorite commercials.))

[Ravens_cry]

In just a couple of hours, at 10:17 pm, UTC ,40 years ago, the footpads of the LM will set down in the Sea of Tranquillity.

[Szilard]

By my reckoning, it happened 55ish minutes ago. 50 by forum time.

[Ichneumon]

By my reckoning, it happened 55ish minutes ago. 50 by forum time.

My calculations as well.

[KerfuffleMach2]

One comment I have to make about the most common "The moon landing was faked" theories.

Mythbusters.

They had an episode dedicated to the more commonly found theories. The dust was one, as was the flag waving. Others included actually leaving a footprint, the way the light reflects off the surface of the moon, and how they walked up there.

All theories against the landing were proved false.

So, yeah.

[Szilard]

One comment I have to make about the most common "The moon landing was faked" theories.

Mythbusters.

They had an episode dedicated to the more commonly found theories. The dust was one, as was the flag waving. Others included actually leaving a footprint, the way the light reflects off the surface of the moon, and how they walked up there.

All theories against the landing were proved false.

So, yeah.

They also proved that they could technically fake it...
Except for the reflective things on the moon.

[chiasaur11]

One comment I have to make about the most common "The moon landing was faked" theories.

Mythbusters.

They had an episode dedicated to the more commonly found theories. The dust was one, as was the flag waving. Others included actually leaving a footprint, the way the light reflects off the surface of the moon, and how they walked up there.

All theories against the landing were proved false.

So, yeah.

Obviously, they're in on it.

For example, the so called "Grant Imahara"?

Robot MIB agent made of spiders.

[KerfuffleMach2]

They also proved that they could technically fake it...
Except for the reflective things on the moon.

*opens mouth to say something, pauses, closes mouth and looks grumpy*

Curse you...

[Mando Knight]

Those consiracy people are so annoying. But at least NASA got the moon rocks to prove that they have been there. They where kind enough to give a few to other nations. So unless you think most of the worlds geologists are in on it...

Where is that clip...ah, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOo6aHSY8hU

I feel a lot better already.

First rule of conspiracy theories: anyone who offers any evidence against your conspiracy, regardless of how well-grounded it is, is either part of the conspiracy, or completely deceived by those who are.

[Phase]

Oh, those guys? Yeah, they landed. Pretty surprising, it seemed like only yesterday you were a bunch of scaly rats.

[Recaiden]

First rule of conspiracy theories: anyone who offers any evidence against your conspiracy, regardless of how well-grounded it is, is either part of the conspiracy, or completely deceived by those who are.

Yeah. All those people who claim the moon isn't a giant light made to create the illusion of a round earth.:smalltongue:

[Avilan the Grey]

Personally I have found that most (Swedish) conspiracy believers threat the whole thing more or less like a religious belief. Sometimes all the way up to "I know it doesn't make sense but I want to believe it is a fake, because it is nice to believe in something." (Actual quote from one believer on a Swedish forum, after being hammered by facts for two days).

Others are less obvious, but the way they refuse to even touch actual facts (be it the moon landing, or Area 51) is very similar to religious extremists.

Btw: Swedish Television did a wonderful spoof a few years back, a faked documentary that "proved" that the Wold Cup 1950 was not played in Sweden but in fact in the US (complete with the players of the Swedish team swearing they were actually in Stockholm and playing soccer at the time). It was hilarious and very well done, plus it shows how easy it is to get a rumor going