Apollo Moon Landing: Giant Leap or Giant Hoax?

[*Bob*]

We have made some giant leaps since then.

Lest we forget the Beagle 2 mission to Mars, led by that farmer, Colin Pillinger. A Very British Expedition.

[SeanMacGabhann]

We are going to other planets for more food? We have plenty here! We just haven't found a way of sharing it (Big Lunch today notwithstanding!) - it'll be the same should we "make it" anywhere else. "Virus with shoes" as Agent Smith says...

I know I'm coming across as a killjoy here but it was about whether the landing was a hoax or not. Umm.. will you believe me if I say I'm actually in a great mood?

Marmora Man - absolutely true about Fort William of course. I had a great time up there - but the town itself when I first drove there? Several scenes from Trainspotting came to mind

[Maurice]

If solving the world's hunger and related ills was as easy as cutting space funding and using it to buy rice, I would be all for it.

Sadly, we all know that is an ill thought out solution, which would not work.

[SeanMacGabhann]

I hope you don't think I'm suggesting it's that simple. But I am saying we haven't made any great leaps as a species because of space exploration

[*Bob*]

Velcro?

[woofmarkthedog]

So this is a hoax ?

Oh I'm confused now!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cult/classic/clangers/intro.shtml

[????]

teflon

[woofmarkthedog]

Rocket WD40

[????]

nails

[*Bob*]

Just imagine all the wonderful things we could do today, if we hadn't spent all that money on the Apollo missions.

The world's largest bouncy castle, four miles high, situation in Orkney.

A tunnel under Belgium.

A personal jetpack for every British Citizen over the age of 13.

Pay U2 not to make any more records.

[bigbadwolf]

Blue tac?

H.D TV?

Did you all know that humans know more about the galaxy than we do about under our Oceans.

[Keef]

Disclaimer: I was joking about the rice thing.

[woofmarkthedog]

Keef Wrote:

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> Disclaimer: I was joking about the rice thing.

Oh no I liked the rice thing "rocket,rice an peas" yea man!

[Andystar]

you lot are forgetting the greatest achievement, that famous NASA space pen, that you could buy in argos, that can write underwater ( v useful if they ever find some on mars ) & do all sorts of other stuff. I love the fact that it cost lots to develop & the russians just took pencils

[Andystar]

Andystar Wrote:

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> you lot are forgetting the greatest achievement,

> that famous NASA space pen, that you could buy in

> argos, that can write underwater ( v useful if

> they ever find some on mars ) & do all sorts of

> other stuff. I love the fact that it cost lots to

> develop & the russians just took pencils

Damn, i was just looking for a pic & have now found out that its a hoax, damn you bloody internet...

In conclusion, there was obviously no point in going to the moon

[*Bob*]

That one's an urban Myth, I'm afraid Andy

http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp

[woofmarkthedog]

Ah ha Andystar........

You're a nooob h h head .ne ne ne ne na

[Sandperson]

I dare you to ask Buzz..

[mattham]

I used to think I could do without the products the space race gave us (even Rocket WD40, which is great on my bike), but SatNav is pretty bloody useful. I don't know if it justifies the billions spent though. Space exploration may just be the biggest vanity project in history.

[HAL9000]

I stayed up late and watched the 1969 landing with my dad - the event had a profound effect on my life. So much so that I am now a consultant to a foundation who's objective is to launch a manned mission beyond the solar system. That position has brought into sharp focus the huge scale and nature of the technological difficulties posed by manned space travel.

I have come to the conclusion that lay observers cannot now know with any certainty whether the Apollo moon landings were genuine or staged. Ignoring the obvious nonsense there are persuasive arguments on both sides. NASA has never formally refuted the objections. None of the orbital lunar mappers have conclusively identified any landing sites despite having equal or greater resolution than earth mapping satellites while orbiting at much lower altitudes. Yet, one can clearly see motor cars - which are about the same size as the lunar lander's launch platform - on Google Earth's satellite images.

2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968. It features a special effects-generated representation of the lunar landscape that remains unsurpassed to this day. Its production cost was $10 million. NASA had a budget of some $25 billion (~$136 billion in 2007 Dollars). That sort of money could buy an awful lot of special effects. I just don?t know.

[*Bob*]

mattham Wrote:

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Space exploration may just be the

> biggest vanity project in history.

It's hardly any different from having a big old war, most of which are also vanity projects.

[woofmarkthedog]

I *Bob* just a different body count, did anyone get shot or blown up on the moon ...?

Now there's a movie "Moon wars" waiting to be made Eh?

[*Bob*]

HAL9000 Wrote:

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> 2001: A Space Odyssey was released in 1968. It

> features a special effects-generated

> representation of the lunar landscape that remains

> unsurpassed to this day.

Well, not really.

I saw '2001', coincidentally, on Friday and the BFI.

I also went to the lunar photographic exhibition at the Hayward gallery.

One is a film with special effects.

The other was pictures taken on the moon.

It was pretty obvious.

[macroban]

You don't actually think they spend $20,000.00 on a hammer, $30,000.00 on a toilet seat do you?

[HAL9000]

*Bob* Wrote:

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> One is a film with special effects.

> The other was pictures taken on the moon.

>

> It was pretty obvious.

A lay observer couldn't prove the location of those pictures to a scientific standard, though. As things stand, it's still a matter of faith. I'm sure Kubrick could have faked some pretty convincing lunarscapes with a fraction of NASA's budget, if he'd been given the opportunity.