by stickdog99 » Sun Apr 16, 2006 11:25 am
Does it seem strange to anyone else that the same organization that sent 5 successful orbiters to the Moon in 5 attempts almost 40 years ago, then had a run of 6 successful manned flights to the Moon in 7 attempts over 30 years ago has never returned to the closest terrestrial body and the site of its greatest triumphs once in the last 33+ years for <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>any</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> extremely high resolution photographic or sample return experiments? Consider that the 5 successful lunar orbiter missions that NASA managed 40 years ago returned data with photographic resolution of less than 1 meter, but the best 1994's Clementine orbiter could supposedly do (AFAICT) was 20 meters per pixel, and 1998's Lunar Prospector didn't even have a visible light camera.<br><br>Before anyone jumps down my throat for being or not being a Moon hoax believer, please be advised that I don't play those games. I don't want to know why some people think the Moon landings were a hoax, nor why others have wasted hundreds of hours of their lives debunking the claims of the Moon hoax proclaimers.<br><br>Instead, what I'm interested in is any unambiguous evidence that exists that confirms that Apollo missions 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 or 17 actually landed men on the moon. Lunar reflectors aren't satisfactory because any non-manned Moon landing or (even perhaps even orbiter) mission could have placed them.<br><br>For example:<br><br>Is there any non-Apollo generated photographic evidence of any of the Apollo mission's lunar rovers or SIVB's that were supposedly left on the Moon?<br><br>Is there a single Apollo lunar return sample that isn't completely contaminated by the unmistakable signatures of live or dead microbes? What is the same/different about the composition of Moon meteorites, Apollo lunar return rock samples and the USSR's Luna lunar return samples?<br><br>Did Apollo astronauts leave any scientific sensors on the Moon that couldn't have been dropped by orbiters or placed by unmanned landers? If so, did we ever learn anything unexpected from these instruments?<br><br>Are there even any decent quality pictures that show Apollo astronauts, the Moon's surface AND the Earth and/or stars in them? How about a picture of an astronaut examining a crater formation up close and personal?<br><br>To me, what makes the Moon hoax stuff interesting is that it proves just how little meat it takes to get both a vocal minority to believe in a vast conspiracy AND an even more vocal chorus to decry this minority as looney. I mean, if NASA astronauts actually went to the Moon 6 times 30 years ago, wouldn't you think that there MUST be some sort of simple and inexpensive experiment that has already been done or that can be done now to unequivocally demonstrate as much? But instead of simply performing this experiment or highlighting the results of any such experiments already performed, we are treated to a "controversy" that consists of a few people claiming the landings were a hoax using a mixture of arguments that run the gamut from legitimate questions to obvious mis&disinformation along with a slick crew of supposed conventional-wisdom-defending hobbyists who typically do nothing more than highlight and debunk the hoaxers' mis&disinformation claims.<br><br>Some legitimate questions about the Apollo flights, IMHO:<br><br>Did the astronauts take any photos of both themselves and the Moon, Earth, Sun and/or stars on their way to or from the Moon? If so, where are these photos?<br><br>Where are astronauts' photos of what the sky looks like from the Moon's surface? How about just one that points up? How about just one that shows another astronaut with a giant sized Earth in the background rising or setting?<br><br>Some Apollo photos, for amusement purposes only:<br><br>Weird flag<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS11-37-5545.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS11-40-5875.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Weird shadows<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS15-85-11514.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Where are the stars?<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS12-46-6749.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Did this thing really successfully land on and take off from the Moon with people inside of it 6 out of 7 times over 30 years ago?<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS17-134-20481.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Is that a string?<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/S72-35611.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br><br>Ed Wood, is that you?<br><br><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/lores/AS12-51-7507.jpg"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--> <p></p><i></i>
