Did man really land on the moon??

[Macavity]

For me an interesting question is, why do so many people doubt it?

From Towering human achievements to the most mundane of personal talents, the cry is ever: "FAKE"! I guess *I* (my whole generation) were more trusting - Probably quite frequently "screwed" (sorry, Mods!)! But what effort (misery?) to be constantly in a state of vigilance...

[661-pete]

For me an interesting question is, why do so many people doubt it?

Like Macavity above, I think 'Capricorn One' had a lot to do with it. I've watched it lots of times, and find it a very entertaining film - certainly memorable scenes in it (the one that sticks in my mind is the shot of the vultures that transmogrify into helicopters). [Apologies if this is a spoiler, but I reckon that most SGLers will have seen the movie].

One interesting point is that in 'Capricorn', the spaceflight organisation nearly blows its cover apart, when a lowly technician spots that some telemetry is arriving from the spacecraft 'too early' (from Mars, there ought to be a several minutes' delay). The said technician has to be 'removed' by the mob to safeguard the cover. At least NASA didn't make that mistake when they broadcast communications with the Moon (about 2 seconds delay)!

[Essex Stargazer]

BBC News - Probe pictures Moon landing sites

[Superewza]

I hope I haven't repeated this

Oh, don't worry, it's only the fourth time

Frankly those who claim that the Apollo missions were 'impossible' clearly have a very limited understanding of the mission itself and physics in general, and as such their convictions are practically baseless. I guess they're only so convinced for the same reasons that lead people to believe in other imaginary creations than accepted scientific truth.

[ScubaMike]

From memory a documentary I watched said the moon walkers could only spend small amounts of time on the surface as they found it such hard work getting about. This if correct would seem to contradict the environment mentioned in the thread. Vacuum means less resistance and so easier to move through coupled with less gravity surly would make for a Super Armstrong ? An astronaut can walk in a space suit on earth but has to loped on the moon?

Mass and inertia remain the same, but the weight of the astronauts was 1/6th. Therefore, they had to overcome the same inertia, with 1/6th of the gravity that they were used to. Which would mean that everything was *different* to what they were used to.

Sure, they had a few days of zero-G in which time they learned to compensate, so they come over as coping with the changes, but they didn't spend that amount of time on the surface moving around, so it would have been tiring compensating continually.

Think how difficult it is to walk quickly when in water up to your chest, the resistance if greater I know, so its not a close analogy, but the fact that it is a different environment may be experienced. Imagine doing that, with a large cumbersome spacesuit (which also added to the inertia) in a hostile environment.... I think I'd be tired.

[Superewza]

Tired? Maybe. But without one Buzz Aldrin developing basically the foundation of all modern day EVA training and protocol it's unlikely that we would have been able to do it at all - early spacewalks were wrought with trouble as soon as they were given an actual task. But Buzz realized that through neutral buoyancy training (he was a diver i believe) and the fact that instead of fighting zero g and using all your energy you can use it to your advantage.

[Axe]

Once someone told me that in dubai there are buildings hundreds of feet in the air!...and then,get this...he showed me pictures and said ''see thats proof!''...but of course we all know if you build something higher than a water tower we will hit the Van Allen belt which floats just above our flat earth..but i found a flaw...the shadow was wrong...so its fake! :)

its true guys..every tall building is just a fake as i have never seen one! ;p

[spaceboy]

Mass and inertia remain the same, but the weight of the astronauts was 1/6th. Therefore, they had to overcome the same inertia, with 1/6th of the gravity that they were used to. Which would mean that everything was *different* to what they were used to.

Sure, they had a few days of zero-G in which time they learned to compensate, so they come over as coping with the changes, but they didn't spend that amount of time on the surface moving around, so it would have been tiring compensating continually.

Think how difficult it is to walk quickly when in water up to your chest, the resistance if greater I know, so its not a close analogy, but the fact that it is a different environment may be experienced. Imagine doing that, with a large cumbersome spacesuit (which also added to the inertia) in a hostile environment.... I think I'd be tired.

Thanks Mike and everyone else for your help. I had to sleep on it last night but I think it's kind of making sense now. While I doubt I'd pass an exam paper on the subject I sure I might now get at least some of the questions right

Saying this.... how come the hammer and the feather fall at the same rate even though the pull gravity is the same for both. The hammer has more mass so would the inertia not be larger ? Would this be due to the vacuum and subsequently the feather has no air to hold it ??? The mass would still be way less than the hammer though ??

[themos]

even though the pull gravity is the same for both

It is not! Their weight is proportional to their inertia.

[ScubaMike]

Think how difficult it is to walk quickly when in water up to your chest, the resistance if greater I know, so its not a close analogy, but the fact that it is a different environment may be experienced. Imagine doing that, with a large cumbersome spacesuit (which also added to the inertia) in a hostile environment.... I think I'd be tired.

Maybe a better analogy would be wading in moving water up to your chest. The flow of water would mimic the inertia you had to compensate for, while not having the traction due to your bouyancy. Again, not a really close analogy, but gives another mental picture.

I can see it clearly in my mind, but its not easy to put into words.

[great_bear]

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[spaceboy]

I want to go back to school. I miss those science experiments. It was so much easier to see the effects than try to picture them in my head.

[great_bear]

From memory a documentary I watched said the moon walkers could only spend small amounts of time on the surface as they found it such hard work getting about. This if correct would seem to contradict the environment mentioned in the thread. Vacuum means less resistance and so easier to move

Hi - you're getting bogged down in details which aren't really important. Air resistance - or lack of it - isn't really the main factor here at all.

Without the gravity of earth, it's just a lot harder for your boots to get the traction (grip) that you're typically used to when walking. Coupled with the powdery nature of the surface, then the whole thing's just very hard work.

You can experience this for yourself. Just try walking across a very, very dry, sandy beach like Bournemouth. It's very hard work. Now imagine doing so if you were lifted up on a wire so your feet were only lightly touching the sand. I feel exhausted just thinking about it.

[jango fett]

man utd 8 Arsenal 2 down to earth everyone

[swamp thing]

man utd 8 Arsenal 2

Who cares?

[tyler_jrb]

Many factors to be played here obviously the moons gravity is still pulling the person down onto the surface of the moon, If you was in space you are right you would just float but as there is gravity you wouldnt on the moon. The other thing is how can you move through a vacuum? Well its the same as space expanding into nothing many people think it cannot expand into nothing but it can because they understand it wrong. Its like grabbing hold of a tennis ball in a room the space that is expanding and that has been created is the tennis ball whereas the space between the tennis ball and the walls is empty space, you can move that tennis ball any where in the room. basically the meaning of nothing is just empty space, so it can still expand into the empty space like blowing a baloon up. The same was as you say the moon has no atmosphere how do you move? easily remember what i just told you its empty space meaning no particles the suit protects the person. just because there are no particles and it is a vaccum doesnt mean you cannot move. although it would be harder. .

[spaceboy]

Apollo Moon astronaut falls flat on his face! - YouTube sorry but I couldn't help it.

It is not! Their weight is proportional to their inertia.

I get there is a theory behind this that was proven

but in real simple terms why is it this happens and how dose this relate to an astronaut walking on the moon. Would a guy of large build find it as easy to walk on the moon as a thin built guy.

[Superewza]

Apollo Moon astronaut falls flat on his face! - YouTube sorry but I couldn't help it.

NiJ54Jj2rck

[spaceboy]

NiJ54Jj2rck

God help them if they ever do decide to build a lunar base.

[Axe]

new idea for nasa...magnetic kneecaps!!!

[Dave R]

I think it also has to do with Hubble is geared up to explore deep space and the moon is simply too close to show any detail.

It took an image of Copernicus crater.

(The Apollo hardware is far too small to be seen by Hubble -- it can resolve down to about 90 meters on the moon.)

[Dave R]

Apollo Moon astronaut falls flat on his face! - YouTube sorry but I couldn't help it.

The

was pretty impressive too.

[Dave R]

Van Allen radiation belt how did they not get fried ?

Here's what Dr Van Allen himself had to say about it...

"The recent Fox TV show, which I saw, is an ingenious and entertaining assemblage of nonsense. The claim that radiation exposure during the Apollo missions would have been fatal to the astronauts is only one example of such nonsense." -- Dr. James Van Allen

Clavius: Environment - radiation and the van allen belts

[bamus]

small OT:

- Houston, Houston, we have got a problem! Russian are already here and are painting Moon red! What shall we do?

- Wait!

After a while

- It all over now. Moon is all red and Russian are gone. Are we going back too?

- No. Land and paint “Coca Cola” sing all over the surface.