Reply to: 1 in 4 brits think moon landings a hoax!

[NotAllThere]

That's less stupid than believing in ghosts or worshipping fictional supernatural entities, IMO.

Is it as stupid as worshipping non-fictional supernatural entities?

[DimPrawn]

1 in 4 brits think moon landings a hoax!

That just goes to show how staggering stupid the British public are.

I mean, 3 out of 4 believing the US landed men on the moon.

[DaveB]

They some numpty conspiracy theorist on R4 this morning. Was very evaisive when asked if he thought the moon landings actually happened and had to be cornered and asked the direct question before he would answer.

Tried to argue that it couldnt have happened because the photographs taken were too good given the conditions they were taken under.

The sceptic came accross as a bit of an anorak over all.

Listen to it here at 1:20:00

[bogeyman]

Agreed - the Cold War had many negatives but getting people into space was a positive.

Wasn't there a Apollo(?) / Soyuz experiment where the USA / USSR docked in earth orbit?

Yes. Correct.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo-Soyuz_Test_Project

[AlfredJPruffock]

Agreed - the Cold War had many negatives but getting people into space was a positive.

Wasn't there a Apollo(?) / Soyuz experiment where the USA / USSR docked in earth orbit?

Perhaps you are thinking of the IKI/NASA mission back in 1975 - which was inspired by a Hollywood movie !

In the early 1970s, the Nixon administration sought to reduce U.S.-Soviet tensions, and launched a major effort to reach a strategic arms limitation breakthrough, as well as new cooperation in space. In 1970, during a meeting with Keldysh, U.S. Academy of Sciences President Philip Handler mentioned an American movie starring Gregory Peck and Gene Hackman called Marooned, in which Soviet cosmonauts helped rescue three U.S. astronauts stranded in Earth orbit.

Handler suggested the United States and U.S.S.R. develop a mutually com-patible docking system that would make possible such rescues, as well as non-emergency space dock-ings.

This imaginary movie scenario touched a chord within space communities on both sides, which already had experienced emergency situations in real life. Talks led to the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project docking mission of 1975, which developed compatible rendezvous and docking systems still in use today, and the establishment of a few topical working groups in different space science and applications disciplines.


For further reading on IKI/NASA COld War Space Co-Operation

http://www.nasa.gov/50th/50th_magazine/coldWarCoOp.html

OS I should add to my previous list of post-Apollo space marvels - Mir the Russian Space Station - an incredible feat of engineering

[Menelaus]

Agreed - the Cold War had many negatives but getting people into space was a positive.

Wasn't there a Apollo(?) / Soyuz experiment where the USA / USSR docked in earth orbit?

[AlfredJPruffock]

ISS has been incredibly late and expensive. It's scheduled to be dropped into the sea in 2015 (although this could be just polictal posturing).

The ISS has been operational for quite some time - yes further module expansions are underway - the current module being assembled by the Japanase Space Agency - but I would venture the ISS has been an extraordinary success - without the ISS Europe would not have an astronaut corps (and this has been extened recently with the first British ESA astronaut who after trainiing will visit the ISS). Timothy Peake was a former British Army Helicopter Instructor - Im sure we all wish him the very best for the tough challanges ahead during his astronaut training.

it is incredible to withness the spirit of international co-operation with Russian American Japanese and European astronauts working in space together - perhaps gives us hope for our divided World .

40 years ago at the height of the Cold War world . the ISS would have been an unmaginable concept - but there it is - right now as you read this - with all those brave astronauts on board orbiting above our wee blue planet - and I find that marvellous.

With the shuttle progam in its sunset - the ISS is the only practical platform for NASA and ESA astronauts - in fact post shuttle the NASA astronauts can only board the ISS with the Russians Vostok launchers - that is why I suggest there is a real future for the ISS - furthermore I predict that the Chinese will come onboard by 2015 .


Finally we should not forget the other many Space marvels post the Apollo program - one being the joint NASA/ESA mission - Huygens/Cassini - not only is Cassini still sending astonishing information about Saturn and its Moons- we managed to land a probe on Titan - that was an amazing feat.

[Menelaus]

Arsmtrong was once asked- do you want to be the first man on the Moon - his reply 'No - I want to be the first man back from the Moon' .

Cool guy .

As to why we have not been back - as I explained earlier - there were other new areas gor NASA to explore which took priority - the Universe is Infinite but budgets are not - finally the Appolo mission achieved its objectives.

Tomorrow night Im watching a special screening of 'Shadow of the Moon' , theres a short talk before the movie by NASA's Scott Milligan who trained the Appolo Astronauts.

Wow - cant wait !!!

*jealouses*

[Menelaus]

Hubble was a fantastic NASA program - (btw the European Space Agency donates aournd 20 per cent of the funding as well) - its recent upgrade means that there s still plenty of life for the Hubble.

And as impressive that Hubble is my esteemed Menelaus - just wait a few weeks until ESA's Herschel and Planck Space Telescopes start their operations - you ain't seen nothing yet!

This sounds like the voice of insider knowledge ... RAL, perhaps?

[AlfredJPruffock]

Indeed. I may have read it here or elsewhere that Armstrong and Aldrin believed on entry to the capsule of Apollo 11 that they have a 50:50 chance of making it back alive.

Some years ago a journalist asked Neil Armstrong what happened to his dream for the moon? His answer: "it's still alive". I fail to see why it is that he's not making noise as an Independent to the effect of "WTF? - it's been 40 years, why haven't we been back?"

Arsmtrong was once asked- do you want to be the first man on the Moon - his reply 'No - I want to be the first man back from the Moon' .

Cool guy .

As to why we have not been back - as I explained earlier - there were other new areas gor NASA to explore which took priority - the Universe is Infinite but budgets are not - finally the Appolo mission achieved its objectives.

Tomorrow night Im watching a special screening of 'Shadow of the Moon' , theres a short talk before the movie by NASA's Scott Milligan who trained the Appolo Astronauts.

Wow - cant wait !!!

[AlfredJPruffock]

The question of the Mars Orbiters' ensplatterment on the surface of Mars was tragic but am I the only person that saw it and had a wry smile thinking "how on earth could they be quite so dumb?".

Hubble is absolutely the most important piece of science technology of the second half of the 20thC. It's images are brilliant.

Hubble was a fantastic NASA program - (btw the European Space Agency donates aournd 20 per cent of the funding as well) - its recent upgrade means that there s still plenty of life for the Hubble.

And as impressive that Hubble is my esteemed Menelaus - just wait a few weeks until ESA's Herschel and Planck Space Telescopes start their operations - you ain't seen nothing yet!

[Menelaus]

No, which is why people wonder how we made it to the moon...

Indeed. I may have read it here or elsewhere that Armstrong and Aldrin believed on entry to the capsule of Apollo 11 that they have a 50:50 chance of making it back alive.

Some years ago a journalist asked Neil Armstrong what happened to his dream for the moon? His answer: "it's still alive". I fail to see why it is that he's not making noise as an Independent to the effect of "WTF? - it's been 40 years, why haven't we been back?"

[centurian]

The question of the Mars Orbiters' ensplatterment on the surface of Mars was tragic but am I the only person that saw it and had a wry smile thinking "how on earth could they be quite so dumb?"

No, which is why people wonder how we made it to the moon...

[Menelaus]

But even those don't have umblemished records. The Hubble lens didn't work when they put it up there*. ISS has been incredibly late and expensive. It's scheduled to be dropped into the sea in 2015 (although this could be just polictal posturing).

Then there's the Beagle2 fiasco - and the NASA mars orbiter where one contractor used metric and another used imperial - result... splat...

And NASA's incompetance in two space shuttle disasters -ignoring the warning signs.

And this is all with supercomputers**. Your mobile phone has more processing power than Apollo 11.

It's not surprising the people look at this and think... "If they have so much trouble getting it up now... how the f*** did they do it in 1969."



* Since Hubble has been fixed, it's probably been the single most important piece of space technology ever built. Told us more about the universe than anything else.

** Although in the Columbia disaster, NASA said that they had done a risk assessment and 'modelled' the impact of the frozen foam hitting the orbiter and determined it posed no threat. This conjures up images of a bank of Cray supercomputers crunching zillions of calculations to determine speed, kinetic energy etc..... no - the 'modelling' was a spreadsheet on a laptop

The question of the Mars Orbiters' ensplatterment on the surface of Mars was tragic but am I the only person that saw it and had a wry smile thinking "how on earth could they be quite so dumb?".

Hubble is absolutely the most important piece of science technology of the second half of the 20thC. It's images are brilliant.

[centurian]

As for technolgy projects failing ... the ISS is still up there and doing incredilbly well - the European Space Agencies recent Space telescopes Herchel and Planck recent succesful launch after 20 years of design will soon unravel some of our greatest Cosmological questions concerning the Creation of the Universe and the Formation of Stars and Galaxies ...

But even those don't have umblemished records. The Hubble lens didn't work when they put it up there*. ISS has been incredibly late and expensive. It's scheduled to be dropped into the sea in 2015 (although this could be just polictal posturing).

Then there's the Beagle2 fiasco - and the NASA mars orbiter where one contractor used metric and another used imperial - result... splat...

And NASA's incompetance in two space shuttle disasters -ignoring the warning signs.

And this is all with supercomputers**. Your mobile phone has more processing power than Apollo 11.

It's not surprising the people look at this and think... "If they have so much trouble getting it up now... how the f*** did they do it in 1969."



* Since Hubble has been fixed, it's probably been the single most important piece of space technology ever built. Told us more about the universe than anything else.

** Although in the Columbia disaster, NASA said that they had done a risk assessment and 'modelled' the impact of the frozen foam hitting the orbiter and determined it posed no threat. This conjures up images of a bank of Cray supercomputers crunching zillions of calculations to determine speed, kinetic energy etc..... no - the 'modelling' was a spreadsheet on a laptop