Re: Moon Landings Faked?
Responding to a couple of aphh's posts in one post for efficiency:
aphh":26zqfckn said:
For example, in Apollo 11 images there are no vistas or backgrounds at all in the images. Vistas and sceneries only appeared in later missions, as if the imaging techniques got progressively better.
No, the still cameras they brought on all the missions were all the same. Good cameras, too, made by Hassleblad, but customized. (Less weight per frame than off-the-shelf cameras and film, and designed to tolerate the thermal conditions. Hassleblad still supplies cameras to NASA.) The difference is the location. The first three missions all landed in plains. The J-series missions were much more capable and landed in rougher, more interesting terrain.
If you think it's odd to have no vista in the background, you should come visit South Dakota sometime. ;-) It's got some bumpy bits, but there are many areas with no "vistas" -- just endless ground.
For me the enthusiasm about the Apollo mission was lost as soon as I learned about the very strong Free Mason aspect, that was involved. You might be interested in learning, that besides the U.S. flag, they also planted a flag of the Free Masons.
I don't believe in secret societies, and especially I am allergic to secret societies controlling governments.
I also loathe the idea of secret societies controlling governments, but I need a bit more evidence than that to conclude that a mysterious conspiracy is controlling our government. And that picture indeed does not prove that a flag of the Free Masons was planted in a manner similar to the US flag, which seems to be what you're implying. That claim is contradicted by the photographic evidence -- there's only flagpole at each Apollo site, and it flies Old Glory.
What *is* happening in that picture is a bit less interesting -- Aldrin is doing a publicity bit for NASA. Starting I believe in the Gemini days (initially unofficially), astronauts have been allowed to bring along stuff of no real value to the mission just for sentimental purposes. From NASA's perspective, it has the value of publicizing the mission relatively cheaply. It also helps humanize things, which is often appreciated not only by the astronauts but also the rank-and-file on the ground. It's a big enough deal now that Space Shuttles usually have at least one locker stuffed with things being flown purely for sentimental reasons -- US flags, state flags, flags of foreign powers, Boy Scout badges, dozens of extra mission patches, books, CDs, and so on. (Granted, for the Shuttle, this stuff has the extra function of ballast to maintain a proper COG.) Shuttle and ISS astronauts also get to bring stuff on their own discretion in their baggage, of course, and you'll occasionally see some of this stuff (the ballast or the personal effects) turning up for sale, billed as "actually flown on STS-XX!" or somesuch, neglecting to mention that it likely never saw the light of day during the mission. One of the more interesting items flown this way on the Shuttle was the famous flag found by firefighters combing the debris of the World Trade Center after 9/11. It remained stowed for the entire flight, but symbolically at least it flew over the entire world for a while....
Side-note: this practice isn't limited to NASA. I have an American flag that was billed as "flown over Iraq by the USAF". One might draw the conclusion that it was flown in combat by some hot-shot fighter pilot, but this is untrue. It was packed into a drone as ballast, accompanying it on a single patrol mission. Flags get unofficially flown this way quite frequently, turning them into souvenirs for airmen and their families.
Nor is it just American. The Russians do it too. One of the quirkier examples is the object used as a crude accelerometer during a Soyuz ascent. Though there are more sophisticated instruments provided, the cosmonauts also like to hang an object on a bungee in the capsule, making it very obvious when they are rising and when they are in freefall. It's a different object each time, chosen by the cosmonauts themselves, sort of personalizing the capsule. They take it down once in orbit, though.
I don't know what became of the Mason flag that went on Apollo 11 -- whether it was returned to Earth, tossed out with the trash before liftoff, or left with the LM ascent stage to crash on the Moon. But it was certainly not alone in the category of goofy sentimental items brought on the mission as part of an astronaut's personal effects. It would be interesting to see if there's a complete list someone on the Web (there probably is) of all the stuff they brought along, and its final disposition.
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