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Conspiracy Theorists, Meet The Moon

Spock the Baptist writes "You can read about an article entitled: "Telescope to challenge moon doubters" in the online edition of Sydney Morning Herald. The SMH reports that, "European scientists are to use the world's newest and largest telescope to see whether the spacecraft are still on the lunar surface." Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?"

504 comments

  1. Doesn't matter by ewithrow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?

    No, these people just want attention, they don't care if they're wrong or not.

    1. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful
      You mean "they don't caare that they're wrong."

      Moon doubters are wrong. No doubt about it. They know it themselves.

    2. Re:Doesn't matter by ewithrow · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Yes, that is what I mean, I was just trying to point out that either way there will always be the naysayers. The best thing to do is to probably ignore them instead of investing time and money that could be better used elsewhere, like actual research in the case of the telescope.

    3. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      The Moon is a Ridiculous Liberal Myth!

    4. Re:Doesn't matter by AvitarX · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I disagree, some photos of the moon lander taken from earth would be really cool IMHO.

      Even if there were no doubters I think it would be a cool thing to do.

      --
      Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
    5. Re:Doesn't matter by Annoyed+Coward · · Score: 1

      The commercial moon mission probably is going to tell us more truth.

      --
      Hmmm... Ok.. Chivas on the rocks.
    6. Re:Doesn't matter by Negatyfus · · Score: 0, Troll

      How do you know that they are wrong? If you really think about it, everything you know about spacetravel came at you indirectly through the media. Who is to say that the round-shaped God in the Sky really is this "moon-thing" everybody says it is? You are just parroting the masses!

    7. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Not unlike slashdotters.

    8. Re:Doesn't matter by Wastl · · Score: 3, Funny

      But they won't get a story on Slashdot with actual reasearch.:-)

      Sebastian

    9. Re:Doesn't matter by hplasm · · Score: 1

      Don't forget, this also gives kudos to the VLT and similar projects- if it works well. (and if there is anything on the moon...ARG! Kidding!! OW!!)

      --
      ...and he grinned, like a fox eating shit out of a wire brush.
    10. Re:Doesn't matter by drunkmonk · · Score: 5, Funny

      The only way you'll ever convince these people is to take them to the moon and let them touch the stuff.

      And then leave them there, because we've got enough wackos planetside.

    11. Re:Doesn't matter by Negatyfus · · Score: 5, Funny

      Look at the moon pictures published by NASA They are so obviously fakes. USA couldn't cut is before the '60s ended, so they had to make it all up to not lose face. It's all on the internet, if you don't believe me! Besides, I think they also made up women. I mean, how many of you can claim to have even seen one?? Exactly. They just don't exist, I tell you.

    12. Re:Doesn't matter by hagardtroll · · Score: 4, Funny

      Whats so funny, is these are probably the same people who believe the 'Face On Mars' is of alien intelligence origin.

    13. Re:Doesn't matter by macdaddy357 · · Score: 5, Funny

      From the article...According to Mr Allen, NASA was forced to send robots to the moon and faked the manned missions because radiation levels in space were lethal to humans. Robots in 1969? These nuts need to stop smoking crack.

      --
      How ya like dat?
    14. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Informative

      Then they'd just claim that what they were touching was just some mock-up put there after the fact. You really can't win with the irrational.

    15. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      You may call it a telescope... but to us right-thinking individuals, it's just another Tool of the Zionist Media Conspiracy!

    16. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some of those people probably actually believe that they're right.

      Myself, I consider the evidence I've seen less convincing than a third-party report of seeing the actual spacecraft there. That doesn't mean I don't believe that the moon-landing didn't happen, just that it is somewhat plausible that it could've been faked. But it is plausible only as an isolated event, not as a part of the history of the space program.

    17. Re:Doesn't matter by b1t+r0t · · Score: 3, Funny
      Then they'd just claim that what they were touching was just some mock-up put there after the fact.

      I was just thinking that. But then I realized that you might get lucky and they'd try to prove it by opening their helmet.

      --

      --
      "Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
      "Open source is evil." - Microsoft
    18. Re:Doesn't matter by the+way,+what're+you · · Score: 2
      These nuts need to stop smoking crack.

      Alright, it's pop quiz time again.

      Q. Who needs to stop smoking crack?

      A. ???

      --
      example.org - powered by Linux!
    19. Re:Doesn't matter by duck_prime · · Score: 2
      The only way you'll ever convince these people is to take them to the moon and let them touch the stuff.

      And then leave them there, because we've got enough wackos planetside.
      If it'll get me a free trip to the moon, I'll gladly pretend I don't believe!
    20. Re:Doesn't matter by FatAlb3rt · · Score: 1

      Think that's bad? Some think everyone is being duped into believing the Earth is flat.

    21. Re:Doesn't matter by FleshWound · · Score: 1, Funny
      Robots in 1969?
      Absolutely! Haven't you ever seen "Lost in Space?" =)
    22. Re:Doesn't matter by colmore · · Score: 2

      If there ever is a plan to do this, then call me a conspiracy theorist.

      --
      In Capitalist America, bank robs you!
    23. Re:Doesn't matter by ilyag · · Score: 2

      That would be bad:

      On Earth - people believe those guys were used in experiments that would scare Scully & Mulder to death.

      On the Moon - people ask someone to take off virtual reality helmets and stop injecting gallucogens (SPS - Sorry For Spelling).

    24. Re:Doesn't matter by Tetsujin28 · · Score: 2
      Robots in 1969? These nuts need to stop smoking crack.


      They are here to protect you. Go stand by the stairs so that you may be protected.

      Pak. Chooie. Unf.

      --
      - - - -
      The real Tetsujin 28 is a giant robot.
    25. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had no Idea that it is only now this is being done. you mean that we have telescopes that can see a gnat at 100mi and we havn't pointed them at the moon to look for the landers? too funny

    26. Re:Doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your sig is from a KITH episode, correct?

    27. Re:Doesn't matter by beetleboy · · Score: 1

      Absolutely, quite agree! Besides, "Capricorn One" was one hell of a film!

      --
      Work is the curse of the drinking classes - Oscar Wilde
  2. Yep, it'll change their minds... by pcbob · · Score: 4, Insightful

    instead of doubting the moon landing, they will now be convinced that it's fake.

    Why else would somone try to show them otherwise?

    1. Re:Yep, it'll change their minds... by ryochiji · · Score: 2

      ...or they'll just say the images from the telescope are also fake.

    2. Re:Yep, it'll change their minds... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who's to say that the original moon landings weren't faked and anything that is on the moon now has been left there on moon landings since...

      Or haven't there been any?

      I'm not significantly interested enough to care.

    3. Re: Yep, it'll change their minds... by Black+Parrot · · Score: 2, Funny


      > instead of doubting the moon landing, they will now be convinced that it's fake.

      Wow - they went all the way up there just to put a fake lander on view!

      --
      Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    4. Re: Yep, it'll change their minds... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, in a telescope it looks real enough. But when you get up there you notice, it's all cardboard!

  3. They are all owned by... by lexcyber · · Score: 3, Funny

    disney!!!! And if disney said the US landed on the moon. They did... or was that andy kaufman? Or maybe the marx brothers? hmmm... - Im not sure anymore.... - Maybe we are living in some tank and the world is computer generated by machines. Like a big matrix.... uhu... who are you black people in my office..... no... dont drag me away....

    --
    - To understand recursion, we must first understand recursion -
    1. Re:They are all owned by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Troll

      its slightly amusing you mention a movie that was basically a metaphor for christian fundamentalist america "pulling the wool over your eyes" in this post about believing something you havent seen. although if you actually were aware of the irony i apologise, it gets lost in the text. viva la resistance.

    2. Re:They are all owned by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Um... "christian fundamentalist america 'pulling the wool over your eyes'" ?

      Perhaps you should re-examine your own paranoid conspiracy theories...

    3. Re:They are all owned by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      that wasnt my theory, its what a lot of things in "the matrix" (the movie) relate to, returning to babylon (from the control of the previously mentioned institutions i assume), in the ship named after king nebudchenezza, the coming of 'the one" or 'chosen ones' (prophets of the zionists, from what i have heard), you know? before you start labelling people you should do some reading, even correctly reading my original post would have helped. i dont suppose to know everything, or even much at all. i wish i could help you Soul. viva.

    4. Re:They are all owned by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, I thought you had over-personalized the movie. But it's important to note that the references you have brought up are Jewish and messianic in nature.

      Now, these symbols are important to Christian fundamentalist America, but they absolutely do not have a monopoly on them. They are quite relevant to Jews, Muslims, and non-fundamentalist Christians. (As you may already know, most Christians are not fundamentalists.)

      So I really don't know how you got something as particular as "christian fundamentalist america 'pulling the wool over your eyes'" out of that movie.

      The movie obviously contains quite a lot of religious symbolism, but whether it indicates that religion either obscures or reveals the truth is not clear to me.

    5. Re:They are all owned by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh ok, yeah, i am not boxing in the ideas of anyone. but from what i have read, there is a 'battle' of sorts between the two dominant religious institutions (judaism & christianity) in america for more share of the sheep (but i agree, that is borderline conspiracy theory). and i also thought (but tell me if i am wrong) that zionism was a more extreme sort of judaism, for there will always be people taking every doctrine too far without adaption, quickly reaching breaking point. now in the movie there was talk of the return to zion, and also even children of zion, for the battle between the very mechanical matrix programs (christianity i assume) and the saved. i am only telling of the viewpoint i get from the movie, i personally dislike any religious institutions that cloud peoples right to connect with the universe, and dissaprove of any connectedness without their authority and rules (which is pretty much all the main ones). i myself like to interpret the movie as an artwork advocating opening your eyes and seeing things in a different light. but it could also be advocating disconnecting from the collective unconscious (the collective being an idea near to my heart and soul). be well. viva.

    6. Re:They are all owned by... by MindStalker · · Score: 1

      Zion Audio pronunciation of zion ( P ) Pronunciation Key (zn) also Sion (sn)
      n.

      1.
      1. The historic land of Israel as a symbol of the Jewish people.
      2. The Jewish people; Israel.
      2. A place or religious community regarded as sacredly devoted to God.
      3. An idealized, harmonious community; utopia.

    7. Re:They are all owned by... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By the rivers of Babylon
      He did sit down
      And there he wept
      When he remembered Zion

  4. Conspiracy Theorists... by LordOfYourPants · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Will see these photographs and say "Wow, those are excellent fakes."

    Then there will be tons of websites that crop up showing how the images were doctored, photoshopped, impossible, etc.

    Some people just can't be convinced, and I'm not sure how much tax money should be spent on such a pursuit.

    1. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by HogynCymraeg · · Score: 1

      What I'd like to know is how they got the buggy on the moon using a ship that was essentially a frame with tin foil around it.

    2. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      No tax money should be spent on such a pursuit. That's why this is so sad. It's not a new concept that expending money to convince others of truth is a waste of time. It will lead to bankruptcy. Truth is irrelevant today. But if you can pay for enough network airtime, you can repeat mind numbing advertisements. THEN people will believe it.

    3. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by richie2000 · · Score: 4, Funny

      They didn't. They used this really, really big gun. That's why no humans could be on that trip and NASA had to fake it. The people came later, when They got the anti-grav technology They found in Roswell working. Say, isn't the shuttle right above Turkey now? They read Slashdot, you know.

      --
      Money for nothing, pix for free
    4. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I might be willing to swallow the concept of NASA doctoring photographs because the actual material from the moon was too lousy for grade-A propaganda. That might explain some of the admittedly very strange flaws in official NASA photos that people have pointed out.

      But the idea of moon landings not taking place is pretty idiotic. The US govt/NASA would have had to have been pretty stupid to fake the moon landings. After all they had to expect the Russians, or somebody else, would either go there sooner or later or send probesx to verify or just out of pure curiosity and they would look to be huge fools if no traces of landings were found.

      --
      Only to idiots, are orders laws.
      -- Henning von Tresckow
    5. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What strange flaws? None of the flaws I have read about are strange to anyone who knows anything much about photography or physics

    6. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Conspiracy or cock-up?
      http://cryptome.org/fco-intel.htm

    7. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Savage-Rabbit · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I too a look at the doubters photos and found most of their argumentation to be quite weak. The only photos that really stuck out, at least to my mind, were photos where cross hair patterns, placed on a plate between the shutter and the film om the astronauts cameras disappear behind the astronauts or other objects.

      I meant my statement to indicate the furthest that I would go in accepting the doubters argumentation. I can see, if I try really hard, how NASA MIGHT have been tempted to "help photography along" ie. retouch photos if they got a bunch of not very good material back. NASA would not be the first one to fall into that pit. What would you do if you just spent an obscene amount of money on a moon landing and all you had to show for it was bad photographic material? That being said I will consider every alternative other than even minimal retouching of NASA photos. I find it simply too hard to beleive that the USA and its Govt. would risk the colosal humiliation that a faked moonlanding would inevitably bring with it.

      --
      Only to idiots, are orders laws.
      -- Henning von Tresckow
    8. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Tzoq · · Score: 5, Informative

      No mystery there. You'll notice that all of the "disappearing" crosshairs go behind bright white objects. As it happens, when film is exposed the bright areas tend to "bloom" and bleed into neighbouring dark areas. So what happens when a thin black line goes through a bright white area? The bloom washes over the black line entirely and it disappears.

      --
      -- Meet the Residents -- http://www.residents.com/
    9. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Lasalas · · Score: 1

      We could just throw them all up their to see for themselves... ;)

    10. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Some people just can't be convinced, and
      I'm not sure how much tax money should be
      spent on such a pursuit.


      As the article says:
      "European scientists are to use ..."

      As in European tax money would be spent! Well thank godness I live in the US.

      Hmm, wait.. $ traceroute 'uname -a'
      Do'oh..!!

    11. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by davor_p · · Score: 1

      Yes, and they will say:
      "It's a fake spacecraft on the surface of the Moon, not the real one! No, sir, no way that a real spacecraft is sitting over there. It's a 1:1 scale model!"

    12. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by GMontag · · Score: 2

      I meant my statement to indicate the furthest that I would go in accepting the doubters argumentation. I can see, if I try really hard, how NASA MIGHT have been tempted to "help photography along" ie. retouch photos if they got a bunch of not very good material back.

      Then there would not have been any need to admit that one of the astronauts pointed a television camera at the Sun and killed the camera, they could have just gone on faking/enhansing. Forgot what mission that was, but I remember when it happened.

      I leave the "web search and link drill" as an exercise for the reader.

    13. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by FirewalkR · · Score: 1

      What do you mean "They", Kemosabe???

    14. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Jerf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Addendum to Tzoq's message: A lot of the claims made by the conspiracy theorists, like that exact one, are falsifiable without too much effort. Rather then arguing endlessly, why not try taking a photograph of a thin black line on an extremely bright background? (Be sure to match the "alleged" conditions on the moon, which is a brighter daylight then we get even down here, because there's no atmosphere. Also match the film they would have used, as a different formulation might be able to distinguish between the line and white on Earth, but perhaps not survive on the moon for other reasons. Very few lights can match sunlight... another easily testable assertion.) You can argue from ignorance until your lips fall off, or you can try it for yourself, find out how many of the conspiracy theorists arguments fall flat, and draw the natural conclusions about their arguments.

      Nobody is forcing ignorance on you!

    15. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by gorilla · · Score: 2

      Apollo 12.

    16. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 2

      Conspiracy Theorists Will see these photographs and say "Wow, those are excellent fakes."

      Yeah, there's no reasoning with lunatics (pardon the pun). Reminds me of an apocryphal story my psychology teacher told about an intern at a psych hospital interviewing a man who thought he was dead. The intern was convinced he could help some of these people by using reason to disprove their delusions.
      "Yes," the man said, "I've been dead for years."
      "Do dead people bleed?" asked the intern.
      "Don't be silly," laughed the man, "Dead people don't bleed!"
      So the intern grabs the man's hand, and pokes the ball of his thumb with a pin. Slowly, a drop of blood wells up.
      "Well what do you know," said the man with a look of utter disbelief, "Dead people do bleed!"

      You can't reason with insanity.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    17. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Moofie · · Score: 1

      Yup. Stupid David Foley and the camera...

      *chuckle*

      --
      Why yes, I AM a rocket scientist!
    18. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by dirtmerchant · · Score: 1

      however much it takes to sterilize and remove the vocal cords of the lot of them en masse. don't wanna kill em, some twit would just make martyrs out of them.

    19. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by kyletinsley · · Score: 2, Funny

      The only photos that really stuck out, at least to my mind, were photos where cross hair patterns, placed on a plate between the shutter and the film om the astronauts cameras disappear behind the astronauts or other objects.

      The crosshairs were supposedly etched on the lens of the camera, to better help measure objects in the pictures. So what's more likely? That a couple pure white overexposed surfaces bled thru on the film and filled in the tiny black areas, a phenomenon known to occur on overexposed pictures here on Earth which is reproducible by you or anyone else (hell, a similar effect even works on digital cameras too).... OR for some unknown reason, NASA didn't actually etch the crosshairs on the lens but instead went around painting little black X's all over their fake movie set in California and mistakenly had their "actors" walk around in the wrong spot and cover up X's that they weren't supposed to??

      And then, after they went through all this trouble of faking a whole moon landing set and doctoring the photos, they forgot to fill in the little black X's, which is about the easiest kind of object to Photoshop into an existing picture I can think of.... Hmmm, I dunno, I'm definitely leaning towards conspiracy on that one!

    20. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by pumpkinescobarsof2 · · Score: 1

      so, when did the russians (or anyone else) send their probes? AFAIK, no one has done so. if they had, we would not be having this discussion now.

      the point is, until something is verified by anyone other than the person (or entity) claiming it to be so, no rational person can dismiss the possibility that the claim is not true out of hand. take computer security issues for example, a topic near and dear to the slashdot crowd's heart, would you believe a company's security is airtight just because they say so? or would you want to see an independent audit.

      that's exactly what this is trying to be, an independent audit

      and even if they were to be humiliated now, that's not the point. the race was to be first, and the perception is that the americans won, whether they did or not. the objective has been achieved.

    21. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Daetrin · · Score: 2
      Aha! NASA _knew_ that would happen with real photos, so clearly it was _intentional_ that they didn't paint in those parts of the crosses because they knew the photos would undergo intense scrutiny!

      Clearly they wouldn't have been so stupid as to just forget to paint over those areas when they were doctoring them up, so _obviously_ those pictures were meant to fool smart people!

      In conclusion, it is blatently obvious that because the crosshairs on those photos conform to what you would expect from a real picture, the pictures are definitely fake.

      There, argued like a profesional (lunatic) if i do say so myself :)

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    22. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by drayzel · · Score: 1

      PROBES? Why would they have needed probes? The moon landings where broadcast live right? If that signal was actualy coming from some remote Arizona/Nevada/Utah desert location I'd think the USSR, China and thousands of private citizens would have screamed foul.

    23. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Daetrin · · Score: 2
      Sadly, the book that was being planned before was a much more cost effective way of dealing with the problem. As you say, no one is going to convince the hardcode conspiracy theorists. However the book would explain the flaws in their arguments, so that people who aren't total nutcases won't be fooled.

      This telescope thing just provides more photographic evidence which the conspiracy people will say was faked, and won't address the "flaws" that are always pointed out. And it probably costs more than the $50,000 NASA was going to fund for the book as well.

      Hopefully the book will get written anyways, even without funding (that was the plan anyways, last i heard.) However it's sad that the the plan to actually educate people got tossed aside in favor of another stop down the "The pictures prove it!" "No they don't!" "Yes they do!" "No they don't" path.

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    24. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      the russians shot several probes at the moon at around the time we were sending people. in fact, as a last-ditch effort to trump apollo 11, the soviets sent a sample-return probe practically simultaneously. it was even money on who would come back with a sample first. the soviet probe failed (crashed, i believe) and the rest is history.

    25. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Umm, maybe the signal was "bounced off" the Moon and only appeared to be coming from the moon OR a retransmitter was sent to the Moon to rebroadcast the signal, giving the appearance of a broadcast from the Moon OR a tape of the "show" was sent in a spacecraft to and from the Moon.

      Remember, other countries did not have hives of intelligance satellits surrounding the earth then.

      man, I am running out of air laughing at the "possibilities"

    26. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by machine+of+god · · Score: 1

      What? Like this?

    27. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ye gods man, don't you get it? Nobody will ever be able to prove it's a fake, because no one will ever go to the moon! The radiation and all would kill a man!

      We will never get off the earth! Hey, speaking of which, I'm feeling a little claustrophobic at the moment. I think I'll go read the foundation series again, thank god for SciFi!

    28. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by La.swamprat · · Score: 1

      My favorite Moon Landing Conspiracy Theory is that Stanley Kubrik directed the fake moon landing on location in the Sea of Tranquility. Ok....if it was filmed on location didn't man have to go there?

    29. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by quantaman · · Score: 2

      I saw a couple minutes of that Fox special a couple days ago. One of the most hillarious parts was when they showed a photo with the vanishing crosshair to prove the photos were faked and on the vey same photo you could see the another crosshair with a partially faded crosshair demonstrating the effect you were taking about perfectly!

      --
      I stole this Sig
    30. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Saint+Fnordius · · Score: 2

      I think these pictures ought to be taken, but not for the sake of the naysaysers. The main reasons being that such pictures would be an excellent showcase of the telescope's resolution capabilities, and that we could see how the base camps have survived the past thirty years.

      Not to mention that the pictures would be extremely cool to see. To Heck with the doubters; *I* wanna see those photos!

    31. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by rworne · · Score: 1
      And then, after they went through all this trouble of faking a whole moon landing set and doctoring the photos, they forgot to fill in the little black X's, which is about the easiest kind of object to Photoshop into an existing picture I can think of.... Hmmm, I dunno, I'm definitely leaning towards conspiracy on that one!
      Not to nitpick, but what version of Photoshop were they using back in 1969-1974? I'm curious.
      --
      I tried every decent and legal way I could think of to resolve the issue w/the business before I rented the chicken suit
    32. Re:Conspiracy Theorists... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have no idea how the footage was actually broadcast, but I have a feeling that it wasn't broadcast directly from the moon anyway. It was probably sent to NASA on a special channel, and then they sent it out. I could very well be wrong, but it just seems like where the signal was coming from wouldn't make a difference.

  5. Lies! by Adam9 · · Score: 2, Funny

    All lies! Only if the government gives me a ticket to fly over to where the telescope is located and see at it for myself and allow me to check out other things in space to ensure it's not a fake. Then MAYBE I'll believe them. Until then, they're using my tax dollars for secret military projects and spending 5% of it to create these elaborate NASA lies!

    1. Re:Lies! by rtconner · · Score: 3, Funny

      The U.S. government... lie? nooo...

      --
      023AD01("Child", "Evil");
    2. Re:Lies! by k-0s · · Score: 1

      This is modded as funny but wouldn't be be truely funny if this guy was serious? LOL.

    3. Re:Lies! by Guppy · · Score: 5, Funny

      "All lies! Only if the government gives me a ticket to fly over to where the telescope is located and see at it for myself and allow me to check out other things in space to ensure it's not a fake. Then MAYBE I'll believe them.

      Hey, you've got my support. To cut down on costs, though, I'm going to vote for the one-way ticket option.

    4. Re:Lies! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And just who is going to trust you? Not me certainly. I know you are a secret CIA disinformation agent.

    5. Re:Lies! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hell Ill take the one way ticket!

  6. Yeah, right, like this is proof! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    If they can fake the original moon landing, then they damn well can fake pictures coming out of a telescope, too.

    (No, I do not believe that nonsense.)

    1. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by nomadic · · Score: 2, Funny

      Not too hard to fake.

      Step 1) Buy this.

      Step 2) Put lunar lander sticker on lens.

    2. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      Step 3) Profit!

    3. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by sql*kitten · · Score: 2, Redundant

      Step 1) Buy this.

      Step 2) Put lunar lander sticker on lens.


      Step 3) Profit!!!

    4. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by susano_otter · · Score: 2

      And it worked, didn't it? After all, two generations of NASA employees have been getting regular paychecks ever since! Profit, indeed.

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    5. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      You've been paying for organizations to beat you into submission for much longer, so whats the problem?

      FBI, CIA, White House, Congress..
      I've seen more lies coming out of those organizations than NASA even if the whole space thing is a sham.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    6. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by susano_otter · · Score: 2

      Sometimes the subtlety of my humor is so exaggerated that it's lost even on myself. The other day, here on Slashdot, someone associated my in(s)ane rantings with the proverbial "tinfoil beanie". I'd like to pass the sentiment along to you. Use it well!

      --

      Any sufficiently well-organized community is indistinguishable from Government.

    7. Re:Yeah, right, like this is proof! by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      ahh my bad.
      My apologies... I just didn't see it!

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  7. Hogwash by mdechene · · Score: 5, Funny

    Had astronauts ever landed on the moon, the cheese surely would have melted when they tried to blast off. Cripes, I can't even cook cheddar in my oven, a mere 400 degrees F, without it melting and getting all smelly. How could it have stood up to rocket blasts? Riddle me that!

    --

    Karma: Not Particularly Funny.
    1. Re:Hogwash by bobby_hobbes · · Score: 1

      Every notice how hard the crust on cheese gets when you leave it out. How long has the moon been left out? After all that time it could probably with stand the blast.

    2. Re:Hogwash by mdechene · · Score: 1

      False. Cheese crusts over due to a reaction with molecules in the air. No atmosphere = no crust. In fact, the moon is perfectly preserved cheese.

      --

      Karma: Not Particularly Funny.
    3. Re:Hogwash by foylab · · Score: 1

      Ya know, that joke would've been really cool, if it weren't so cheesy. Seriously.

    4. Re:Hogwash by frozenray · · Score: 1

      I guess the moon must be made from the kind of cheese they have in our cafeteria (some kind of substance closely related to high-tech plastics, and about as edible).

      --
      "There are already a million monkeys on a million typewriters, and Usenet is NOTHING like Shakespeare." - Blair Houghton
    5. Re:Hogwash by Jru+Hym · · Score: 1

      Well, Wallace discovered that it's not wensleydale.

      --
      This lobster was alive when it hit the frothy, boiling water.
  8. And in other news.... by idiotnot · · Score: 5, Funny

    Spanish scientists, doubting Christopher Columbus' trip to the "new world" will use the same telescope to prove that the Earth is flat.

    1. Re:And in other news.... by kmellis · · Score: 3, Informative
      You mean "...doubting Christopher Columbus's trip to Asia and to prove that the world is really just about as big as people thought it was". No one thought the world was flat.

      Hey, what do you know? Turns out that all the naysayers were right and Columbus was a deluded nutcase.

    2. Re:And in other news.... by dbrutus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Which just goes to show you that it sometimes pays to cater to deluded nutcases as interesting stuff can show up along the way.

    3. Re:And in other news.... by RKloti · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Thanks for pointing that out.

      Many people did indeed believe that the world was flat - in the middle ages. But, shortly before the Renaissance, the generally accepted view amoung educated people was that the world was flat - the Catholic church still maintained the Earth was at the centre of the universe, but didn't seriously try to claim it was flat, as often suggested. Perhaps peasants believed that it was flat, but that's irrevelevant.

      It was in fact the Queen of Spain who supported Colombus' trip, and it was the King of Portugal, who was searching for a sea route to India, who turned him down. His advisors informed him that Colombus greatly underestimated the circumference of the Earth and that there would be no way of making it all the way to India without landing somewhere, since there wasn't room on the ships to take all the necessary supplies.

      As it happens, the continent of America was conviently between Europe and America. Had it not been there, the advisors would have been correct, and Columbus would have most likely died at sea. He had landed in America - an island in the Caribbean to be precise - and believed himself to be in India. His second great mistake, the fact that America was, in fact, America, and not India, was first realised after his death when Magellan circumnavigated the globe.

    4. Re:And in other news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh please! There is no "America", that is just a story they tell children, like "Atlantis". Adults speak of wars with EastAsia and WestAsia, same same.

      Go to the western shore of Ireland, look out there in the water, if this "America" were there it would be right in front of your face and you would see it wouldn't you?

      Enough with the fairytails, this is just silly.

    5. Re:And in other news.... by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

      "Spanish scientists, doubting Christopher Columbus' trip to the "new world" will use the same telescope to prove that the Earth is flat."

      I thought Bugs Bunny settled this. He threw a baseball clear around the planet. When he caught it again, it had tourism stickers from all over the world.

      You'll notice that nobody's debating that Mars can support life. Bugs Bunny proved that as well!

    6. Re:And in other news.... by checkyoulater · · Score: 1

      I thought Bugs Bunny settled this. He threw a baseball clear around the planet. When he caught it again, it had tourism stickers from all over the world.

      Not before the famous argument between Columbus and the King:

      Columbus: "She's round, like the apple!"

      King: "She's flat, like the pancake!"

      Columbus: "She's a round..."

      King: "She's flat..."

      repeats about 3 more times.

      --
      Is that a real poncho? I mean, is that a Mexican poncho or is that a Sears poncho?
    7. Re:And in other news.... by idiotnot · · Score: 1

      Actually, the cartoon referrenced in the other reply to you is what I was thinking of when I posted at 4:20 in the morning.

      But I thought it was Daffy....

      Hmmph.

    8. Re:And in other news.... by sparrow_hawk · · Score: 1

      Ooh, so close!

      He had landed in America - an island in the Caribbean to be precise - and believed himself to be in India. His second great mistake, the fact that America was, in fact, America, and not India, was first realised after his death when Magellan circumnavigated the globe.

      Actually, according to
      Lies My Teacher Told Me , Columbus recognized America as a separate continent before he died -- on his third voyage, I think.

      Slightly off-topic, but the book is a fascinating read -- everything American history textbooks got wrong. It was recommended to me, ironically, by my American history teacher! The author's bias is somewhat left-of-center, but he's honest about that and is careful to point out that a textbook could be written from a conservative viewpoint and still retain a frankness about history. It's infinitely more engaging than anything else I've read about history.

      All right... done with the book review. :-)

    9. Re:And in other news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The ancient greeks had known the world was round for many centuries before Columbus "discovered" it.

      1) Shadow of the Earth on the Moon during a lunar eclipse is always circular. Only a sphere can produce a circular shadow regardless of orientation

      2) Eratosthenes measured Earth's circumference by finding the Sun's angle in Alexandria while it was directly overhead in Syene (near modern Aswan dam)

      3) Anyone watching Columbus leave would have noticed that the lower part of the ship disappears before the mast. That wouldn't happen on a flat Earth.

      Probably more I'm unaware of.

  9. What if they find out the doubters were right? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    doh!

  10. Hmmm Is this necessary? by TekReggard · · Score: 2, Insightful
    I mean what kind of costs go into taking a shot of the moon when we dont really *need* to? Sad to see equipment being *wasted* on this kind of thing.

    If you think about it the conspiracy theorists are just going to say we launched these things at the moon but no one ever actually set foot, its all just some plot to make them believe... yadda yadda.

    Just commercialize space travel for a low cost, and let them go see the sites for themselves.

    1. Re:Hmmm Is this necessary? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And make it a one way trip.

    2. Re:Hmmm Is this necessary? by larien · · Score: 2

      Well, the telescope has been built for other stuff, and to be honest, they're probably going to use this as a test to see how good it is. In short, even if there weren't any moon-landing doubters, there would still be value in doing this.

    3. Re:Hmmm Is this necessary? by Troy+H+Parker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > I mean what kind of costs go into taking a shot of the moon when we dont really *need* to? Sad to see equipment being *wasted* on this kind of thing.

      Some feel that way about going to the moon in the first place, and that cost orders of magnitude more money.

  11. Whoa - I can't wait by bobdotorg · · Score: 2

    Whoa - I can't wait for the alien upskirt videos.

    --
    __ Someday, but not this morning, I'll finally learn to use the preview button.
    1. Re:Whoa - I can't wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Whoa - I can't wait for the alien upskirt videos

      But they'll all be fakes too =(

    2. Re:Whoa - I can't wait by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

      You think we'll be lucky enough to find one which by chance is doing a handstand at the correct moment? Oh, yeah...you did say alien :)

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
  12. Journalistic Conflict of Interest by zedge · · Score: 1

    Looks like this Marcus Allen might be worried that sales of his Nexus magazine might decrease if actual proof of a human moon walk were accepted by his readers.

    1. Re:Journalistic Conflict of Interest by b1ffster · · Score: 1

      That and the fact that there's a bloody great big international SPACE STATION up there with people in it. What does he think the space shuttle does ? hide behind the clouds for a couple of days ? Space radiation indeed! All those kids chatting to the astronauts on amateur radio are going to be soooo disappointed when they find out they've been h04x0r3d

    2. Re:Journalistic Conflict of Interest by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, there is ONE big difference between the IIS and a mission to the moon...

      The Van Halen belt. The belt of magnetism that channels cosmic rays to the poles forming those lovely auroras. The IIS is inside the belt. Outside the conditions are much more severe.

  13. This would at least help by cmallinson · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think the majority of "moon-landing-doubters" are naive people that watched that socially irresponsible Fox TV show, and a few pictures of the landing site may be enough to sway them. There is, however, no use even talking to the true "conspiracy theorist".

    1. Re:This would at least help by schon · · Score: 1

      the majority of "moon-landing-doubters" are naive people that watched that socially irresponsible Fox TV show, and a few pictures of the landing site may be enough to sway them

      I dunno.. if someone doesn't believe it now, I don't think they believed it before.

      I know someone who thinks the moon landing was a hoax - she's a friend's mother.. she was a doubter WAY before the TV show aired (I heard her talk about it in the late 1980s) and truth be told, I don't think she even watched the TV show, as she doesn't have a TV..

      The TV show was pretty funny - but I don't think that it was powerful enough to change anyone's mind - if you don't believe the landing was real now, then I think it would have taken a little more than a single TV show - the seeds must have been planted before that..

    2. Re:This would at least help by TheKid965 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I know someone who thinks the moon landing was a hoax - she's a friend's mother.. she was a doubter WAY before the TV show aired (I heard her talk about it in the late 1980s) and truth be told, I don't think she even watched the TV show, as she doesn't have a TV..


      Of course, Capricorn One is a helluva lot older than the Fox network... so it's just possible she got the idea from that.


      (For the unaware, Capricorn One is a novel and a movie that presents a manned Martian expedition as an elaborate hoax by NASA, in a desperate bid for additional funds. The similarities between this story and the Moon conspiracy theorists is striking.)

    3. Re:This would at least help by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (For the unaware, Capricorn One is a novel and a movie that presents a manned Martian expedition as an elaborate hoax by NASA, in a desperate bid for additional funds. The similarities between this story and the Moon conspiracy theorists is striking.)

      It was NOT a "novel" it was non-fiction. The Documentry, made from the book even starred O.J. Simpson!

      Novel indeed! How can you print such hogwash?

      If you don't believe me, then why haven't we had any more manned Mars missions, huh?

    4. Re:This would at least help by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      I know someone who thinks the moon landing was a hoax - she's a friend's mother.. she was a doubter WAY before the TV show aired (I heard her talk about it in the late 1980s) and truth be told, I don't think she even watched the TV show, as she doesn't have a TV..

      I knew a guy (a father of a girl I knew) who just out of the blue started talking about that at me. I was fixing his computer at the time and started talking about how this technology is getting out of control, and how it's even a wonder we've gotten this far considering we never even got off this planet. (on with how we've never even touched orbit, much less touched the moon.) It was sooo hard to keep working on his computer, because my bottom lip was starting to hurt from biting it! LOL... I wanted to start laughing so badly, because it flew in the face of all common logic. (who here has been outside at night in a very isolated location, looked up and saw satellites. I have, I consider that to be a low orbit)

      The TV show was pretty funny - but I don't think that it was powerful enough to change anyone's mind - if you don't believe the landing was real now, then I think it would have taken a little more than a single TV show - the seeds must have been planted before that..

      My mother's upstairs neighbor saw the TV show (I never watched it, but saw reviews of it) and from that moment on swore that everything she sees about the moon and the space program is a crock of hewey. (read: not true) I tried reasoning with her a little, but she just thought I was brainwashed by them. *boggle*
      I'm waiting for people to start saying that the Martian landers never made it to Mars.. In pieces or in one piece LOL!

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  14. The doubters will still doubt... by dagg · · Score: 2, Interesting

    An important question to ask is... how do the doubters benefit from these doubts? There is certainly a few nickels to be made.

    What's funny is... these doubters must wake up everyday doubting even the most basic things. I imagine they take tests like these all day:

    What is my sex?

    Without these tests... they never know what is real. They have to constantly prove (or in this case, disprove) everything.

    --
    Sex - Find It
    1. Re:The doubters will still doubt... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I failed the test :(
      alas I will never know what I am

    2. Re:The doubters will still doubt... by hatchet · · Score: 1

      Well.. i doubt in everything. Actually I allow every thing to be wrong. Even most basic things...
      1+1 = 2?
      Well.. i believe it to be 2, but it could be wrong too...
      1+1 could be 10.
      I consider myself as doubter.. what do I benefit from this? Well.. i am rarely shocked. (i am surprised sometimes, however)

    3. Re:The doubters will still doubt... by DJPenguin · · Score: 1

      Actually, 1 + 1 is 10. In binary.

    4. Re:The doubters will still doubt... by hatchet · · Score: 1

      Exactly my point. You can never be 100% sure in anything.

    5. Re:The doubters will still doubt... by SCHecklerX · · Score: 2

      Yeah, but '1' is a base-10 number. I always wonder about why all base-n is represented from base-10, other than the fact that we have 10 toes and 10 fingers...so why not base-20 as our standard through evolution? Hrm.

    6. Re:The doubters will still doubt... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > these doubters must wake up everyday doubting even the most basic things.

      No, no, no. They are not 'doubters' at all, though to a rational person it appears to be 'doubt' because that is how rational people come to their conclusions.

      These people are _believers_. It happens that they believe something that makes it difficult to co-exist with man landing on the moon. For example they may believe that the moon is in 'heaven' and so people cannot go there while still alive. Or they believe that the government always lies to them, so this cannot be true.

      There is a vast chasm between people who form their view of the world on 'believing' and those who base it on 'doubting'. "Believers' start from the conclusion and evaluate everything based on whether it supports their conclusion. 'Doubters' tend to evaluate what they see and hear and try to work out a conclusion. This tends to mean that they have different conclusions at different times.

      'Believers' see that 'doubters' change their conclusions over time and use this to accuse them of never knowing the truth.

      Of course I could change my views on this at a later time if more evidence becomes available.

  15. What if... by Russellkhan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?

    What if it shows them to be right?

    Note: Although I'm beginning to see signs of conspiracy theorist (General paranoia, distrust of my own government, a sinking feeling that all my civil liberties are disappearing quickly, a belief that my government values the greed of corporations over the needs of its people, etc) in myself, I do not ascribe to the belief that the moon mission was faked.

    --
    Information doesn't want to be anthropomorphized anymore.
    1. Re:What if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No they really did land but the aliens removed the ship because it was polluting their secrete moon base, and now they will destroy our civilization in retaliation.

    2. Re:What if... by Yottabyte84 · · Score: 1

      Although I'm beginning to see signs of conspiracy theorist (General paranoia, distrust of my own government, a sinking feeling that all my civil liberties are disappearing quickly, a belief that my government values the greed of corporations over the needs of its people, etc) in myself

      I feel the same way, and think it's compleatly rational.

    3. Re:What if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Hammer and Sickle are flying on the moon?

    4. Re:What if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I do not ascribe to the belief that the moon mission was faked

      But in a sense, mankind has never been to the moon. So ok, we may have sent 12 individuals to the moon, that's hardly mankind is it? And that was 30 years ago.
      12 individuals don't really count as mankind, so we havn't REALLY been to the moon. We just visited it, very briefly, then decided it was too expensive.
      Where's all these moon colonies we were promised?

    5. Re:What if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the United States (governed by the Grand Old [Communist] Party) is flying around on the moon.

    6. Re:What if... by GospelHead821 · · Score: 5, Informative

      Unfortunately, I've seen disturbing evidence that some of the citizenry values the greed of corporations over the needs of the people. The other day, after reading the /. article about Nissan vs. Nissan, I told my parents about it, and they agreed that Nissan has more right to defend its name than Uzi Nissan does, because it's bigger, and that it would most appropriate for Uzi Nissan to change the name of his site or give up the URL entirely.

      --
      Virtue finds and chooses the mean.
      Aristotle, Ethica Nichomachea
    7. Re:What if... by oliverthered · · Score: 2

      You all out to get me, I knew it, dam you conspiring conspiracy theory devils, you've all sold you soul to Satan.

      George Bush.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    8. Re:What if... by rolfwind · · Score: 1
      Note: Although I'm beginning to see signs of conspiracy theorist (General paranoia, distrust of my own government, a sinking feeling that all my civil liberties are disappearing quickly, a belief that my government values the greed of corporations over the needs of its people, etc)....

      Nope, those are not signs of a conspiracy theorist, just a realist, after all I hardly think the people doing these things even really bother to hide it anymore.

    9. Re:What if... by oliverthered · · Score: 2

      I believe they hide the fact that they 'know' what's going on, or at least I hope they know what there upto.

      Let's consider:

      Election turn out is down,
      There's a high level of apathy,
      The economy is slowing(so someone's selling up)
      Protests have increased in size and frequency.

      It's all heading towards 'mass disorder'

      What are the Government is doing:
      Starting lots of Wars
      Increasing 'snooping' powers
      Increasing the power of patents and copyright.
      Reducing the rights of convicted and suspected 'criminals'

      Along with the general 'brain washing' propaganda programs they are running all the time ,'drugs' , 'The world wars' ,
      'Evil commies', 'You must WORK for a living'
      etc...

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    10. Re:What if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What if it shows them to be right?

      I'm glad to see the attitude of a true scientist there. Admittedly, it's damn unlikely, but I prefer to judge things using my own senses rather than accept the stories told by others.

    11. Re:What if... by Mac+Degger · · Score: 2

      The great Douglas Adams was before you in that analysis; if the universe is infinite in size, and humans (or any other life combined) is finite in number, the population is finite/infinte=0...therefore the universe has a population of 0!

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    12. Re:What if... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      um ... do your parents wait by the phone for Proctor and Gamble to call and tell them it's ok to take a dump?

    13. Re:What if... by Drizzten · · Score: 1

      That reasoning doesn't make sense. Nissan reportedly employs 80,000 people in North America. How many people does the company which uses Nissan.com employ? Certainly, if you are going to base your standard on the "greatest good" then that would be served better by giving the URL to the car company which (very likely) employs and affects a far larger number of people.

      Personally, I think these lawsuits are baseless unless the website owner is making an effort to maliciously imitate or mislead people into thinking that site represents Nissan Motor Company. But your "needs of the people" bit doesn't stand up when you compare the number of people affected on each side. Granted, a ruling may impact future rulings and weigh them one way or another. You didn't indicate that, however.

      --

      "All mankind is at the mercy of a handful of neurotics". - Norman Douglas
    14. Re:What if... by endoboy · · Score: 1

      you say--"I prefer to judge things using my own senses rather than accept the stories told by others."

      but that's just the problem with the modern world-- most of the things that are of any significance to science (e.g.--DNA; electronics, nanotech, etc) are not perceivable with human senses... Our perception of many things depends on interpreting the results presented by machines--and those results are at least potentially succeptible to being faked.

      If you're going to depend on your unaided senses for certainty, then the moon landing absolutely must be a fake. Take a look at the moon tonight--can you see the lander up there? If senses are the only thing to be trusted, then how could it possibly be proven to have happened (or not, for that matter)?

      which brings us back to: "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"

    15. Re:What if... by Datafage · · Score: 1

      Um, that would be what we call population density...

      --

      Nicotine free Amish .sig.

    16. Re:What if... by nolesrule · · Score: 1

      The units work out to be 0 people per universe.

      --
      -- nolesrule
    17. Re:What if... by crucini · · Score: 2
      Certainly, if you are going to base your standard on the "greatest good" then that would be served better by giving the URL to the car company which (very likely) employs and affects a far larger number of people.

      But why do you think Nissan's employees would benefit if the corporation gets the URL? If the URL makes the corporation more profitable, which is quite dubious in itself, the stockholders benefit, not employees as employees. Besides, even if we substitute stockholders for employees, the utilitarian calculus is "the greatest good for the greatest number", not just "some good for the greatest number". So the death of a single person might outweigh a once cent gain for a million people.
    18. Re:What if... by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Although I'm beginning to see signs of conspiracy theorist (General paranoia, distrust of my own government, a sinking feeling that all my civil liberties are disappearing quickly, a belief that my government values the greed of corporations over the needs of its people, etc) in myself,

      Isn't it wierd how in todays world, you notice the truth and your a conspiracy theorist? LOL
      Makes one worry about the state of affairs.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
    19. Re:What if... by Datafage · · Score: 1

      Yes, in population density. However, in actual population, counting just Earth there are 6 billion people/universe, by raw count.

      --

      Nicotine free Amish .sig.

    20. Re:What if... by nolesrule · · Score: 1

      0 people/universe X 1 universe = 0 people

      --
      -- nolesrule
    21. Re:What if... by Datafage · · Score: 1

      So I'm imagining these 6 billion or so people on Earth? I must be, otherwise that's not 0 people in your equation. Learn math, that trick doesn't work.

      --

      Nicotine free Amish .sig.

    22. Re:What if... by nolesrule · · Score: 1

      Thw whole point of the original poster's comment was that it was a joke from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It was really only meant to be taken that way and not overanalyzed.

      But anyway, the math does work. If you take population density and multiply by the area (or volume), then you get the population figure. Obviously there is a significant digit issue involved.

      --
      -- nolesrule
    23. Re:What if... by Datafage · · Score: 1

      Except the population density of the universe PER UNIVERSE is 6 billion/universe. Now, what you're thinking of is population density of the universe in smaller chunks, which assuming an infinite universe comes out to 0/cubic light year, yes. However, you cannot correctly arrive at a density of 0/universe, I'm sorry.

      --

      Nicotine free Amish .sig.

  16. Well, by kingkade · · Score: 2, Insightful

    assuming they even believe the private or government department that releases images of a rover or flag (!), they would simply say that that stuff was planted on later missions and that the original mission had to be faked to win the space race for the propaganda value.

    That, "I want to believe" slogan/whatever is indicative of the minds and attitudes one is dealing with when dealing with people who think they are agent Mulder and that they are the only ones who realize the truth.

  17. While they are at it .... by Alain+Williams · · Score: 2, Funny

    they could verify the report in the Daily Sport that someone had spotted, on the moon, the World War II airplane in which Adolf Hitler had escaped.

    At least the Daily Sport admitted that it made up the stories as it was easier than doing the investigation.

    1. Re:While they are at it .... by Huge+Pi+Removal · · Score: 2

      They just need to re-allocate resources... the Sunday Sport is the only paper to have a member of staff dedicated to making sure there are enough breasts/nipples in each edition.

      --
      - Oliver

      The right to bear arms is only slightly less stupid than the right to arm bears...
    2. Re:While they are at it .... by gorilla · · Score: 2

      Only one?

  18. Who cares? by Beautyon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Why do people care so much about what lunar denial folk think?

    Lunar deniers are an extreme minority (in both senses), they do no harm to anyone; the way astronmers obsess about proving that man went to the moon is just as insane as saying that man never went.

    Honestly, people who believe man never went to the moon will change nothing. Progress will continue. New projects will be financed, launched and will return spectacular results. The manned space station is in orbit right now, if you needed any proof of this.

    There will always be people like the lunar deniers.

    Get over it, and ignore them.

    --
    ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
    1. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, the make life difficult for great men like Buzz Alrdin and Neil Armstrong.

    2. Re:Who cares? by zmooc · · Score: 4, Informative
      New projects will be financed

      Projects are financed by the state which is financed by it's people. Now some of those people don't believe their money is really spent right with NASA. That might hurt financing in the long run or may already do so; getting people enthousiastic is very important. And to get that done, they first have to believe.

      --
      0x or or snor perron?!
    3. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I care. The lunar landings were arguably the greatest achievement of mankind, ever. Denying that diminishes us all.

      Furthermore, assigning all these mysterious conspiracies to perfectly legitimate institutions like NASA is bad for their profile, which in turn could lead to further budget cuts.

    4. Re:Who cares? by Bastian · · Score: 5, Funny

      In other news, Alabama has passed new legislation requiring all history textbooks to include the following disclaimer before discussing the Apollo program:

      Humans landing on the moon is just one of many equally valid theories concerning the video footage and rock samples resulting from the Apollo program. The moon landing is a controversial theory. Instructional material associated with controversy should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully, and critically considered."

      Alabama history teachers are encouraged to devote class time to discussing other theories about the Apollo mission.

    5. Re:Who cares? by katalyst · · Score: 0

      NASA : Guilty concience victim.

      --
      |/________
      |\A|ALYS|
    6. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      why not, given u have the spare time, which these guys obviously do, just go out of your way to prove them wrong?

      if for no other reason, do it to make them look like the idiots we already know they are, but this time with nothing left for them to defend themselves with

    7. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cute, but sounds more like something from the New York politically correct crowd. Perhaps some lingerig northern propoganda from times past.

      Perhaps you did not know that the rockets for the Apollo program (and others) were designed and built in Huntsville, AL.

      And in other News to the North: mission control was in Houston, TX; launch facilities Cape Canaveral, FL. The physics packages for nuclear and thermonuclear warheads were produced in Oak Ridge, TN, other facilities in Paduka, KY.

    8. Re:Who cares? by mOdQuArK! · · Score: 1
      Cute, but sounds more like something from the New York politically correct crowd. Perhaps some lingerig northern propoganda from times past.

      Actually, I believe this is an joke adapting the kind of argument creationists use about evolution to the "fake moon landing" crowd.

    9. Re:Who cares? by jejones · · Score: 2

      The parent parodies a disclaimer that creationists are pushing. The point is that sufficiently organized crackpots can be dangerous.

    10. Re:Who cares? by TGK · · Score: 2

      Lets be fair, we all know that Florida is just the 6th borough of New York. So launch wasn't really in the south :)

      --
      Killfile(TGK)
      No trees were killed in the creation of this post. However, many electrons were inconvenienced.
    11. Re:Who cares? by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 2

      Yep. When New York adopts a rule stating that evolution must be considered a controversial theory, the parent poster can make all ths cracks about dumb Yankees he wants. Until then ...

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    12. Re:Who cares? by ianscot · · Score: 2

      Lunar deniers are an extreme minority (in both senses), they do no harm to anyone;

      You're right, this is kind of an interesting choice -- it's almost like it's a "safe" conspiracy to do glorious battle against because the moon landings don't carry a lot of ideological baggage. Political assassinations, or evolution or whatever, those are just too touchy, even though the level of self-deception and wishful thinking might be just as great. It's almost like a controlled study: Why do people insist on believing weird stuff? That's why I keep reading stories about this topic, anyway.

      the way astronomers obsess about proving that man went to the moon is just as insane as saying that man never went.

      Honestly, people who believe man never went to the moon will change nothing.

      I dunno. Talk to an evolutionary biologist sometime. They're caught every which way; if they don't defend themselves against the ridiculous stuff they hear all the time, people with some pretty bizarre ideas about scientific knowledge are going to get their distorted curricula into high school classrooms. Is it crazy or obsessive to defend yourself against that?

      Maybe this moon landing one shows us how scientists are caught between two impulses elsewhere, too. Get the tone wrong, start to argue for an audience rather than to convince the person you're debating, and you can spend your career fighting the tar baby of irrationality...

      --
      "Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
    13. Re:Who cares? by jafiwam · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Beautyon,

      I believe you are forgetting something. Although the doubters are clearly an extreme minority (extreme in view and in number), similar groups have done some significant damage. For example; the educational system (and reputation) of the State of Kansas, the ability for a white guy wear his "hair" bald and have tatoos, for people to say what they want about Scientology, for Viagra to be paid for by medical insurance where "the pill" is not...

      Although what they think is absolutely stupid and unimportant, the fact that they DO think what they do is important. They may be willing to modify school ciricula to remove the theory of evolution or fly airplanes into buildings, that makes the fact that they do think like they do important.

      (The idea of SENDING them to the moon to make them believe is pretty appealing, maybe throw in a few boy-bands and make a TV show out of it!)

    14. Re:Who cares? by DThorne · · Score: 1

      Then you've got a long, expensive path ahead of you. Are you so insecure that someone questioning something you believe in outrages you to the point that public money must be spent to prove them otherwise? *Everything* is questioned by *someone*. Ever hear of the Flat Earth Society? Poor Columbus(and the Vikings for that matter)! How about creationists?
      There will always be wackos/disbelievers. Ignore them and move on...the time(on the telescope) and mental exercises are best spent elsewhere.

      DT

    15. Re:Who cares? by Beautyon · · Score: 2

      similar groups have done some significant damage.

      There are no similar groups to this one; this is a particularly refutable and far out set of ideas.

      For example; the educational system (and reputation) of the State of Kansas,

      Is this the "theory of evolution problem"? Completely different. There are billions of people who do not believe the theory of evolution.

      the ability for a white guy wear his "hair" bald and have tatoos,

      This, I know nothing about!

      for people to say what they want about Scientology,

      This is nothing to do with a group of people who deny scientific fact; but is [insert word reversal joke here].

      for Viagra to be paid for by medical insurance where "the pill" is not...

      This is a "theory of democracy" problem. The lunar lunatics are a singular group of people, displaying a particularly modern type of behavior. That people with little time would actually spend not only that time, but MONEY proving that man went to the moon is, to say the least, amazing.

      If during the course of a mission some cameras are turned onto the landing sites to show the discarded equipment (as Malin did with the Face on Mars) thats fine, but to spend resources on quieting people is just stupid.

      --
      ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
    16. Re:Who cares? by Kiwi · · Score: 2

      There are billions of people who do not believe the theory of evolution

      Doubtful. Creationism is essentially a uniquely American phenomenon; the Catholic church, for example, has no problem with the fact of evolution. I have yet to meet a creationists in México. I have met many creationists in the United States.

      I am saying fact instead of theory because creationists have a different lexicographic meaning for theory than scientists do.

      - Sam

      --

      The secret to enjoying Slashdot is to realize that it should not be taken too seriously.

    17. Re:Who cares? by jesterzog · · Score: 2

      Why do people care so much about what lunar denial folk think?

      I don't care about the conspiracy theorists. But as someone who spends a reasonable amount of time educating people about space and astronomy, I've recently been dealing continuously with ordinary people who listen to them. If not directly, then they watched and actually gave some credit to that stupid Fox show.

      These people might not want to give the ideas credit (although some do), but they don't know how to argue against them and so they have to give it credit. The main problem is that most regular people in the general populace simply don't know how to counter the arguments. These arguments aren't hard at all for anyone with a modest scientific background, but most people don't have any scientific background. (School doesn't count because most school-level science doesn't teach people to think.) People can't tell their children why it's stupid, and they can't tell each other why it's stupid.

      This type of thing is really annoying for anyone who's ever tried to explain or justify science, and it's very counterproductive. From my point of view as someone who has to deal with these people frequently, the more that ordinary people (conspiracy nuts aside) can be educated about how to critically evaluate bad science, the better.

    18. Re:Who cares? by forgotmypassword · · Score: 1

      I would add a qualifier, that America seems to be the only 1st world country with any significant amount anti-science creationists. There are a handful of islamic countries like Turkey with a fair share.

      In some sense, we are the stupidest of the smartest.

    19. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The lunar landings were arguably the greatest achievement of mankind, ever.

      I disagree. There are much greater achievments... indoor plumbing for example. Had a world-wide, non-symbolic impact.

      Denying that diminishes us all.

      Say what? WTF does that mean? Do you understand what you type, or do you just vomit up what some other touchie-feelie said?

    20. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are lots in Canada too, unfortunately. Similar populations of protestants who are taught to believe everything the bible says.

    21. Re:Who cares? by McCrapDeluxe · · Score: 1

      I've got to agree. A year or two ago, in a science class of mine, we were talking about the moon landing and there were a couple people who said they doubted the landing. Mainly due to that wretched Fox show.

    22. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What does a pope know about science? The Vatican is just capitulating to get a more respectable image. They'll change their mind when the next Galileo (a convincing Catholic) comes along.

    23. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ironic that the greatest achievement of NASA is subject to doubt by these crackpots, and the crackpot stuff NASA does (antigravity, negative ground states for H atoms, etc.) slides right by.

    24. Re:Who cares? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      As you have a different lexicographic meaning for creationist if you think the Catholic church isn't.

  19. NASA Sues European Scientists.... by mdechene · · Score: 5, Funny

    ....over DMCA violation.

    Allegedly, the European Scientists were using a new large telescope (technological means) to circumvent NASA encryption (Apparently they own that thing that if something's really freakin far away, you can't see it). Too bad the public will never know what really happened on that big orb in the night sky, so very, very far away.

    --

    Karma: Not Particularly Funny.
  20. what the government should do by interstellar_donkey · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is start up websites that do nothing but debunk all those UFO photos and make wild outlandish claims that it's a giant cover-up by the conspiracy therorists to mask the horrifying truth; That they have no lives.

    --
    The Internet is generally stupid
  21. The flag. by outsider007 · · Score: 1, Redundant

    That telescope needs to be able to spot the flag we put up there, and maybe some footprints. otherwise it doesn't really prove anything.

    --
    If you mod me down the terrorists will have won
  22. It's a conspiracy! by tgrotvedt · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "The images from the telescope are actually made with subliminal images of the Coca Cola logo. If you turn the image upsides down, draw a square around the ship and read the horizon as a waveform you get the sound of John Lennon saying "JFK is not dead" backwards 3 times.

    The "telescope" was actually a UFO that crashed on the moon and was hidden by the FBI and CIA for all these years. We have leaked documents to prove it!"

    There is NO point trying to disprove conspiracy theories, that merely validates them, and gives the impression that these theories were taken seriously. Anyone can come up with a conspiracy theory about anything.

    --
    What makes a man want to be a mouse? (Python's Flying Circus)
    1. Re:It's a conspiracy! by nzhavok · · Score: 2

      Anyone can come up with a conspiracy theory about anything.

      It's a conspiracy!

      --

      He who defends everything, defends nothing. -- Fredrick The Great
    2. Re:It's a conspiracy! by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2

      Anyone can come up with a conspiracy theory about anything.

      I think you're just saying that to mislead us.

  23. Problems with these people... by acehole · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You show them the moon through the telescope, they'll say the telescope has been tampered with.

    You show them pictures, they say they've been doctored and are fakes.

    You show them footage, they say it was staged and point out supposed inconsistancies.

    You take them to the moon and show them the lander, they say it was planted there.

    There is no end to it, just dont even bother.

    --
    Be you Admins? nay, we are but lusers!
    1. Re:Problems with these people... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      "You take them to the moon [...]" ...and leave them there to ponder.

    2. Re:Problems with these people... by Miz101 · · Score: 1

      They will never believe anything you show them so why bother?

    3. Re:Problems with these people... by jalet · · Score: 1

      Of course there is an end with it : just send conspiracy theorists onto the moon !

      --
      Votez ecolo : Chiez dans l'urne !
    4. Re:Problems with these people... by BrookHarty · · Score: 4, Funny

      You take them to the moon and show them the lander, they say it was planted there.

      SHOTGUN! I'll be waiting in the Space Shuttle.

    5. Re:Problems with these people... by meatspray · · Score: 1

      no no no, you have to wait until both you and the driver see's the car!

      our admin, foolhearty soul buys into the conspiracy theory, now he's starting to get into photography, I'm waiting for the revelations to start.

    6. Re:Problems with these people... by rakerman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You can't use rational proof to combat irrational faith. It just doesn't work. You're not on the same playing field, and you're not even playing the same game.

      Rather than wasting money trying to convince unconvinceable people, spend money on education, particularly for children.

      People are not, by nature, particularly good at many things. This certainly includes assessment of risks, and may include rational thought. You want to get reasonable people? Raise reasonable people.

    7. Re:Problems with these people... by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2

      You take them to the moon and show them the lander; they say it was planted there.

      There is no end to it; just don't even bother.


      No, you take them to the moon and show them the lander; they say it was planted there. Then you leave them there. The end.

    8. Re:Problems with these people... by Mr+Guy · · Score: 5, Funny

      You take them to the moon and show them the lander, they say it was planted there.


      Well no shit. Isn't that what the argument is about?

      It would seem to me they would have to say, "No, we are really in Arizona" at that point. This is when you encourage them to remove their helmet.

      It's like one of those "How much do you believe" arguments to disprove alot of philosophy. Say you believe there is a chair all you want, let your mind and your body take a vote and see if your ass ends up on the floor.

    9. Re:Problems with these people... by BoneJ · · Score: 1

      There's a word for this kind of behavior of sticking to an idea no matter how much reality shows it to be different, and I learned it from psychology 101: cognitive dissonance.

      These lunar-tics that cannot be convinced otherwise that the moon landings are real are just like other people who stick to their beliefs through thick and thin, even if proof indicates otherwise.

      How else can you explain the Catholic Church upholding the idea that the universe revolves around the earth until the late 18th c, when they announced that the geocentric view might be wrong? Remember, that wasn't a far-out notion back then as these lunar-landing deniers out there. It was considered a legitimate world-view. Wearing glasses was considered sacrilegious in the 17th century, for obscuring God's gift of pure eye-sight. That was another 'legitimate' belief.

      These lunar deniers are just like everybody else, except they uphold something that is just simply too obviously silly. That's the only difference.

    10. Re:Problems with these people... by The+Famous+Druid · · Score: 2

      I think he meant

      "they say it was planted there - last week."

      The conspiracy theory is that the USA wasn't capable of meeting the 1/1/1970 deadline they'd set themselves for a moon landing, so they faked it. They've now had 33 years to cover their tracks.

      I just want to know how that other conspiracy theory manages to fake the horizon, when everyone knows the earth is flat, so I should be able to see Mount Everest from here.

      --
      Quidquid Latine dictum sit, altum videtur (anything said in Latin sounds important)
    11. Re:Problems with these people... by scot4875 · · Score: 1

      And so they take off their helmet and die. Great. And you bring their corpse back to Earth to show to all the conspiracy theorists and say, "well, the guy took his helmet off and died." And then the conspiracy theorists just have that much more ammunition: "They killed our representative to cover up the truth!"

      It's a no-win situation. The only thing to do in a no-win situation? Don't play.

      --Jeremy

      --
      Jesus was a liberal
    12. Re:Problems with these people... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      either that or ask him to jump...
      of course they'd say there were springs in the boots or something stupid.
      could always rig it so you can slip the helmet back on real quick after he takes it off, just to keep him alive with injuries due to flash heating :D Make sure the proper medical supplies are on the lander, and film it as he's getting out, has the helmet removed, slipped back on, being drug back to the lander to have plastic surgery done quickly LOL.

      Oh, my.. we can laugh about this all day.

      (bright side of the moon)

    13. Re:Problems with these people... by Groganz · · Score: 1

      Sure, "educate" them while they're young and turn them into "reasonable" people.

      The IPU will be sorely disappointed with your "rational" beliefs.

    14. Re:Problems with these people... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The point is, there is a small, finite number of said theorists. Then there would be N-1 theorists. Keep it up, and eventually, there would be none left.

    15. Re:Problems with these people... by Winged+Cat · · Score: 2

      They'll believe until we've got people living up there. And maybe even then.

      "I live in Luna City. Yesterday, my class took a field trip to see the Apollo rover. I touched it and everything!" is what it will take to at least greatly reduce the number of critics. (Their thinking: if we could get to the Moon then, why aren't we still doing so? As you pointed out, actual logic, including the rationalization about their concerns just being about the US's historical capabilities, has little to do with it.)

  24. Keep Luna Tidy! by girl_geek_antinomy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Aaah, yes. Photographic evidence of our ability to pollute and degrade the environment even of places we don't live... Maybe the images will end up as art posters on every third student's wall...

    1. Re:Keep Luna Tidy! by jericho4.0 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I'm all for the development of heavy industy in space.. I don't think a barren, airless rock qualifies as an 'enviroment'.

      In the very long run, this gives some hope for an almost pristine Earth, with all the benifits of industry.

      --
      "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
    2. Re:Keep Luna Tidy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      to the two replies above me:
      Go eat poo. I don't want to look at weird refineries on the moon when I look at it. No thanks, leave it how it is.

    3. Re:Keep Luna Tidy! by dbrutus · · Score: 2

      Hey, if those posters fund more space R&D I'm all for it.

    4. Re:Keep Luna Tidy! by Transcendent · · Score: 2

      ...the moon doesn't have and environment to pollute... it doesn't even have a noticable atmosphere...

      We're gonna polute that... empty... black... infinite........ space.....!!

    5. Re:Keep Luna Tidy! by RidgyDigiDude · · Score: 1

      Sure there's an environment, but there's no ecology to worry about destroying. It's simply a matter of entropy.

      --
      I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve and give all I can, to love a young woman who I don't understand.
  25. Lemme guess by Russellkhan · · Score: 2

    Parent post was modded up by one of the "doubters" with "alleged minds" the submitter mentioned?

    Not that I wouldn't have modded it up myself, but I would have called it Funny.

    --
    Information doesn't want to be anthropomorphized anymore.
  26. The moon : a ridiculous liberal myth by stud9920 · · Score: 2, Funny

    It amazes me that so many allegedly "educated" people have fallen so quickly and so hard for a fraudulent fabrication of such laughable proportions. The very idea that a gigantic ball of rock happens to orbit our planet, showing itself in neat, four-week cycles -- with the same side facing us all the time -- is ludicrous. Furthermore, it is an insult to common sense and a damnable affront to intellectual honesty and integrity. That people actually believe it is evidence that the liberals have wrested the last vestiges of control of our public school system from decent, God-fearing Americans (as if any further evidence was needed! Daddy's Roommate? God Almighty!)

    Documentaries such as Enemy of the State have accurately portrayed the elaborate, byzantine network of surveillance satellites that the liberals have sent into space to spy on law-abiding Americans. Equipped with technology developed by Handgun Control, Inc., these satellites have the ability to detect firearms from hundreds of kilometers up. That's right, neighbors .. the next time you're out in the backyard exercising your Second Amendment rights, the liberals will see it! These satellites are sensitive enough to tell the difference between a Colt .45 and a .38 Special! And when they detect you with a firearm, their computers cross-reference the address to figure out your name, and then an enormous database housed at Berkeley is updated with information about you.

    Of course, this all works fine during the day, but what about at night? Even the liberals can't control the rotation of the Earth to prevent nightfall from setting in (only Joshua was able to ask for that particular favor!) That's where the "moon" comes in. Powered by nuclear reactors, the "moon" is nothing more than an enormous balloon, emitting trillions of candlepower of gun-revealing light. Piloted by key members of the liberal community, the "moon" is strategically moved across the country, pointing out those who dare to make use of their God-given rights at night!

    Yes, I know this probably sounds paranoid and preposterous, but consider this. Despite what the revisionist historians tell you, there is no mention of the "moon" anywhere in literature or historical documents -- anywhere -- before 1950. That is when it was initially launched. When President Josef Kennedy, at the State of the Union address, proclaimed "We choose to go to the moon", he may as well have said "We choose to go to the weather balloon." The subsequent faking of a "moon" landing on national TV was the first step in a long history of the erosion of our constitutional rights by leftists in this country. No longer can we hide from our government when the sun goes down.

    1. Re:The moon : a ridiculous liberal myth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      All that effort and not even a snicker.

      subtlety 1. The quality or state of being subtle. 2. Something subtle, especially a nicety of thought or a fine distinction.

  27. Get at the root of the problem by USC-MBA · · Score: 2, Interesting
    Rather than having scientists waste time and money digging up facts that the conspiracy paranoids are just going to ignore or come up with some nutty explanation for, efforts should be made toward eradicating the ignorance and fear that attract people to conspiracy theories in the first place.

    First, conspiracy theorists are motivated by a profound mistrust of the government. This is understandable given the vast over-extension of Federal powers that has taken place throughout the last 30 years. Intrusive Fedderal agencies like the FBi, ATF, EPA, and OSHA, among others, should have their powers curtailed. The Bush administration has made some good strides in this area, though it has clearly failed in others (e. g. the dangerous and hyterical PATRIOT act).

    Second, the miserable failure of our public education system needs to be addressed. A lot of public ambivalence toward scientific breakthroughs like computers, genetic engineering, and space travel stems from ignorance. It is time to admit that our public education system as it stands is simply not getting the job done. Alternative libertarian measures such as the voucher system to allow families to send their children to private schools, and more support (tax breaks, etc) for home-schooling efforts have to be encouraged.

    If proper measures are taken to root out and eliminate the social causes of conspiracy nuttiness, we will see far fewer people blindly accepting the crackpot theories of the "no-moon-landing" crowd.

    1. Re:Get at the root of the problem by mpe · · Score: 2

      First, conspiracy theorists are motivated by a profound mistrust of the government.

      Governments are quite capable of spinning their own conspiracy theories, even ones which make less sense than those of the so called "nuts".

      If proper measures are taken to root out and eliminate the social causes of conspiracy nuttiness, we will see far fewer people blindly accepting the crackpot theories of the "no-moon-landing" crowd.

      But you'd also have people less willing to swallow the claims of politicans.

    2. Re:Get at the root of the problem by GMontag · · Score: 2

      First, conspiracy theorists are motivated by a profound mistrust of the government.

      I do not accept the premise that people that write and profit from crackpot theories are motivated in this way. They are motivated by the same thing that motivates Greenpeace: money. To keep the money rolling in they have to create hysteria and ignore facts.

      Now, you do have a bit of a point with the education system as a "cure" for the folks that send money to these hucksters, but they are playing on human nature and you really can not educate all of that away.

    3. Re:Get at the root of the problem by Photon+Ghoul · · Score: 2

      They are motivated by the same thing that motivates Greenpeace: money.

      Can you qualify that statement? Do you have any links or documentation about Greenpeace that puts them on the same footing as conspiracy theorists or is that statement simply motivated by some political belief system?

      Just curious as I would like to read any articles or documents about them stating something along those lines.

    4. Re:Get at the root of the problem by CordMeyer · · Score: 1

      Governments are quite capable of spinning their own conspiracy theories, even ones which make less sense than those of the so called "nuts".

      Actually I find the government's conspiracy theories to be much more interesting than this moon landing crap, at least they research them and give the whole thing a bit of depth.

    5. Re:Get at the root of the problem by GMontag · · Score: 2

      Documents about them stating things along those lines? I am not really following you. Their own literature is the documentation.

      I suggest you go back a few years (around the 1970's I think) and look at what Greenpeace was spinning about how the environment would be today and you will see what I mean.

      I used to believe some of what those crackpots said back then, but their predictions never pan out, or worse, they just change the date on when some catastrophy will occur.

      My favorite was their objection to the ongoing human presance in Antartica, so they put a base there themselves.

      As for links, if you can't find any yourself then you just don't want to look.

    6. Re:Get at the root of the problem by mpe · · Score: 2

      Actually I find the government's conspiracy theories to be much more interesting than this moon landing crap, at least they research them and give the whole thing a bit of depth.

      Depends on the conspiracy theory in question. The "moon hoax" one is quite weak. Then so is "Afgan Caveman", in some ways even weaker then the competing conspiracy theories of "Senario 12D" and "Lavon version 2".
      Governments no longer have a monopoly when it comes to research and being able to point to past and present happenings which support their claims. Even where governments have access to information not in the public domain it can only become "evidence" by being placed into the public domain.

    7. Re:Get at the root of the problem by Photon+Ghoul · · Score: 2

      I never said I agreed with them or that you were wrong. Was just wondering what you were talking about, because I don't know much about Greenpeace myself.

      So, you are saying that their literature and findings aren't based on fact or scientific? They are just in it for the money?

      As far as what they were saying over thirty years ago, I would personally give them the right to have been wrong or off by some margin of error as long as what they were saying was based on fact and not just purely political or monetarily motivated.

      Don't try to pass off the fact that you have no proof to back up your accusations by saying that *I* have to be the one to find the proof.

    8. Re:Get at the root of the problem by GMontag · · Score: 2

      Oh, sorry kinda misread your post while I was waking up.

      As far as the tactics of Greenpeace and other economic benefactors of environmental hysteria, what I stated is exactly the way they raise funds.

      As for that "margin of error", being as far from right as wrong gets is a pretty wide margin.

      The "challenge" you have given me is like proving to you over the net that objects fall.

      Now, I was a bit off for saying to look it up yourself, for the proof you will have to actually enter a library and look through the microfiche or paper stacks for their literature, unless you find it online.

  28. No moon, sorry. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I don't think there is a moon, you insensitive clod.

    Total geek: its 1:30AM PST in the morning and I'm on slashdot :)

    1. Re:No moon, sorry. by stud9920 · · Score: 1
  29. Bang, ZOOM! by NeuroManson · · Score: 3, Funny

    Here's a simple solution: Stick all the doubters and nay sayers into a rocket and shoot it to the moon. Then they'll have all the proof they need (at least as long as their oxygen holds out, nobody says they need to return). Ralph Kramden was a visionary!

    --
    Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
    1. Re:Bang, ZOOM! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oxygen is an option for them (which will be cut because of the budget problems)

    2. Re:Bang, ZOOM! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are just trying to round us up and extterminate us. The proof is in the history: witnesses to the faked Kennedy assasinations disappear/die, same with Lady Di's faked death. You are just trying to silence us!

    3. Re:Bang, ZOOM! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, it's a good idea, except, what if the moon doesn't exist? Then you are sending those poor people on a one-way trip to nowhere, you insensitive clod!

  30. The American flag by Cheese+Cracker · · Score: 2

    Why haven't NASA used the Hubble telescope to take a picture of the flag? That might have nailed the mouth shut on the skeptics... but hey... they'd just claim it to be a faked photo to cover up the "moon landing lie".

    1. Re:The American flag by Richard_at_work · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Its been said before, I will say it again, Hubble does not have the resolution to take those sorts of pictures. Also the moon reflects so much light that it would dazzle hubbles collectors anyway. IIRC Nasa did release a rather grainy shot of one of the Apollo landing units still on the moon.

    2. Re:The American flag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It has nothing to do with the amount of light but you are spot on about the resolution.

    3. Re:The American flag by Mark+(ph'x) · · Score: 0

      http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=44558&threshol d=1&commentsort=0&tid=160&mode=thread&cid=4627 678 Suggests that the light from the moon would fry the optics. Also im guessing that it would be a pain to focus on something that close....

      --
      those who control the past, control the future. those who control the present, control the past.
    4. Re:The American flag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I would hope the resolution of the hubble telescope is more than 13 lines... (or 12 if you're CmdrTaco).

    5. Re:The American flag by bovril · · Score: 3, Funny

      h'm, it's supposed to be the apollo 15 landing site but to my untrained eyes it looks suspiciously like dark splotches. anyone know of any better ones out there? maybe some moon rocks or golf balls all lined up to spell HELP or something?

      --

      ---
      Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
    6. Re:The American flag by fredrik70 · · Score: 2, Informative

      AS other pointed out Hubble would probably get fried. ALso, even if it could do it, it would only be able to see things down to about 100 meters across.

      see here

      and here

      --
      if (!signature) { throw std::runtime_error("No sig!"); }
    7. Re:The American flag by los+furtive · · Score: 2

      Your question is answered in this previous comment.

      --

      I'm a writer, a poet, a genius, I know it. I don't buy software, I grow it.

    8. Re:The American flag by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      no, i bet the brightness of the moon would totally fuck the hubble's instruments. its the same reason they don't dare point the hubble at the earth (or the sun for that matter).

  31. silly telescope by me.at.work · · Score: 1

    They'll never pull off a lie like that! Everyone already knows the moon is just a big cheese put in orbit by nasa.
    To prove this we're in the middle of building the worlds biggest cheesegrater. If you want to contribute to this project you are welcome to send us money and/or any metal objects you have. Preferably 18/10 steel.

  32. Well... I still won't believe them! by Eric(b0mb)Dennis · · Score: 1

    I mean... we all know that those European scientists are just paid off by nasa people who faked the moon landing who were paid off by the illuminati.. what are you.. stupid?

    --
    Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
  33. This isn't the conspiracy you're looking for. by Gumshoe · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?"


    I doubt it. Simply because the conspiracy theory isn't whether or not spaceships are on the moon but whether, to paraphrase JFK, man was sent to the moon and bought back alive (during the Apollo missions). Conspiracy theorists generally accept the existence of moon rocks and so forth because they consider it entirely plausible that unmanned spacecraft can help fulfill the various missions -- and indeed they did, for many years, before and after the Apollo missions and by several nations.

    To repeat myself, the conspiracy theory hinges on whether or not it was/is impossible to send man to the moon and to bring him back alive. I should also add that I have no conspiritorial beliefs of my own on this subject.
  34. Public relation by Random+Walk · · Score: 3, Interesting

    While this may not end the conspiracy theories, detecting the Apollo lunar landers on the Moon would be a spectacular demonstration of the VLTs' superb performance. The VLT can achieve a resolution as good as the Hubble Space Telescope (and far better, once the interferometer is installed). Unfortunately, it has neither the staff nor the money of the HST public relation office, so pretty much nobody outside the scientific community knows that.

  35. Favorite quote by foniksonik · · Score: 2

    "According to Mr Allen, NASA was forced to send robots to the moon and faked the manned missions because radiation levels in space were lethal to humans."

    So he thinks we had robotics capable of complex remote operation ON THE MOON in the period of 1969 - 1972? Now that's thinking optimistically...

    --
    A fool throws a stone into a well and a thousand sages can not remove it.
    1. Re:Favorite quote by g4dget · · Score: 2

      Well, obviously, THEY got the robotics from the UFO that landed in Roswell in the 50's, but THEY have been keeping this technology from us :-)

    2. Re:Favorite quote by Chillblaine · · Score: 1

      "THEY" not trying to keep it from us they just can't afford to mass produce those damn alien patents!

      --
      You Are Being Lied To.
  36. I don't know about ya'll by TribeDoktor · · Score: 1

    But i'm adding another layer to my tinfoil hat to keep out the evil brainwashing moon rays after reading that story.

    1. Re:I don't know about ya'll by GS11_Pus · · Score: 1

      Hope you've got a backup strategy...

  37. have you looked at their evidence by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is my humble opinion that the evidence points to the mission being faked. The russians were breathing down our neck and communism was everywhere. Of course we had to give a dramatic demonstration of our technology. It was also in the interests of the government to direct our minds towards space, thus preparing us for the inevitable globalisation into galactic society. The people who believe in UFO's and conspiracy are just as intelligent and well educated as you, and you should not immediatly write them off.

    1. Re:have you looked at their evidence by KewlPC · · Score: 2
    2. Re:have you looked at their evidence by Yunzil · · Score: 2
      The russians were breathing down our neck and communism was everywhere.

      Yes. And they were watching every move we made and no doubt were tracking the spacecraft and were probably listening in on the communications...

      ...And they never, EVER said anything about it being fake.

  38. It's going to still be considerd a fake by 91degrees · · Score: 1

    After all, it's not exactly difficult to doctor an image from this telescope. I could easily add a lunar lander to a picture of the moon. Real conspiracy theorists know that the inhabitants of the moon made a deal with NASA, because they didn't want to be disturbed. People might have discovered that the moon was made of marshmallow, and the environmental impact of the candy miners would have destroyed their home.

    Bedsides, we all know this article proves conclusively that this it was faked.

  39. Just interesting by Azahar · · Score: 1

    Of course it is not necessary but it is interesting. I remember the glory days and I have no problem with having a look at what is left of when we left footprints on other worlds.

    --
    Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.
  40. Compelling evidence that the moon landing was fake by job0 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Finally the truth is out!. NASA Fakes Moon Landing

  41. Won't these pictures be part of the conspiracy? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    An 18 meter telescope has a Dawes Limit of .0077 arc seconds, (doesn't it?). But, the angular size of a 1 meter object at 400,000 kms is about .0005 arc seconds. How big was the biggest object left behind on the moon? Can this telescope actually resolve anything as small as an Apollo lander?

    Is that Rocket Guy still around? Maybe it'd be easier to put these people on one of his rockets and they can take a closer look for themselves.

    1. Re:Won't these pictures be part of the conspiracy? by theedge318 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It isn't an 18 meter telescope. It is actually an array of four 8-meter telescopes. With three 1.8-meter telescopes for interferometry, and a 2.5-meter auxillary telescope. All of this should provide for relatively wide-field optical imaging.

      Here is a great diagram and description of the VLT

      As for being able to see the lander, it should be able to see objects of about 1.3 meters in diameter.
      The supporting math:
      (5e-5 m) / (1.6e4 m) * (3.85e8 m) = (1.2m)

      Human hair: ~5 x 10^-5 meters
      Maximim Distance human hair can be seen by telescope: 1.6 x 10^4m (according to story)
      Distance to moon: 3.85 x 10^7m

      --
      Sig Nazi- "No Sig for you, come back 1 year."
  42. Hit them with their own logic by vjzuylen · · Score: 2, Funny
    Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?

    As they say - cogito, ergo sum. What would happen if you challenged the doubters to prove that they did in fact have minds, then started calling their evidence 'doctored'? Would they disappear in a poof of their own logic?

    --

    Hee-hee. Dying tickles!
  43. I don't see how this will be conclusive... by dubious9 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Consider the following: the telescope can see a human hair from 16km away. A human hair is about .1mm. The moon is 384400km away from earth.

    (384400km/16km)*.0001m = 2.4025m, which is to say that the telescope can see objects as small as 2.4 meters on the surface of the moon. That means the lander wouldn't be bigger than 2 pixels square.

    "What's that little black dot?"
    "That's the lander, duh."
    "Still don't believe you"

    You can never absolutely positively convince a person of the existance of a historical event. For all I know, the United States didn't even exist in 1950. Hell, I don't even believe in France, since I've never been there. I mean come on, you want me to believe that that silly French accent comes from a real language?!! Proposterous!

    --
    Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
    1. Re:I don't see how this will be conclusive... by Jafafa+Hots · · Score: 4, Funny

      Hell, when pushed into a corner, the French won't even admit to believing in France.

      --
      This space available.
    2. Re:I don't see how this will be conclusive... by hagardtroll · · Score: 4, Funny

      Then how do you explain the french toast I had for breakfast?

    3. Re:I don't see how this will be conclusive... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hey, I'm French and I exist! We really have a real language!! And our accent is for real, notwithtanding the fact that it's not silly at all. To prove that fact to you doubting bastard, I'll translate the above in French.

      He, je suis Francais et j'existe! Nous avons vraiment une vraie langue!! Et notre accent est pour de vrai, nonobstant le fait qu'il n'est pas debile du tout. Pour le prouver à un enfoire de sceptique de ton espece, je vais traduire le texte ci-dessus en francais.

      Of course you now suspect me of inventing a fake language from scratch... I'm screwed. You win :-(

    4. Re:I don't see how this will be conclusive... by b1t+r0t · · Score: 2, Funny
      Then how do you explain the french toast I had for breakfast?

      French toast comes from Quebec, with a branch office in New Orleans.

      --

      --
      "Open source is good." - Steve Jobs
      "Open source is evil." - Microsoft
    5. Re:I don't see how this will be conclusive... by riptalon · · Score: 1

      In reality it is even worse than this, since the raw result of interferometry is not a nice sharp image but a fringe pattern which is cause by the light from the individual telescopes being combined. It then takes a lot of processing to reconstruct an image and even then the image usually contains many artifacts that are not real and so an image must be carefully interpreted by someone who understands the whole process and can tell the difference between real features and artifacts. So I don't see much likelihood that it would convince anyone who is unconvinced by the presents evidense.

    6. Re:I don't see how this will be conclusive... by whereiswaldo · · Score: 2

      Operated by European astronomers in the Chilean Andes, the VLT has four mirrors eight metres across linked by optical fibres. It can see a single human hair from 16 kilometres away.

      This really intrigued me. Can the VLT really see a human hair from 16km away, or is that just a size comparison? I mean, would the hair have to give off light the power of the sun in order to be seen 16km away? Does hair really reflect that much light that those photons will travel 16km to be seen by someone with good enough equipment?

  44. Fantastic documentary by stud9920 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Last month I saw a fantastic documentary on Arte, the French-German culture TV channel. The point of the documentary was that although the moon landing was real, Nixon had been so scared that it would fail, that he ordered to make a fake film about it. As this was decided pretty unexpectedly, they negotiated to use the London based film set for Kubrick's "2001".

    They went on explaining that Kubrick as a perfectionist decided to shoot it himself, how the CIA got rid of the witnesses one by one in the seventies, and how eventually Kubrick died "unexpectedly" in 1999, just before he could make some revelations.

    The whole documentary was backed with interviews with Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, and TV footage from Nixon's White House. None of these interviews were dubbed. They only cut it the right way.

    As a critical person, I sat on my chair all the time thinking : "This can't be true ! That'a amazing !". The great thing is they didn't deny the moon landing at all so it made all the rest seem plausible. Then after half an hour they revealed it was all manipulation. The moon hoax theory was a hoax itself. Really a great documentary.

    1. Re:Fantastic documentary by tyrione · · Score: 1

      Sounds very Orwellian where the documentary was 'staged' and in fact due to excellent care taken in maintaining a seamless flow the viewer is none the wiser.

    2. Re:Fantastic documentary by kubrick · · Score: 1

      Do you remember what it was called? It sounds great, I'd like to look out for it.

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
    3. Re:Fantastic documentary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Last month I saw a fantastic documentary on Arte, the French-German culture TV channel. The point of the documentary was that although the moon landing was real, Nixon had been so scared that it would fail, that he ordered to make a fake film about it. As this was decided pretty unexpectedly, they negotiated to use the London based film set for Kubrick's "2001".


      The movie is called "Kubrick, Nixon und der Mann im Mond"
      Some parts of it are german only, most interviews english w/ german subtitles.
      It can be downloaded via edonkey:

      ed2k://|file|kubrick,.nixon.und.der.mann.im.mond .( divx5.544x400.25fps).avi|318218240|ed07ed6d7326a32 1a68d4e4cbff69647|

    4. Re:Fantastic documentary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      IIRC, The french title was "Operation Lune".

    5. Re:Fantastic documentary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is a conspiracy!! Have any of you ever seen (or read) Destination Moon by Robert Heinlein? It was about the first landing on the moon with atomic powered rockets. The Moon scenes were later compared with the "official" landing footage. It looked so close to it that it amazed the folks that compared it. The whole thing was done in a sound stage, and was released long before the first launch. The orbital ballistics involved matched what the moon mission was supposed to have gone through and everything. The theorists have got to be right! Yeah, and the moon is made of not just any cheese, it's old Limberger! Whew!

    6. Re:Fantastic documentary by kubrick · · Score: 1

      I'd imagine it will pop up here in Australia on SBS (which screens a lot of European television) in 6-12 months on a Saturday or Monday night under the title "Operation Moon".

      I might go and suggest it to them now. :) Can't be all that expensive for them to buy in...

      --
      deus does not exist but if he does
  45. There is more merit in other conspiracies by [cx] · · Score: 1

    What about the fact that HIV/AIDS was manmade?

    How about that planet Nibiru?

    There was more than 1 rifleman that shot JFK?

    Is mcdonalds food so good because of addictive chemicals? (I do not enjoy it, but some people must)

    is the cia nothing more than a mafia with a government badge?

    Did bushes grandfather inherit his wealth through dealings with Nazi Germany?

    Was 9/11 a set up to take away the civil liberties from america?

    Is there going to be a new world order type regime set up from lack of liberties?

    Will the USA ever stop using the military to police the nation?

    Think GWB still does coke? Ever know he was arrested for a DUI?

    How long do you think it will be until a new terrorist style war breaks out?
    (India/Pakistan, Israel/Arab Nations)

    Ever hear of Operation Northwoods? Probably not.

    Think Americans couldnt tell Pearl Harbor was going to happen?

    Why did the CIA meet with Bin Laden at the American Hospital Dubai, UAE? Why was he in an american hospital?

    Don't believe any of this? Look up the name "Tim Osman" in google and see whos name pops up.

    You can ignore the facts, or you can sit at your little invisible asylum and let mass media do its wonders on your ignorant body and mind.

    If you don't fight back you'll have nothing to fight for!

    "In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way."
    Franklin D Roosevelt

    1. Re:There is more merit in other conspiracies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      CX you should really reconsider your life.
      Change something , for you are becoming an embarrasment.

  46. why so unbelievable? by hugesmile · · Score: 5, Funny

    I can't understand why people doubt the lunar landings. I mean, it's not rocket science.

  47. Alleged Minds by mcgintech · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?"

    Who is alleging that these people have minds and what proof do they have! I think NASA should pay someone $15k to prove whether or not these people actually have minds.

    Perhaps scientists could use cutting edge technology and the world's most powerful microscope to prove whether or not these people's minds exist.

    Slashdot readers want to know!

    --

    Uhhhh, yeah, thath dithgustin. [The lady's man]

    1. Re:Alleged Minds by Solo-Malee · · Score: 0

      VERY VERY FUNNY!

      --
      "If it's lost, it'll turn up. Things always do" "I love it when a plan comes together"
  48. Don't really care about the conspiracies by trash+eighty · · Score: 1

    but i'm looking forward to seeing pics of the moon landers still on the moon. why? don't ask, just think its interesting.

  49. Mirror Mirror on the Moon by katalyst · · Score: 0

    Weren't he astronauts to have left a mirror on the surface of the moon to measure the distance between the earth and the moon accurately ? I am not aware of the details, but then where is damn mirror ?

    --
    |/________
    |\A|ALYS|
    1. Re:Mirror Mirror on the Moon by Lord+Bitman · · Score: 2

      "Okay, we've locked in the coordinates we have from our records on the first moon landing, now.. DEAR GOD IT'S A GIANT EYE!! AAAAAAAAA!"

      --
      -- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
  50. If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I think if you're American, you'd be nuts not to be a conspiracy theorist! Bear with me...

    I'll leave Bush aside... But have you read up on your Vice President Dick Cheney (exCEO of Halliburton Industried, and oil services company with dealings with Iraq), Secretary of Commerce Don Evans (ex chairman and CEO of Tom Brown Inc, an oil and gas company), Secretary of Defense Don Rumsfeld (ex board member of the Tribune Company which publishes the Los Angelese Times, Chicago Tribune, NY's Channel 11), Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham (received more from the automotive industry than any other candidate, voted in 2000 to abolish the department he now leads), Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson (received paid for trips abroad to promote free trade and $72,000 in campaign contributions from Philip Morris, the tobacco giant), Secretary to the Interior Gale Norton (ex national chairwoman of an "environmental group" funded by Ford Motor Company and BP Amoco, White House Chief of Staff Andrew H Card Jr (ex General Motor's chief lobbyist), National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice (served on Chevron's board of directors, has an oil tanker named after her!), Secretary to the Treasury Paul O'Neill (ex. president and CEO of Alcoa - one of the biggest polluters in Texas), Shadow Adviser to the President Kenneth L. Lay (ex Head of Enron...)...

    Maybe things were better in 1969. But I don't believe much your Government says these days. Especially about the "war on Iraq" not having anything to do with oil. Does that make me a crazy conspiracy theorist?

    1. Re:If I was American... by rolfwind · · Score: 0, Flamebait
      Especially about the "war on Iraq" not having anything to do with oil.

      BEWARE CITIZEN! Due to national security concerns we cannot divulge all the reason we, the United States Government, attack Saddam Hussein, but we want to take this time to place certain denial and put certain undeniable facts on the table.

      Consider that we did not complete our invasion and take over ^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h police action and peacekeeping role for several reasons.

      Please remember in the war documentary with satellite footage, unclassified in 1991, known as "Hot Shots!", that clearly a bomb has been dropped on Hussein, yet he is not dead.

      For even more reference, please review that in the war documentary unclassified in 1993, known as "Hot Shot, Part Deux!" Saddam was also very clearly "killed."

      Lastly, please note that in the hellish documentary unclassified in 1999, known as "South Park - Bigger, Longer & Uncut" Saddam is consorting with... Could it be.... SATAN! Also "Bill Gates" is also killed, right around the microsoft trials. We have told you enough now citizen, crawl back into your holes and earn more taxable monies, we have things under control.

    2. Re:If I was American... by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But I don't believe much your Government says these days. Especially about the "war on Iraq" not having anything to do with oil.

      I'd be curious to know how specifically the US government benefits from the oil in Iraq after a war. Keep in mind that Saddam (is that his surname?) could very well destroy all of his oil facilities and set all his wells alight if he senses the end is nigh.

    3. Re:If I was American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bloody hell mate, it's not hard. Iraq has the 2nd largest oil reserves in the world, after Saudi Arabia. By effectively controlling these reserves, the US can break OPEC and guarantee itself low oil prices in perpetuity, no matter the short-term condition of the well-heads.

      As a side-consequence, the US can also effectively remove its dependence on the increasingly unreliable Saudis and remodel the entire middle east according to US interests.

      So don't please make the mistake of thinking this war will have anything to do with the so-called war on terror, or on liberating Iraqis. It has far more to do with strategic US economic interests than whether Saddam might get a nuke in five years, if he's lucky.

    4. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I'd be curious to know how specifically the US government benefits from the oil in Iraq after a war.

      Iraq has the second largest proven reserves of oil in the world after Saudi Arabia. American oil companies have not had access to this since the late 1980s. They stand to profit enormously from a post-Hussein government friendly to the United States. It would also allow the scuttling of oil deals between Iraq and other countries and reshuffling world petroleum markets in favor of US oil firms.

      There is a lot for US oil companies to gain from getting a US friendly regieme into Iraq, and that is exactly what Bush wants to do. They have also been trying to put in place a regieme that will cancel oil agreements Iraq currently has with China, Russia and France. I shouldn't need to point out the links between Bush and his cronies and the oil companies.

      You don't have to take my word for it. Spend a few hours reading what the better international press has said about this over the last few months.

    5. Re:If I was American... by GMontag · · Score: 2

      I'd be curious to know how specifically the US government benefits from the oil in Iraq after a war. Keep in mind that Saddam (is that his surname?) could very well destroy all of his oil facilities and set all his wells alight if he senses the end is nigh.

      Or we could just ask for the embargo to be lifted, but that would only incrementally increase the supply. Remember, he is "smuggling" oil to anybody that wants to turn their head and buy it.

      Now, to all those Political/Economic geniuses out there that pose the crackpot theory you and I are challenging, please look up "fungible commodity", see how it applies to oil.

    6. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Or we could just ask for the embargo to be lifted, but that would only incrementally increase the supply.

      I assume that you know that many countries have oil agreements with Iraq which would come into effect once the embargo is lifted, and that the USA wants to get a regieme into Bagdad that will nullify those agreements?

      Now, to all those Political/Economic geniuses out there that pose the crackpot theory you and I are challenging, please look up "fungible commodity", see how it applies to oil.

      A fungible commodity is homogenious and equal, such as pure metals, water or oil. Perhaps you can use your "Political/Economic genius" to explain how that proves the idea that the USA will benefit financially from a USA friendly regieme in Iraq is a "crackpot theory".

    7. Re:If I was American... by GMontag · · Score: 2

      You are linking the regime to the price of oil, not me.

      I am saying that if the price were the only factor then we would not care who was in charge. They sell and it affects price no matter who is in there, period. It would be a much cheaper and more efficent financial benefit if we just let him sell all he wants. I see you looked up the definition and have yet to grasp how it applies to a commodity.

      The objective is obviously as has been stated by 3 different US administrations. This regime is just bad, unless you think they made up history for Kurds, Kuwait and Iran. They export terrorism against the west, gas their own people, etc, etc. The objective is removing a regime like Saddam's.

    8. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      You are linking the regime to the price of oil, not me.

      Did I? I missed that. I thought I was talking about how a regieme change in Bagdad would be financially advantageous to the USA. I never mentioned the price of oil.

      I see you looked up the definition and have yet to grasp how it applies to a commodity.

      I can see I am in the presence of an intellect far superior to my own. Forgive my stupidity, but what exactly is your point about oil being a fungible commodity? Do you mean to say that, because it is a fungible commodity, the contracts that countries and oil companies have with oil producing contries don't really matter? If you think that then maybe you should pass the news on to Putin, Jintao, Chirac, etc. I'm sure it will be a great weight off their minds when they realise how simple the economics of international oil agreements is, and that they've just been worrying about nothing.

    9. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Interesting how the parent of the above post, which (skeptically) asks what how specifically the US government benefits from the oil in Iraq after a war has been modded as insightful, but my response to it, which answers the question has been modded as offtopic.

      I think there should be a new mod, "-1 Unamerican".

    10. Re:If I was American... by marcsiry · · Score: 2

      I'm surprised anyone is outraged that the war is "really about oil."

      Of course it's about oil. If the Middle East had no oil, we would pay no attention to them, and let them all kill each other in peace (see: Rwanda).

      Governments are made up of people- i.e., they are greedy, selfish, and evasive about their motives, just like the real people you deal with every day.

      Thus, they don't publicly announce that they're going to invade Iraq because a contrary dictator is threatening an important resource. They couch it in terms that make it seem more like a noble endeavour.

      Would you ask a girl on a date by saying, "Let's go to a movie, since it's dark and maybe I can get my hand down your shirt in there?" That may be your motive, but you'd be a dumbass to say it.

      --
      Marc Siry || interactive media professional, motorcycle enthusiast ||
    11. Re:If I was American... by GMontag · · Score: 2

      Did I? I missed that. I thought I was talking about how a regieme change in Bagdad would be financially advantageous to the USA. I never mentioned the price of oil.

      Perhaps that was a bad assumption on my part, since the only thing that Iraq exports is terrorism and petrolium products, I assumed that your statement meant the price of oil would be less if a different person was selling it. It would be a slight economic advantage to the US if the terrorism bit were eliminated, this must be what you meant. Perhaps we are not really disagreeing, my apologies.

      I can see I am in the presence of an intellect far superior to my own. Forgive my stupidity, but what exactly is your point about oil being a fungible commodity? Do you mean to say that, because it is a fungible commodity, the contracts that countries and oil companies have with oil producing contries don't really matter? If you think that then maybe you should pass the news on to Putin, Jintao, Chirac, etc. I'm sure it will be a great weight off their minds when they realise how simple the economics of international oil agreements is, and that they've just been worrying about nothing.

      Okay, very simply, it is a demand/price problem. The more oil on the market, the cheaper it is and it does not matter one bit where it originated. Your comments about contracts and such are still subjuct to this basic economic law. Not sure what "contracts" you are speaking of, since nobody makes a fixed price oil contract any more, unless you are speaking of fututres contracts and even at that you are really missing the basics here.

      All of the people you named are in control of places that have companies/organizations that buy oil on the free market. They all buy it at the same price, just like we do in the USA. I fail to see your point.

      Please do not bring up the end-user price, since that has nothing to do with this discussion as the price of crude is almost lost in the rounding after processing costs (includes government rules on processing) and taxes (includes all taxes from entry at port to consumer purchase).

    12. Re:If I was American... by ivan256 · · Score: 2

      How does all that have anything to do with conspiracy? Since all that is public knowledge, you're entire post is a fairly good argument that there isn't some massive conspiracy in the current administration.

      When you're in your 50's or 60's what will you have done that'll make you look bad out of context? Post your real name so I can see what I can dig up.

    13. Re:If I was American... by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      This regime is just bad, unless you think they made up history for Kurds, Kuwait and Iran.

      Like America has any moral foot to stand on, considering we funded the war against Iran.

    14. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Governments are made up of people- i.e., they are greedy, selfish, and evasive about their motives, just like the real people you deal with every day.

      Ahhh. So that's what they meant when they said "by the people, for the people". Now I understand American politics much better.

      Over here in Europe, we like to elect leaders that aren't greedy, selfish, and evasive about their motives. But then, we're just a bunch of losers.

    15. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Okay, very simply,

      [Sarcasm]
      Thank you! I am concentrating as hard as I can!
      [/Sarcasm]

      it is a demand/price problem. The more oil on the market, the cheaper it is and it does not matter one bit where it originated.

      [Sarcasm]
      Ahh, yes now I get it! It's a price/demand problem. More oil on the market, price goes down. Let me write that down.
      [/Sarcasm]

      Not sure what "contracts" you are speaking of [..] you are really missing the basics here.

      Ah, well, I think this may be where our knowledge and experience diverge. You've done Economics 101 recently, I take an interest in foreign affairs and read the international press regularly.

      Iraq does indeed have oil contracts, and they do matter quite a bit. China, France and Russia have all expressed concern that the USA is trying to get a new regieme into Iraq that will break their existing agreements. These contract involve the development and exploitation of oil fields in Iraq and on an international scale are both politically and economically very significant. Rather than responding to this with more schoolboy economics why don't you try searching some good news sites for information about Iraq and oil contracts?

    16. Re:If I was American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Probably some american sheep who'll eat anything he's told to eat. "Bush said Bin Laden hated the freedom americans had!" Bullshit.

    17. Re:If I was American... by GMontag · · Score: 2

      Of course it's about oil. If the Middle East had no oil, we would pay no attention to them, and let them all kill each other in peace (see: Rwanda).

      Yea! Like Haiti, Somolia, the former Yugolsavia, Granada, etc. Yea, those places are just busting full of oil and US econimic interest! Yes, you have opened my eyes!

      We do need to go back to examples from the 1970's and before to show what the US is REALLY up to now! Like that nasty incersion into the waters of Tripoli under Jefferson.

    18. Re:If I was American... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 2

      Over here in Europe, we like to elect leaders that aren't greedy, selfish, and evasive about their motives.

      Oh, please. As if Europeans have somehow discovered the secret to altruism. Nearly all politicians are greedy, selfish, and evasive, and to think that the electorate could really spot them if they were trying to hide it is ludicrous. Europe just elects better actors.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    19. Re:If I was American... by GMontag · · Score: 2

      Iraq does indeed have oil contracts, and they do matter quite a bit. China, France and Russia have all expressed concern that the USA is trying to get a new regieme into Iraq that will break their existing agreements. These contract involve the development and exploitation of oil fields in Iraq and on an international scale are both politically and economically very significant. Rather than responding to this with more schoolboy economics why don't you try searching some good news sites for information about Iraq and oil contracts?

      The question at hand is how a war with Iraq benefits US economic interest. Now you have tossed up how leaving Saddam in power benefits a bunch of other nations, NOT the US.

      Like I said to begin with, the quickest, easiest way to drop the price of oil is to drop the embargo. BTW, all the countries YOU mention have expressed and interest in dropping the embargo. All of the countries YOU mention have sold finished goods to Iraq in the past and may still.

      Now, I have already explained this to you several different ways, try explaining to the rest of us just how an expensive military operation to remove a brutal dictator is more econonimically beneficial to the US (not these other countries) than just removing the embargo and sanctions?

      Oh yes, before you go spouting off with more ad homonym attacks, just try answering the question.

    20. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      How does all that have anything to do with conspiracy? Since all that is public knowledge, you're entire post is a fairly good argument that there isn't some massive conspiracy in the current administration.

      Ah yes. This type of argument is very popular in the USA these days isn't it? "Since campaign contributions are public knowledge, they're not bribes are they? It's not corruption, like in foreign places".

      A conspiracy is a joining or acting together, "as if by sinister design", according to some dictionary definitions. I believe current usage is more along the lines of when governments do bad or illegal things and hide them. Well, if the current regieme says that it is invading Iraq for humanitarian reasons, but is actually doing it for financial reasons, I believe that is conspiracy. My point about listing the backgrounds of your leaders was to show how likely it is that a conspiracy is occurring.

    21. Re:If I was American... by dylan.ucd · · Score: 1

      it might be because of many of the hypocrites here who get all defensive when you talk about their beloved government.

      it is truely unfortunate that innocent people will die or be displaced due to the upcoming nonsense in the middle east. even more so, any actions will be portrayed as 'liberating the iraqi people' and 'backed by the american public' - when in reality none of us here in the US want to see any of this. Seriously, how can any decent human being say "Yes, I would like to drop bombs on starving civilains, and take their oil." The only people I know are those in the US Government.

      what a pile of shit.

    22. Re:If I was American... by Dun+Malg · · Score: 2

      This regime is just bad, unless you think they made up history for Kurds, Kuwait and Iran.

      Like America has any moral foot to stand on, considering we funded the war against Iran.

      Politics isn't all black and white. It's about hedging your bets and backing the lesser evils if necessary in order to thwart the greater evils. People like to make a lot of noise about how the US supported Iraq, but take a look at Iraq's military: it's hardware is 90% Soviet made and 10% European. Remember the USS Stark, which Iraq shot with a French Exocet missile fired from a French Mirage fighter? Everyone was helping Iraq a little back then because we all wanted to see Iran defeated. Iran came out of an Islamic fundamentalist revolution and immediately engaged in a war of conquest with Iraq. Most of the world was not so happy with this. Fast forward 10 years, and Iraq becomes the greater evil. It's the reality of geopolitics. Counting the moral legs of various countries as they stand on them misses the point entirely. It's not about morality and no one ever claimed it was. Get over it.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    23. Re:If I was American... by pubjames · · Score: 2

      We really are having a communications problem here, aren't we?

      Now you have tossed up how leaving Saddam in power benefits a bunch of other nations, NOT the US.

      No, I didn't. There are a number of countries that have agreements with Iraq which would be beneficial to them once the embargo is lifted, but they are not currently beneficial because of the embargo. The USA has made moves to try to nullify these contracts should a regieme change occur, i.e. the USA want to replace the current regieme in Bagdad with one that will nullify existing contracts and replace it with one which will put in place contracts beneficial to the USA.

      BTW, all the countries YOU mention have expressed and interest in dropping the embargo.

      Of course. See above.

      All of the countries YOU mention have sold finished goods to Iraq in the past and may still.

      Not sure how this is relevant to the discussion.

      Now, I have already explained this to you several different ways, try explaining to the rest of us just how an expensive military operation to remove a brutal dictator is more econonimically beneficial to the US (not these other countries) than just removing the embargo and sanctions?

      Jeeze. You've explained to me that if there's more oil on the market, the price goes down. And yes, you've explained that in lots of different ways.

      In my last post I asked you to do a web search and read up about Iraq and the importance of its oil agreements with other countries, but I guess you haven't. Here is a starting point for you:

      http://www.gomemphis.com/mca/america_at_war/arti cl e/0,1426,MCA_945_1535914,00.html

      Once you've read that I hope you will agree that the situation is a little more complex than your basic economics would have you imagine.

    24. Re:If I was American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, in fact it is not any more complicated than I am expressing it no matter how you try to dream other factors into the mix.

      The basic fact remains, US oil refiners would have a much greater econimic benefit if their raw materials were less expensive. So would US consumers, US government, etc. The easiest way to accomplish that is through naieve pacivism, not through a war. Therefore, oil can not be the reason for this looming war between the US and Iraq.

      Post all you like, I am through with this pointless circular arguement of yours.

      Montag

    25. Re:If I was American... by bkirkby · · Score: 1

      PJ> Does that make me a crazy conspiracy theorist?

      Um. In short: yes.

      It's no different than the moon landing theorists. You are believing lock, stock and barrel what is plausible over what the evidence (or lack of evidence) suggests. If you believe it's "war for oil", then you must believe that Clinton's bombing of the aspirin factory in the Sudan as well as the war on Kosovo was a wag-the-dog moment to deflect attention away from him committing perjury.

      Next, your kind will try to convince us of a vast right-wing conspiracy.

      -pheirce

    26. Re:If I was American... by illtud · · Score: 1
      I'd be curious to know how specifically the US government benefits from the oil in Iraq after a war. Keep in mind that Saddam (is that his surname?) could very well destroy all of his oil facilities and set all his wells alight if he senses the end is nigh.

      The middle east, and much of the Mediterranean, is like a giant oil sump, the lowest point (plug, if you like) of which is Iraq, which is why there has been so much (US) interest in the past 20+ years in the 'stability' of the region. After the last Gulf war, Cheney's Haliburton (which was already quite involved in Iraq) were awarded the contract to rebuild the oil fields after the allies bombed them to smithereens. Talk about a job-creation scheme! Now France and Russian companies have developed oilfields in Iraq, but they're afraid they're going to lose out to the US should Iraq have a US-mandated regime-change.

      Basically, you have to be pretty naiive to discount the probability that US companies won't be quids in if the current Iraqi regime is destroyed - which I'd love to see happen, by the way, but not by the current "Sink and you're innocent, float and you drown"/"If we find weapons, we bomb you, if not, you must be hiding them and we bomb you anyway" witchunt.

    27. Re:If I was American... by ivan256 · · Score: 2
      For starters:

      conspiracy
      n: a secret agreement between two or more people to perform an unlawful act [syn: {confederacy}]
      also: A combination of men for an evil purpose; an agreement, between two or more persons, to commit a crime in concert, as treason;

      ...but lets move past the pedantry since neither of us will produce a definition of 'evil' or 'crime' that will satisfy the other due to the inherant subjectiveness. Instead we'll move on to undeniable facts. First, due to all the reasons mentioned in your original post, and what I pointed out in mine, none of our high ranking government officials will benifit financially from a war (or any specific political decision) and get away with it. Period. There are too many eyes watching. They may try it, but if they do they will be caught, and they will fail. Second, George W. Bush does not say that he wants to invade Iraq for humanitarian reasons. He doesn't even say he wants to invade them. He wants to confiscate and destroy their weapons, using war if necissary. Humanitarianism is an afterthought. Using war may or may not be the preferred method, but the administration says it isn't, only the people who report on presidential agenda while adding spin say that war is top priority.

      Ah yes. This type of argument is very popular in the USA these days isn't it? "Since campaign contributions are public knowledge, they're not bribes are they? It's not corruption, like in foreign places".

      That's not a popular argument as far as I'm aware, and it has little to do with what we were saying. The bulk of your "conspiracy proof" was describing key official's former employment. Having held a job in the past is hardly a bribe, now is it? And where do you think those campaign dollars come from? They don't appear magically. They come from investors and from you. You never thought about it that way though... Powering that computer with solar? I didn't think so.You can't reap the benifits and bitch about the outcome at the same time. If there's a conspiracy you're in on it.

    28. Re:If I was American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      fuck you asshole. Rather than dig you up I'd rather bury you. You, my dimwitted human companion, are part of the problem. I am more than willing to see the problem 'fixed'. And someday it will be. I can't wait.

    29. Re:If I was American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Saddam Hussein has killed more Muslims than any other person in the history of the earth. He has a stated personal goal of genocide for the Kurds, the destruction of neighboring countries and death to all nonMuslims. He routinely tortures and murders anyone who disagrees with him, including family members. If he had the technology he would release chemical, biological and nuclear weapons on Europe. Those all seem sufficient reason to take him out without resorting to an oil conspiracy theory. But regardless of the motive for removing him, the world will be a better place when he's gone.

    30. Re:If I was American... by frankie · · Score: 2
      could very well destroy all of his oil facilities and set all his wells alight if he senses the end is nigh.

      And Dick Cheney is licking his lips at that very prospect. Do you have any idea how many billions of dollars Halliburton stands to make if^H^Hwhen they get the job of rebuilding Iraq's oil industry?

    31. Re:If I was American... by JamieF · · Score: 2

      ROTFL! That was a good one.

      For a moment there I thought that you were saying that politicians in Europe were selfless civil servants without a fib nor a dirty past among them.

    32. Re:If I was American... by Groganz · · Score: 1

      All good reasons to adopt a Westminster system and have elected representatives in senior executive positions instead of all these public servants.

    33. Re:If I was American... by Groganz · · Score: 1

      You're forgetting that the US has an interesting form of democracy whereby a President is elected and then that President selects a bunch of civil servants for important tasks. Most other democracies have elected representatives doing important jobs like defense, foreign policy etc..

    34. Re:If I was American... by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      we all wanted to see Iran defeated. Iran came out of an Islamic fundamentalist revolution

      Why did Iran have a revolution? Becuase the Shah was corrupt and the people didn't want to live under the Shah's regime anymore, a regime supported by the rest of the world despite its history of human right abuse. Their government has serious problems - even the Iranians know that - but it's much closer to a government of the people, by the people and for the people then the Shah's ever was. But the concept of the rights of a people to choose their government seems alien to European and American nations, despite their excersize of that right.

      immediately engaged in a war of conquest with Iraq.

      Nothing I've read indicates that Iran attacked Iraq; rather the other way around.

      It's not about morality and no one ever claimed it was.

      It's always about morality. Morality is always the final judge of human behavior, whether singly or in large groups.

    35. Re:If I was American... by Citizen+of+Earth · · Score: 2

      By effectively controlling these reserves, the US can break OPEC and guarantee itself low oil prices in perpetuity

      OPEC is an illegal cartel anyway.

    36. Re:If I was American... by 2ms · · Score: 1

      It's not a pile of shit if it's the only thing we can do to prevent another 9/11. The terrorists want to kill as many Americans as they can. This, as we've seen, means thousands if not hundreds of thousands (chemical or nuclear) at a time with minimal effort. Is it that you are sure that there is a better way of stopping terrorism, or do you think that the terrorists will just get bored and see the error of their ways, turning into peaceful hippies at retreats singing and dancing to cum by yah?

      It must be nice being able to go through life condemning everyone, saying what they're doing is wrong because it has a con, completely ignorant of whether or not there is an alternative with fewer cons available. Anybody'd feel real good about themselves doing that, problem is when America starts getting so detached from reality that those people start to represent significant share of voting public, that's when people like Sadaam and Bin Ladin start getting away with stuff like 9/11 and buiulding nukes.

      I'm just hoping I can get away with 50 more years before the nuke.

    37. Re:If I was American... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe things were better in 1969. But I don't believe much your Government says these days. Especially about the "war on Iraq" not having anything to do with oil. Does that make me a crazy conspiracy theorist?
      Actually I don't think it has anything to do with oil - think about it

      1)turn one of your puppet states (in this case Iraq) into a 'whipping boy' whenever you want to divert attention away from the economy/reduce civil liberties etc. They did it before, they're doing it now and watch as no long term 'resolution' will come from what's going on now. After a few quiet years when they want to divert attention again then 'Bad Boy' Iraq is back on the agenda.

      2)make sure that whipping boy is an oil state so you can turn around and state that 'it is not about oil' so that everyone will assume it does have something to do with oil (the old addage if it's best to hide a lie within truth) and not that you're making it all up so that nobody realizes what's really going on.

      Government through smoke and mirrors

  51. it's OK that people ask by g4dget · · Score: 2
    I have no doubt we landed on the moon, based on the wealth of scientific data that has been published after the moon landings. But I also think it's reasonable for non-scientists to ask. NASA receives billions of dollars in funding, and people have a right to have explained to them in clear and certain terms what happened to that money, and to see proof that it was spent correctly. Sites like this that debunk the "moon hoax" claims are the kind of clear, simple explanations NASA should have published widely decades ago.

    More generally, yes, there is a strong current of non-scientific and anti-scientific thought in modern US society. The right answer to that is to patiently explain scientific facts so that people can make up their own minds, and to start at whatever level people need. Science is something that doesn't have to rely on faith, it's something that reasonable people can spend time on and figure out, and make up their own mind about. And if a scientific project (be it the moon landing or some solid state physics experiment) cannot provide enough evidence for its results, well, then people are justified in doubting its validity until the evidence is forthcoming.

    On the other hand, telling people that it must be true because they have seen it on TV is the wrong approach. We want people to question things they see in the mass media, because while the moon landing is not a hoax, a lot of other stuff in the mass media is completely fabricated, from television commercials for superior toothpaste to the validity of presidential elections.


  52. I thought... by suPerg0d · · Score: 1

    That the only really viable theory is that the US governmnet faked the Apollo 11 landing, as it quite clear that they did eventually get there (check out the incredible photos they took). What will be interesting is whether they can tell which of the eagle bases correspods to which mission, and see if there is one out.
    I am personally not convinced that the Apollo 11 mission was faked, but they certainly had a good reason to do it, and there is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that it was faked, such as flags waving, no stars visable on the videos...

    1. Re:I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please. Flags can wave for reasons other than wind; any vibration can cause it. As for there being no stars; of course there weren't, the pictures were taken in the middle of the day! The difference in brightness between the foreground (the brightly lit lunar landscape) and the stars would be something like 6 or 7 orders of magnitude. Photographic film can handle ranges of two or three, tops. Natural the camera exposure was set for the foreground and would underexpose the stars by several orders of magnitude. See www.badastronomy.com for discussions of other alleged pieces of "evidence."

      I hope you were trolling.

    2. Re:I thought... by stmpynode · · Score: 1

      of course there were no stars visible. you can't see stars during the day time. if they had landed on the other side of the moon facing away from the earth, then they they would have had a very clear view of the stars.

      --

      Blah.

    3. Re:I thought... by rynthetyn · · Score: 1

      The flag was not waving. It is common knowledge that, since there is no wind on the moon and the flag would just hang limply, they wired the flag so it would stand out and look like it was waving.

      --
      Eagles may soar, but weasles don't get sucked into jet engines...
    4. Re:I thought... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "no stars visible"
      While it's true that a gibbeous or full earth would make it more difficult to see stars just as a full moon does here, the sun and the glare of the surrounding terrain are what makes it more difficult to see stars. In any photograph where the terrain is properly exposed the stars will be very underexposed. Here is an experiment you can do at home to prove this. Take a photograph of the moon, exposing so that you can see detail on the lunar surface. During a gibbeous or full moon, the correct exposure is very close to the photographer's "bright sunny day" rule. At F16, the shutter speed should match the ASA. So if you take a picture of the moon on ASA 200, film at F16, 1/200th of a second will get a good exposure of the moon. Now, can you see any stars in the photo? Try the same exposure with the camera aimed at Sirius( the brightest star in the sky.) Do you see anything?

  53. REDUNDENT by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I read this exact comment the last time a moon story was posted. If someone could dig up a link, we could mod this troll back down to hell.

  54. What about other things they might see? by tlambert · · Score: 2

    What about other things they might see?

    I'm pretty sure there will be a blue police box, for example...

    -- Terry

  55. Garbled QOTD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It should of course read:

    "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?" -- Robert Browning, "Andrea del Sarto"

  56. In Other News... by clickety6 · · Score: 2



    NASA provides funds to show...

    * that the moon is not made of green cheese
    * that cows cannot jump fast enough to break from Earth's garvity
    * that those dark patches on the surface are not a face
    * that the sun is not connected to a chariot
    * that giant space goats do not eat the moon every 28 days
    * that the Zodiac really does control our lives and that Capricorns should be aware of the number 67 next friday

    --
    ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
  57. It won't make a difference by ThroughYourEyes · · Score: 1
    "Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?"

    Nope. These people don't care if they're right or wrong. They live to conjure up crazy conspiracies.
    My money says they'll accuse the scientists of doctoring the photos, thus unlocking an even bigger conspiracy reaching to the highest levels of government, blah blah blah..

  58. I don't think anyone is doubting by smell_my_finger · · Score: 1

    ... that there's junk left on the moon from the space missions, it's relatively easy to put inanimate objects up there because you don't have to worry about getting them back.

    You could bounce a laser off the reflectors left up there if you were so inclined, and it's been done... Hypothetically, if you were going to fake a landing, you'd probably shoot up a little buggy, a flag and whatnot as well, just for that added authenticity.. how looking at the moon and seeing what has been left behind is going to prove man ever walked on it though is beyond me.

  59. Something about this was on Space chan (cdn) today by Nogami_Saeko · · Score: 3, Interesting

    And I could only stand the drivel for around 10 minutes before I switched it to something else.

    To all the doubters, let's put the issue to rest like this:

    The US and USSR were competing neck and neck to get both astronauts into space and then to the moon. Like adolescent schoolboys, they took every opportunity to embarrass their opponent in the space race.

    So...

    When the US went to the moon, the USSR would've been watching with EVERY intelligence instrument in their posession. Every radio receiver, every telescope, every single spy would've been trained on the mission.

    If the US had faked it, you can be sure that while they probably could've got away with fooling the general US public, there's absolutely NO way they could ever fool all of the scientists and analysts of the USSR doing the monitoring.

    When the astronauts were transmitting from the moon, it would've been simplicity itself to check the signal source. If the signals were coming from anywhere other than the moon, the USSR would've had it in the press so fast that the ink wouldn't be dry on the page before the western media picked-up on it.

    Not to mention every other country on the planet with radio antennas, telescopes, etc...

    I'm sure some mental deficients would try and argue that a relay station was set up on the moon... Oh, but wait, that would require "going to the moon to set it up"... Time to just call it quits guys. How about working on conspiracy theories about aliens in area 57 instead? It'll sell better too...

    N.

    --
    "Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
  60. Taking care of various conspiracy arguments by weird+mehgny · · Score: 4, Informative

    Maybe someone posted this before me, I could've missed it, anyway:

    http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.htm l

    It's pretty thorough.

  61. Browsing at -1... by Shade,+The · · Score: 2

    ...Should reveal a few moon landing conspirisists to make fun of... :)

  62. Not just "conspiracy theorists" by Reservoir+Penguin · · Score: 1

    First of all I'm from Russia, a country that had a parallel moon landing program that was scaped after
    US announcment that they landed first. (USSR wanted to be first at everything). Achieving that would have given USSR new technologies that could have been used in ballistic missles and such. Purhaps CIA knw that and created the moon landing hoax as a form of sabotage? In any case the burden of proof tha moon landing actually took place is on NASA, also a few years a got hater was a story about Mar landing footage found in NASA grabgae or an abandone facility dont rember which now. I belive NASAs explanationw as that it was part of a simulation performed fopr a scraped MARS landing program in the early 80s. Something to think about.

    --
    US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
  63. Turn the telescope around by inkswamp · · Score: 2
    I wonder if it would be possible to turn the telescope to point it at the doubters' backsides to confirm the existence of their heads in their rectums.

    Just curious.

    --
    --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
    1. Re:Turn the telescope around by mOdQuArK! · · Score: 1

      Sorry, we're not capable of developing anything with the required level of magnification.

  64. Re:REDUNDENT!!!! by leuk_he · · Score: 3, Interesting

    http://dwemus.org/archive.php?cid=167 could have done it. It is exaclty this text. (dated 2002-09-02)

    thx google.

  65. The robots by GrimSean · · Score: 2, Funny
    According to Mr Allen, NASA was forced to send robots to the moon and faked the manned missions because radiation levels in space were lethal to humans.

    Perhaps wecould use these robots to cut down the Radioactive Trees

    --
    I don't need to be made to look evil. I can do that on my own. - Christopher Walken
  66. Insightful by Martin+S. · · Score: 2

    Why do people care so much about what lunar denial folk think?

    This is should be insightful.

    Are Chemists bothered about what Alchemists believed/said ?
    Are Astronomers bothered about what Astrologers believe/say ?
    Are Biologists bothered about what Creationists believe/say ?

    1. Re:Insightful by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Are Biologists bothered about what Creationists believe/say ?"

      Let me loose a resounding HELL YES! Especially when they are able to leverage mob mentality to force their teachings into schools!

  67. Re:Compelling evidence that the moon landing was f by MonTemplar · · Score: 1

    The truth got slashdotted - y'all just exceeded Tripod's bandwidth limit. Like, DUH!

    --
    -MT.
  68. While you're there... by redshift-systems · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can you try and spot my nail clippers? I must have dropped them somewhere near the lander. Cheers, Buzz.

  69. what about... by redshift-systems · · Score: 1

    But Marcus Allen, the British publisher of Nexus magazine and a long-time advocate of the theory, said photographs of the lander would not prove that the US put men on the moon. "Getting to the moon really isn't much of a problem - the Russians did that in 1959," he said. "The big problem is getting people there."

    I suppose those flags were put there by mice to mark their favourite cheese spots? What a jip, these losers really do need a life. (Unlike all of us ;) )

  70. Does Russia have this problem too? by floki · · Score: 2, Funny

    This month NASA tried to put an end to the controversy by commissioning a definitive account of the evidence for the landings. Days later it dropped the idea after criticism that it was wasting money by taking on the lunatic fringe: naturally, this only boosted claims that the agency was trying to hide something.

    Do you think the Russians have a veneratic fringe?

    --
    from the to-stupid-for-words dept.
  71. The camera will poke through Earth's atmosphere... by syntap · · Score: 1

    And find another door!

    ref http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/09/2 4/165208&mode=thread&tid=134

  72. Trial by reproduction by ozbird · · Score: 2

    Why not just dust off the ol' Saturn V rockets and Apollo modules and send the conspiracy theorists to the Moon to visit the Apollo landing sites?

    If the make it to the Moon, they're proven wrong. If they don't make (and die horribly in space), they're right. (Either way, we win. ;-)

    1. Re:Trial by reproduction by Ektanoor · · Score: 2

      Tell that to the US Congress... They will load you with a million reasons why they don't need this @#$&%$@# Moon... Besides, they will tell you a billion reasons why Mankind doesn't need this $#^$!@#!# Space Conquer... Except for a few thousands of miles around Earth, specially for military and, sometimes, civilian purposes.

      So conspiracy theorists will have some food of thought for the next century...

  73. cubic reflector by geoff+lane · · Score: 3, Insightful
    so who put the cubic reflector on the moon so we can accurately measure the distance?

    If people really want to worry about govenment conspiracy they should look into the continued broadcasts of Barney The Dinosaur on TV

  74. Re:Something about this was on Space chan (cdn) to by Ektanoor · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "When the US went to the moon, the USSR would've been watching with EVERY intelligence instrument in their posession. Every radio receiver, every telescope, every single spy would've been trained on the mission."

    Your statement is pretty cool. But you're wrong in your assumptions. Conspiracy theorists may tell you that US and USSR made a whole super-conspiracy outta the Space Conquer to convince their dumb citizens that they were pretty cool. They may say that they did this in accordance, no matter the divisions and disagreements. Or they may tell you that US sent retransmitters to Space so that everyone would think they were walking on the Moon.

    However these things are just corn seeds in the field The true problem here is not if we have been or not in the Moon. The problem is that we have had a huge debacle from Space Conquer since the 70s. Today, things are so histoircally far from us that we start to doubt if they really have taken place. How many expeditions have happened since then? How many events related to the Moon have happened since the last man quitted it? When the last seismic station turned off in the Moon?

    The Moon Conquer was for many people something very SF, even when it was really happening. Now, 30 years later, it goes more than SF. It's mythology, sometimes of the very worst taste. Appolo XIII Holywood mega-picture showed it in all colours. We see there a raw patriotism where astronauts are good husbands and fathers and take a walk to the Moon like into the countryside. The dramatism of the film is artificial and quite theatrical. The whole story goes around on "how good is Earth, home sweet, home and dear bloody family", and doesn't touch a little neither the technicities of the mission nor the real drama of bringing back the station. The film is pure BS. And this and other similar things about Space is what we feed to new generations. That's the Cosmos they see. No wonder that they start to doubt we have been there...

    Once I managed to hear something that one guy told me was a fragment from a conversation inside Appolo XIII. It was noisy, scrapped but some moments were clear. It was a cold blooded voice. It was clear that the guy was under extreme stress but he was fighting every second and every detail. No cries, no yellings, no discussions in maximas of Life and Values. Just good English full of technical details and sending Gods and Devils to Hell. That guy knew that he went into a place were frequently one gets one-way tickets. And he was really good on fighting back his return ticket. However, many people don't ever will know what was the real Appolo XIII.

  75. Poster by Wiwi+Jumbo · · Score: 2

    If they can ever get a good enough image....

    ...that would make a kick ass poster.

    :)

    --
    Wiwi
    "I trust in my abilities,
    but I want more then they offer"
  76. This doesn't change a thing! by MongooseCN · · Score: 2

    This just shows that the government just flew up to the moon and planted fake space craft there!

  77. Capricorn One by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I went and rented a movie called Capricorn One this evening (a pic about faked Mars landing). The video guy told me it was his favourite movie then launched into a tirade about the faked moon landings.

    His trump card was the camera angle when the pod landed on the moon. How did the camera get there first? He reckons that footage hasn't been broadcast since (or at least in the last 30 years) so not having been around to see it, has anyone heard a reasonable explanation?

  78. Lunar Hoax by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

    I vote we take all the people that think the lunar landing was a hoax, and send them to the moon. Then they will know without a doubt, that people have been sent to the moon.
    Problem Solved

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  79. Objection: Assumed organ not in evidence! by wowbagger · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    I object to any statement of the form "Perhaps this will change the minds of the hoax-believers" - that statement assumes the existance of an organ (the brain of the doubters) not in evidence!

    Until the doubters can be shown to have brains and minds, I move the argument be stricken from the record!

  80. we already have proofs.. by da5idnetlimit.com · · Score: 5, Informative

    As far as I remember, the crew that landed on the moon had for mission to place some highly reflective mirrors on the moon surface.

    Those mirrors are used to calculate the exact distance bertween earth and the moon by using a large laser and getting a few photons back to make the calculations.

    Now, except if the doubters find a way to slingshot a miror on the moon, THIS is a quite valuable poof, as they DO exist and are used everyday.

    --
    It takes 40+ muscles to frown, but only four to extend your arm and bitchslap the motherfucker
    1. Re:we already have proofs.. by Anonvmous+Coward · · Score: 2

      "Now, except if the doubters find a way to slingshot a miror on the moon, THIS is a quite valuable poof, as they DO exist and are used everyday."

      The mirrors were placed there by a deity to test our faith.

    2. Re:we already have proofs.. by xsadar · · Score: 1

      Ah, but you're forgetting. They had robots up there, remember? It was R2D2 and C3PO that put the mirrors on the moon surface.

      --
      The only thing I know is that I don't know anything; and I'm not even sure about that.
    3. Re:we already have proofs.. by juhaz · · Score: 1

      Well, these new images prove nothing to nutcases if that is the case.

      R2D2 and C3P0 had to get there somehow, tough luck if their lander happens to look just like that used in the apollo "fake" program.

    4. Re:we already have proofs.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, no doubts about the Apollo 15. But Apollo 11 was reality?

  81. That reminds me .... by mr_z_beeblebrox · · Score: 5, Funny

    Of a Nasa project I worked on in the 60s. It is basically a filter for telescope lenses, which adds spacecraft to any celestial bodies you point it at. I did that when I worked at a Nasa base called "Lunar Landing" out in the desert in Arizona.
    I think the date was April 1st 1969

  82. True Believers by fireweaver · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Fuck the moon conspiracists.

    You can show a "True Believer" any amount of evidence you want that thier belief is wrong and
    they will still find a justification for thier
    beliefs. It is a congenital mental defect that
    is far too widely spread ahd has been capitalised on by con-artists, hucksters, politicians, religicos, and other such frauds since time immemorial. These are the kinds of morons who will let the priest bone them up the ass and call it god's love.

  83. Doctored photos by jeepliberty · · Score: 2, Interesting

    What were you doing in July 1969? I was an amateur photographer. My Uncle Joe had recently given me his black and white darkroom setup. I took pictures of the moon landing from our TV screen.

    In August 1969, when the Apollo astronauts visited their hometowns, I covered Mike Collins' ticker tape parade in New Orleans for our school newspaper. I got to shake his hand! I remember thinking how small his hand was.

    In the darkroom, I would enlarge negatives and print photos, and for effect, use techniques called cropping and vignetting. Cropping prints only the interesting portion of the photo. Vignetting was used if there were over or under exposed areas on the negative. I would block the light from the enlarger for a section of the photo that was overexposed, and give more light to underexposed areas (shadows). I used different paper stock which also controlled contrast.

    When I saw the color moon photos in LIFE magazine I remember thinking what a great job the NASA photo darkroom staff must have done cropping and vignetting the photos.

    I think its human nature to disbelieve things we can't see.

    Several years ago at Cape Canaveral, Florida I had the opportunity to tour the full scale relica of the Ducan Hindes. That was the ship that Sir Francis Drake sailed around the world in. Its still hard to believe that a over 100 sailors could carry provision and make such a journey on such a small vessel.

    "Yee of little faith" -- Jesus to Thomas

    1. Re:Doctored photos by Bob+McCown · · Score: 2, Informative
      Several years ago at Cape Canaveral, Florida I had the opportunity to tour the full scale relica of the Ducan Hindes.

      I'm sure you mean the Golden Hind... Duncan Hines makes food...

  84. Plagiarised!!!! by siliconeyes · · Score: 2, Informative

    Dude, at least give credit where it's due. Thought I'd read that before! Googling turned up

    Link 1
    Link 2

    Basically a copy-paste job.

    1. Re:Plagiarised!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's some real fine sleuthing there! Did you know this was a classic troll and gets posted in every moon-related article?

  85. Something else they could do to convince them by RidgyDigiDude · · Score: 2, Insightful

    One thing that might convince some doubters would be to set up another telescope nearby with plain optics and an eyepiece, then use a visible-light laser to bounce pulses off the laser ranging retroflector that Apollo 11 left behind on the surface - I have a picture of it here in a book called Eagle On The Moon (The incredible space journey of Apollo 11). Comparing it to a footprint it seems to be about 15" square, and maybe 15 yards from the lander.

    You'd want to invite a half dozen well-known skeptics and let them peer through the eyepiece while they press a button to fire a laser pulse at the retroflector and wait the 2 and a bit seconds for the reflection to come back and appear in both the plain optical scope and the big electronically controlled scope with the digitally processed images. Then you'd want to be able to convince them that the two scopes are pointing at the same place, probably by taking a few photos of prominent features and matching images from the two scopes, and proving that that the features are in fact in the appropriate region of the Sea of Tranquility, as advertised.

    Since there may be no other optical telescope nearby, they might want to use a tilting liquid mirror telescope, which should be cheap enough and portable enough to relocate next to the big new scope. These are under development:

    http://www.casca.ca/ecass/issues/winter2000/feat ur es/borra/hgmirror.html

    I know this will only prove the existence of a retroflective feature on the lunar surface near another feature that might or might not be the bottom half of a lunar lander, but maybe it's worth a try. If all of the lunar landers left similar retroflectors, it should be possible to account for all the Apollo missions this way, assuming they all landed on this side of the moon.

    Regards, RDD

    --
    I want to live as an honest man, to get all I deserve and give all I can, to love a young woman who I don't understand.
  86. radiation by Dexter's+Laboratory · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ofcourse the conspiracy believers will not accept any proof. They will just counter it with a stupid explanation. This is one of the characteristics of pseudoscience; they refuse to listen to anything that might spoil their own beliefs. Right now it seems to be the radiation. While I'm certainly not an expert in that field, here is a link that explains more on the topic:
    http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html# radiation

  87. If europeans do it... by soccerisgod · · Score: 1

    ..then it will change my mind. I'm not one of those that say it didn't happen, but I do have a few doubts, and it'd be nice to see such supporting, pro-landing evidence. Just so I can rest a little better at night. :P

    --
    If a train station is a place where a train stops, what's a workstation?
  88. Alleged Minds? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


    Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?

    Is the poster saying that conspiracy theorists only allegedly have minds?

  89. Why it wouldn't change MY mind IF I doubted... by dpbsmith · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it is seriously intended to change anyone's mind, there needs to be a "chain of evidence" that involves the participation of the doubters.

    Otherwise, it's just like a UFO photo. Someone pops up and says "Here's photographic proof! This picture of [a UFO][spacecraft on the surface of the Moon] was taken by [a Boy Scout leader][European scientists] on [precise time and date] and [experts] say it's authentic." To which I'd say "how do I really know where and how it was taken? Why couldn't this be a picture of [a garbage can lid tossed in the air and deliberately taken out of focus][a cleverly Photoshopped fake?]"

    It all depends on whether you believe the [Boy Scout leader][European scientists].

    No, it goes further than that. Unless you personally have INTERVIEWED the [Boy Scout leader][European scientists] it depends on whether you believe the REPORTERS...

    There are things you know because you've seen them yourself, and there are things you know because you are told them by people you trust. There has to be a chain of trust. If the don't invite representatives of the doubters to eyewitness the procedures used, the final photograph doesn't mean a thing.

    One of the aspects of scientific research that deserves to be taught better in the schools involves, not the use of the scientific method, but of the role played by citation and attribution and, in general, scholarship. That's the big difference between a journal article and an article in the popular press.

    EVERY statement in the scientific literature can, in principle, be traced back to a specific person with a name and institutional affiliation (which constitutes a usable address), who says "This is what I did and this is what I saw." And you can ask them about it if you doubt it.

    It will be very cool to see the pictures when they get them. But unless the doubters are closely involved in the process, there's no reason why it should change their minds.

    (Actually, it will be even cooler if they CAN'T get them--which I think is quite possible, the Moon is a big place and the spacecraft are awfully small. Let's say it turns out that they can't. What do you think they will do?)

  90. Its about time... by McFly69 · · Score: 2

    Conspiracy Theorists, Meet The Moon

    Its about time we send those bastards to the Moon so they can leave us good folk alone!

    As Jackie Gleson once said, "To the Moon Alice!!!"

    --



    NO! NO! Please don't mod me, I'm too young to die a troll. *click* Oh the pain, the pain...
  91. It will have no effect. by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1, Insightful

    The people who push the hoax are trying to sell books and videos. Their followers are mentally ill. Simple facts will affect neither.

    The hoax pushers are no better than preachers, imams and other drug dealers.

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  92. Golden Hind is correct. by jeepliberty · · Score: 3, Funny

    The story came from the heart...but my stomach got in the way.

    1. Re:Golden Hind is correct. by alargeduck · · Score: 1

      So, if the stomach got in the say, you pulled that out of your ass? :P

  93. Lunatics by Chacham · · Score: 1
    From the article:
    This month NASA tried to put an end to the controversy by commissioning a definitive account of the evidence for the landings. Days later it dropped the idea after criticism that it was wasting money by taking on the lunatic fringe

    Kind of funny that they called lunar-doubters lunatics. It's sheer lunacy to call them that. :-)

  94. Re:Something about this was on Space chan (cdn) to by Transcendent · · Score: 2

    ...what's your point?

  95. Re:Who cares? - f**k alabama by kberg108 · · Score: 0

    Alabama also thinks that the ten comandments should be in a court of law. Fuck them and thier right wing bullshit. You must remember the Christian Coalition will benifit the most from anti-science propaganda such as the so called faked moon missions.

    --
    I like things that are sweet and not things that are lame. --
  96. Let's go back. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why not, the technology of today would make this much easier than 30+ years ago. Exploration and exploitation of the moon would be far better than if we continue to polute our planet. Getting a firm and permanent foothold on the moon would only make it easier to travel to Mars and beyond.

  97. Re:Hello. Let me introduce myself. I'm the moon! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    above link is a redirect to goatse. it is not, repeat NOT a true cnn link.

  98. Gallileo by cybercuzco · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When Gallileo ffirst started using the telescope, most people thought that what he was seeing through them was some sort of optical illusion, like a funhouse mirror. No doubt conspiracy theorists will latcch on to that "Its only an optical illusion caused by natural processes on the moons surface" If somone doesnt want to believe something, no amount of factual evidence is satisfactory. Even if you shot somone to the moons surface, they would still say "well im only in some nasa sound stage" or "this is some sort of hypnotically induced suggestion" People have an amazing capacity to believe things in spite of overwhelming evidence to the opposite, or lack of evidence whatsoever, despite the extremity of implausibility (see scientology)

    --

  99. Is it even possible? by kevlar · · Score: 2


    I've been under the impression for the last several years that its not even possible to view such a small angular size from the surface of Earth because of the air density and subsequent distortion. Even with adaptive optics I'll bet that if they photograph the landing site, the lander will be a blurry blob.

    Theoretically they could use Hubble to view it. The Hubble can resolve the width of a dime from 50 miles, but if you point it at the surface of the Earth or Moon, it'll burn out the CCD chip.

    1. Re:Is it even possible? by Nate+Eldredge · · Score: 1

      But the Hubble telescope is 375 miles from earth, while the moon is 240,000 miles from earth. If it can only resolve a 1-cm object at 50 miles, then the smallest object it can resolve at this distance is about 50 km (30 miles). I seem to recall the lunar landers are a little smaller than this.

    2. Re:Is it even possible? by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 0
      Hard to say with all the adaptive optical techniques that they are working on.

      Even the Clementine probe could only resolve a blob.

      http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020628.html

      I beleive they recently took a lunar image with the Hubble, so I think there may be some sort of damping available for very birght objects.

      --
      --- Ban humanity.
  100. Ever tried to discuss with a consipiracy believer? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Someone grown up in todays medialandscape just *knows* that about anything can be faked. Strange enough they believe in the faintest hint of something conspirational going on.

    I had yesterday a chat with a person doubting that planes did really fly into the wtc towers! Obviously there is even a book out in the wild now supporting this theory. O.k., so these people in theire hope for a conspiracy will believe the videos (realeased minutes after the crash) are fakes. They do believe no one on the street realised that there were no planes (that's what the book seems to tell). I guess everyone checking afterwards how the buildings crashed was obviously paid by some secret Agency. It's a relative new conspiracy and so u will for sure see it growing in the next months :(.

    But the same person had no problem believing the strange facts which were presented in the book (a 5 min. google lookup would've been enough to find out the faults of the book).

    Guess now if i was able to change his opinion...

    About the moon: Send those idiots to the moon and show them the landing side. They will come back and tell, that they have been abducted by aliens, been put in a Matrix-like Virtual Reality with a fake moonlanding side and start wearing tin-foil-hats.

  101. Two diverse groups by Restil · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Those that will believe nothing.
    Those that will believe anything.

    Skeptics and the suckers. Jaded and the gullible. Those who refuse to be fooled, and those who will buy anything, no matter how outrageous. I get them on my site all the time. A small group of people, despite the modern technology necessary to even access my website, refuse to believe its possible to control appliances via the computer. And then there are those who try to talk to a slideshow. You can't win.

    No matter what you do, no matter how much proof is available, there will always be idiots that believe the moon landings were faked. I call them idiots because their "proof" is based on scientific evidence that is actually proof against them, false implications, or outright lies. And for the most part, they fail to listen to any reason. They're not looking for a debate, they're looking to impose their view on the world, and refuse to accept that others would actually believe that the obvious happened. There are actually people in this world that still believe the Earth is flat. You can try to convince these people, but you're wasting your breath. Just let them enjoy their ignorance. It IS bliss afterall.

    -Restil

    --
    Play with my webcams and lights here
  102. obviously a ruse by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If man had landed on the moon, scientists would be able to detect a sudden drop in the price of cheese corresponding to the event. No such historical record exists.

  103. Question??? by thoolihan · · Score: 1

    I can't say I subscribe to any theory. I have seen no conclusive proof that astronauts didn't go, but I also don't have a lot of trust for a government put in place by a coup that no one acknowledges (read Dallas).

    Being an outside observer of this argument though, I do have a question. What is the counter argument for the radiation belt argument? I watched the fox special and thought that was one of the more interesting points. There was no counter argument shown (but I assumed that didn't mean much as the special was pretty slanted (read CNN-like)).

    Anyone seen a NASA counter argument?

    -T

    my 2 cents?: if it is a conspiracy, it's a less damaging one than scientology or trusted computing...

    --
    http://unmoldable.com W:"No one of consequence" I:"I must know" W:"Get used to disappointment"
  104. Radition problems by cyranoVR · · Score: 1

    Actually, the last paragraph of the linked article raised an interesting point: how did the astronauts survive the radiation during the trip and while on the Moon? The conspiracy theorist says that they wouldn't survive. Seems more reasonable then the "doctored photograph" nonsense.

    Well, obviously, the answer to this problem is easily found on Google. Basically it boils down to

    1) They were well protected by their spacesuits.
    2) The radiation in space is not actually that harmful (for one thing, it it was harmful our satellites would not work for as long as they do).
    3) The astronauts were willing to accept the risk anyway (there was a small chance of a "solar storm" occuring, which would kill them).

    I think it's time for a more relevant question:

    How can people who deny things for which there are mountains of solid evidence (lunar landings, Kennedy assassination, etc. etc.) and are reasonably intellegent simultaneously believe crap for which there is no hard evidence whatsoever (alien abductions, black helicopters, UN forces occupying west Texas, Illumnati controlling world's governments, etc. etc.)

    ANYBODY?

  105. Business as usual for many by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are people out there that won't change their minds, no matter what evidence against their views they are presented with. Witness, e.g., the existence of the Flat Earth Society or the creationists.

    I wonder why it is the case that this kind of behavior is much more popular in the US than in Europe?

  106. Cospiracy theorist Mr. Allen : A MORON by zaqattack911 · · Score: 0, Troll
    According to Mr Allen, NASA was forced to send robots to the moon and faked the manned missions because radiation levels in space were lethal to humans.

    Yes, that's right in 1969 they had the technology to send robots to set up landers on the moon

    Maybe it was the "DANGER! DANGER! Will Robinson robot from that stupid show (and horrible movie "Lost in Space"

    Mr. Allen is probably a virgin too... perhaps he doesn't believe sex exists? (or his penis)

    --Noodlse
  107. Re:Who cares? - f**k alabama by ShavenYak · · Score: 2

    Alabama also thinks that the ten comandments should be in a court of law.

    No, one jackass justice (who was elected by a majority, but not an overwhelming majority). A lot of retards live here, but there are also quite a few intelligent, thinking human beings in the state. You might keep in mind that Marshall Space Flight Center is located in Huntsville, AL, and I doubt you'll find many Apollo deniers there.

    --

    Hey kids, there's only 5 days left 'til Yak Shaving Day!
  108. Change of POV here.. by Ketnar · · Score: 1

    Okay, I'm not into this whole 'the landing was faked' thing either, but you people are all looking at this from the 'debunk the debunkers' angle. No. Okay? Take your hands off your eyes and see a little reality here.

    Space programs are based on reputations, funding, and interest in them. Read: MONEY. Its science, but its based on MONEY, like any other biz.

    Now, NASA was planning on doing this great big research paper on why the landing was real, and publishing it, however, as we all know, that was a little overboard and it got turned down only days after it was thought up, granted.

    Instead, these other scientists (Who have this great big fancy telescope that can read your paper from hundreds of miles away) who step in and say

    'Hey! Why don't we just point this bad boy over at the moon for a change, show off our powerful telescope and what kind of clarity it can offer, and also help out NASA in their little PR operation at the same time, we scratch their back, maybe they will come to use out telescope for OTHER means as well, and we can get some more funding from world awareness of OUR project as well!'

    That's all it really is, in more or less terms. On a lighter note, this will give us some fresh new cool photographs of the moons surface we can all enjoy ( Admit it,all the space buffs have seen the same tired and old photographs over and over in the past years, it will be nice to have some NEW ones.)

    I say go for it, more power to science, space, and interstellar photography for the sake of cool factor. :)

    --
    My new top secret key -> C>N|KB
  109. Re:Yup to the others by Bastian · · Score: 2

    Alabama requires stickers containing text very similar to the disclaimer I put in that parody to be put in every science textbook. Something about evolution being one of several equally valid theories.

  110. Fool by virg_mattes · · Score: 2

    You dolt, the shots would come from Earth. They'd be downblouse shots.

    Fool.

    Virg

  111. it used to be... by tacokill · · Score: 1

    At first, it was called German toast. They renamed it after Normandy and the following invasion...

  112. Wait a minute by flikx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This wouldn't work. Not only would the local atmospheric disturbance make it impossible to focus on the landing site, but there was evidence that the lower modules were destroyed during take-off. The entire landing sites are now buried in dust, leaving no trace of the landings.

    Besides that, the article clearly states that all conspiracy theorists believe that robots were sent instead, because humans could never withstand the radiation and intense vacuum of space. Even if a telescope could be trained on some pile of trash and junk on the moon, it would still be impossible to prove that it was the result of human activity.

    --
    One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
    1. Re:Wait a minute by IVI4573R · · Score: 1
      I doubt that everything was destroyed or covered with dust, but who knows untill we look? And if we find, say, a lower module you can't say that it wasn't put there because of human activity.

      We have to look and see. We may find jusk, we may find something. Only way to find out is to actually point that thing up there and search the surface.

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  113. Dark side of the moon? by cainem · · Score: 1

    All the Apollo missions landed on the earth-facing side of the moon. I guess it was just simpler that way ;)

    However, the Apollo command modules passed behind the moon on many occasions, and so far NASA has presented no evidence that they weren't up to something while conveniently out of sight of Earth.

    Should NASA manage to prove to everyone's satisfaction that astronauts did in fact land on the moon in the late sixties, we should undoubtedly re-focus our efforts on finding out what exactly it was that the CM pilot was up to while hidden from earth.

    But perhaps I've said to much already. There's the door...

    1. Re:Dark side of the moon? by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      All the Apollo missions landed on the earth-facing side of the moon. I guess it was just simpler that way ;)

      yeah, propelling a vehicle in a straight line towards earth after taking off from the moon tends to be the easiest way, ya know. (Apollo took off straight up when it launched from the moon)

      However, the Apollo command modules passed behind the moon on many occasions, and so far NASA has presented no evidence that they weren't up to something while conveniently out of sight of Earth.

      Umm... yeah, they passed behind the moon. So? What the hell would they be up to, other than floating ominously above the moon, waiting for the proper deceleration, alignment for the landing point, and getting back into radio contact with NASA. They call it "Black out".

      Should NASA manage to prove to everyone's satisfaction that astronauts did in fact land on the moon in the late sixties, we should undoubtedly re-focus our efforts on finding out what exactly it was that the CM pilot was up to while hidden from earth.

      Sitting on their duffs, drinking beer, and waiting for NASA to work the remote controls properly. Everyone knows they were just there for the publicity! (joking)
      What type of stupid idea is it to think that they were "Up to something" when they were hidden from earth? What could they do, anyway? Considering it's a vacuum, and at that time no one had really done a spacewalk.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  114. Im always the last to know.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh my God we put a man on the moon! whats next..

  115. Conspiracy not required to explain observation. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

    I think if you're American, you'd be nuts not to be a conspiracy theorist! Bear with me...

    I'll leave Bush aside... But have you read up on your [list of executive branch officials and their connections to oil, auto, and Texas industrial interests deleted]


    Look:

    Bush was the president of an OIL company in an oil-producing state, and a governor of that state.

    Now he's president of the United States. As such his primary job is to quickly select a team of people to staff the upper levels of the executive branch and carry out his policies. That means very talented executives that he already KNOWS and trusts to faithfully make decisions the same way he would.

    Where the HELL do you expect him to FIND such people, in quantity, in a short time, EXCEPT the industry and state he's been working in for years?

    Think about it: What line of work are YOU in? If YOU had to pick several dozen executives whose work YOU know and whose decisions YOU trust, what line of work would THEY be in?

    --
    Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
    1. Re:Conspiracy not required to explain observation. by pubjames · · Score: 2

      Look:

      Bush was the president of an OIL company in an oil-producing state, and a governor of that state.

      Now he's president of the United States. As such his primary job is to quickly select a team of people to staff the upper levels of the executive branch and carry out his policies. That means very talented executives that he already KNOWS and trusts to faithfully make decisions the same way he would.

      Where the HELL do you expect him to FIND such people, in quantity, in a short time, EXCEPT the industry and state he's been working in for years?

      Think about it: What line of work are YOU in? If YOU had to pick several dozen executives whose work YOU know and whose decisions YOU trust, what line of work would THEY be in?


      Gosh. If what you say about how your country is run is true, don't you find that a little bit worrying? I mean, it doesn't sound like a great way to run a country. Perhaps you might like to think about that again.

    2. Re:Conspiracy not required to explain observation. by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 2

      Gosh. If what you say about how your country is run is true, don't you find that a little bit worrying? I mean, it doesn't sound like a great way to run a country. Perhaps you might like to think about that again.

      And what are the alternatives?

      Professional politicians? People who would fill the offices with other professional politicans (who have no understanding of what it means to run a business or live off money they didn't drain out of the economy at gunpoint)?

      Professional criminals?

      Warlords?

      No, thanks.

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  116. oh come on! by tx_mgm · · Score: 1

    sarcasm:
    everyone knows that NASA just put all those "props" on the moon in 1969! of course they'll show up on a telescope!

    but seriously, there is NOTHING that anyone can say or do to shut these silly naysayers up. even taking them to to moon to see the site themselves would result in claims of planting the "props" there before they got there.
    that telescope sounds pretty damn hardcore, tho. i want one =)

    --
    Gentlemen...BEHOLD!
    -Dr. Weird
    1. Re:oh come on! by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1

      Actually, I found the studio where they faked the moon landings! It's on sound stage D in the abandoned movie studios in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. ;-)

      --
      --- Ban humanity.
    2. Re:oh come on! by Tokerat · · Score: 2

      even taking them to to moon to see the site themselves would result in claims of planting the "props" there before they got there.

      "These are just PROPS! It's impossible to go to the moon, I say! *beep*"

      "Oh, wait a minute... *beep*"

      --
      CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
  117. Convincement by virg_mattes · · Score: 2

    It'll comfort you to know that sighting the Moon landing sites is being done as a resolution test, not to disprove conspiracy theorists.

    Virg

  118. Conspiracies, schmearencies.. by bheerssen · · Score: 1

    "Does anyone really think that this will change the alleged minds of doubters?"

    In fact, the push to legitimize these so-called "minds" is itself a dangerous plot by global corporations to distract us from the true conspiracies being implemented as you read this.

    --
    (Score: -1, Stupid)
  119. Missing the entire point... by OrbNobz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Everyone is missing the whole point of this discussion/event/conspiracy theory.
    By majority of comments posted here are merely to malign or otherwise insult the people who think the event was faked. I begin to wonder if anyone here even HAS an open mind anymore, or if they've all turned to mindless sheep (obligatory Dilbert reference). Why would you accept something as rote simply because your self-biased government said so? I personally think a healthy dose of skepticism is needed today. It always strikes me as funny how so many people subscribe fully to the moon landing, then turn around and refuse to believe that the Bible is God's Word (or something else that is based wholly on belief).

    I think it goes hand-in-hand with university level education today. Today's system teaches vocational trades. It no longer teaches people how to think for themselves. Did you know that all doctorates used to be in Philosophy or the art of thinking clearly? It is still called a PhD to this day. Hence, very few people know how to think logically. I am not saying that I know how to think properly either, but at least I know the problem is there.

    Do you think it's beyond our government to deceive you? Do you think the goverment has nothing to hide? The point of this post, this discussion, this conspiracy theory, is to get you to logically and scientifically deduce the truth from the chaff. It is an exercise in skepticism. Don't get angry that someone debates your postion and resort to name-calling, defend it. Debate is a wonderfull tool for being able to see an issue from all sides, sharpening your mind, and learning something you didn't fully understand before. I am merely asking that you accept the possibilities, and not damn them because they are not what you believe.

    - OrbNobz
    Question Authority! ...Says who?

    1. Re:Missing the entire point... by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Everyone is missing the whole point of this discussion/event/conspiracy theory.

      No, we're not.

      By majority of comments posted here are merely to malign or otherwise insult the people who think the event was faked.

      That's because you have to be a bloody fool to believe they were faked. Thousands of people were involved in the Apollo landings. You simply cannot maintain a conspiracy with that many peoiple involved. You can stop the debate right there.

      I begin to wonder if anyone here even HAS an open mind anymore, or if they've all turned to mindless sheep (obligatory Dilbert reference).

      What's the old saying? Keep an open mind, but not so open that your brain falls out?

      Why would you accept something as rote simply because your self-biased government said so?

      This is a strawman fallacy. You assume we haven't analyzed the claims of the hoaxpushers. You assume we have not visited places like www.clavius.org and gotten informed. You should not make such foolish assumptions.

      I personally think a healthy dose of skepticism is needed today.

      You used the key word yourself: HEALTHY. Believing that the moon landings were some sort of vast and impossible conspiracy is not healthy- it's mental degeneration, and quite often bred from extreme anti-governmental ideology.

      It always strikes me as funny how so many people subscribe fully to the moon landing, then turn around and refuse to believe that the Bible is God's Word (or something else that is based wholly on belief).

      Good gravy! Where to even begin deconstructing THIS logical fallacy! For one thing, you are assuming the hoax debunkers are in the same set as the Bible thumpers. In my experience these are close to being mutally exclusive sets.

      I think it goes hand-in-hand with university level education today. Today's system teaches vocational trades. It no longer teaches people how to think for themselves.

      And now were in the Standard Diatribe Against Society zone so common to ideological rants. Wake me when it's over.

      Did you know that all doctorates used to be in Philosophy or the art of thinking clearly? It is still called a PhD to this day. Hence, very few people know how to think logically.

      Zzzzzzzz...

      I am not saying that I know how to think properly either, but at least I know the problem is there.

      No, the problem is that people like hoaxfollowers cannot think in terms of discrete events. To them, the government is not to be trusted. Period. They cannot see that the moon landings happened AND still distrust the government on other things. Ideologues like them can rarely even perceive the passage of time. The government is doing dishonest things now, so all government actions throughout history must be the same. It's like Muslims hating modern day Christians for the Crusades. There's no perception of distictness between different points in time. It's all one hazy amorphous mass.

      Do you think it's beyond our government to deceive you? Do you think the goverment has nothing to hide?

      Another strawman. No, of course not, but claiming the the moon landings happened is not the same as giving the government a pass on all things. It's called analyzing an event based on the relevant evidence, and avoiding the generalized ideological appraoch such as "the gummint done lies sometimes, so they done lied about the moon landings."

      The point of this post, this discussion, this conspiracy theory, is to get you to logically and scientifically deduce the truth from the chaff.

      Yes, and eventually you reach a point where the truth lies revealed. *You* have to accept that many of us have reached that point.

      It is an exercise in skepticism.

      So exercise some skepticism in the other direction and admit the hoaxpushers are just trying to sell books and videos, and their foloowers are ignorant. Occam's Razor alone gets you this one.

      Don't get angry that someone debates your postion and resort to name-calling, defend it.

      It's not anger- it's frustration that people could believe such nonsense, especially people on Slashdot who have access to all the information on the Internet at their fingertips.

      Debate is a wonderfull tool for being able to see an issue from all sides, sharpening your mind, and learning something you didn't fully understand before.

      You miss the crucial point, though. Many of us have already learned the facts, and arrived at the conclusion that the landings happened. The facts are there, and the claims of the hoaxpushers lie in tattered ruins.

      I am merely asking that you accept the possibilities, and not damn them because they are not what you believe.

      We damn them because they refuse to accept readily available facts. It's not about belief. This isn't religion. There is no faith in the government. There is, however, solid and endless evidence and epirically proven aspects about how humanity works that makes the vast conspiracy theory (and vast conspiracies in genral) completely unworkable.

      --
      --- Ban humanity.
    2. Re:Missing the entire point... by pbhj · · Score: 1

      I think it was Hume who said that (roughly) "a miracle is something such that when you tell someone about it they won't believe you".

      [apologies for slight off-topic-ness] This discussion rather reminds me of my experience of coming to know Jesus ... I had a physical experience as real as any other (such as sitting here) but I suspect that many/most of you would doubt that I had a spiritual experience with God/Jesus/HolySpirit and put it down to some sort of "fake".

      Now, does majority rule verity? That is, does the majority decide what is the truth? No. Everyone has a right to doubt (<controversy> even to doubt God, He gave us freewill after all </controversy>).

      I'm with those who say the photography looks dodgy - the landscapes matching on photos at apparently different sites (no I haven't checked the NASA archives personally). I'd like to see the telescope photos - done by someone independant of NASA - of the landing sites.

      A hoax is possible! But unlikely imho.

      As far as the Russians tracking the LM, I don't think they could have. They could have tracked the earth based comms after receipt at radio telescopes but that would be the perfect site for a source injection. Tracking the actual module would have required detailed realtime information about the mission progression ... I gather (from the little I know) that the Americans/allies had a hard enough job of keeping their recievers pointing in the right direction.

      My ha'penneth (or my 2 cents, if you like!)

      pbhj

  120. Same side, same painting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The easily observable fact that the moon always looks the same, shows that it is a mere painting in the sky, made by medieval painters. If it was a planetary body, then it would have been rotating.

    A telescope focused on the moon, would merely show that NASA retouched the painting to show landing craft and footprints.

    Anybody with a big balloon can go to the moon. It is no big deal and I'll never understand what the fuss is all about.

    The world is flat. That is why pizzas are round. QED.

    1. Re:Same side, same painting... by IVI4573R · · Score: 1

      The moon does rotate. It rotates at a rate that, put togehter with the rate it orbits the earth, makes the same side always face the earth.

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  121. Besides radiation is not lethal! by aWalrus · · Score: 2, Funny
    faked the manned missions because radiation levels in space were lethal to humans.

    That's a lie! everyone knows when you are exposed to the space radiation you do not die! Instead you're likely to experience one (maybe more) of the following:

    • Your body will become elastic (Great at parties).
    • You'll gain the ability to become invisible at will and project indestructible force fields (want to keep those marketers at bay? this is the best way!)
    • Your body will burst in flames but you'll be able to control them and stuff! pretty cool, uh? (human Zippo! yipee!)
    • You may gain superstrength, but your body will be transmuted to rock and you'll get really ugly. Arguably, the only bad effect of space radiation (but hey, it's a one in four chance, right?)

    --
    --
    Overcaffeinated. Angry geeks.
    1. Re:Besides radiation is not lethal! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and, hey, even this is not such a bad thing. Surely more than one woman will apreciate your new rock-hardeness the most!!!

    2. Re:Besides radiation is not lethal! by saddlark · · Score: 1

      You forgot one of the more important ones:

      You'll glow green in the dark. Great at halloween or any situation where you might need a flashlight.

  122. The Reason by Baldrson · · Score: 2
    40 years ago is a long time speaking technically. How can it be that if 'we' were able to land a man on the moon within 10 years that long ago, that today 'we' no longer do so?

    You have to hand it to the conspiracy theorists -- there is a weird phenomenon needing explanation here and it is weird enough to justify bold conjecture.

    1. Re:The Reason by cranos · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Whats the phenomenon that needs explaining? That we can't get to the moon now? Heres an explanation for ya - The powers that be lost their bottle thats what happened. Just as we were about to start a real space age, the bean counters stepped in and pushed us backwards so that we now have the worlds most expensive satellite launch vehicle.

      Never attribute to conspiracy what can easily be attributed to shear laziness.

    2. Re:The Reason by Baldrson · · Score: 2
      Then why aren't we still running on discrete transistors? Why aren't the "bean counters" screwing everything up equally?

      Never attribute to stupidity, laziness or incompetence that which can be attributed to self-interest.

  123. MoonTruth.Com by Wiwi+Jumbo · · Score: 2

    Not that I believe it, but I wouldn't mind knowing the history behind the video at MoonTruth.Com...

    --
    Wiwi
    "I trust in my abilities,
    but I want more then they offer"
    1. Re:MoonTruth.Com by Wiwi+Jumbo · · Score: 2

      Oh, of course it's fake, I'd just like to know who and why someone would do this. :)

      --
      Wiwi
      "I trust in my abilities,
      but I want more then they offer"
    2. Re:MoonTruth.Com by Tokerat · · Score: 2
      Yes I realize that YOU realize it's fake, but let's go over it for the lunatic fringe:
      1. Having worked with theater/studio lighting myself, I can tell you that if a REAL light rigs are held with many safety backup cables, and if one did manage to fall, it woul dhave knocked "Neal Armstrong" there flat on his ass, and probably injured him severely. Especially older equipment which was heavier + more delecate.
      2. At the end of the clip they immidiately raise the astronaut back on to the ladder, and crew members rush to correct the set. Fake, the ground would be disturbed and would need lots of cleanup to be made nice again, and it sure doesn't take 5 minutes to aquire and re-rig lighting fixtures. I doubt they'd leave him on the set in costume for 3 hours while they fixed up the set.
      That, and it looked nothing like the real shot of the first moon steps. The color tone is off, and there was no hum or fan noise or whatever that is in the background. Definately a faker.

      It did, however, make me laugh my ass off. :-)
      --
      CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
  124. Re:Ever tried to discuss with a consipiracy believ by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They are just another stripe of ideologue, and you cannot discuss things with ideologues. You cannot reason with them. They are immune to facts. They have abdicated critical thinking in favor of the comfortable easy fog of unthink.

    It's a reaction to something, but I have not yet decided what. Perhaps the complexity of the modern world, or the dismalness of human condition.

    The sad, pathetic thing is that about 9 out of 10 people you meet these days are ideologues. I don't even discuss current events with people in the real world anymore. There's no point. People cannot discuss a topic in detail. They have to plug you into some simplisitc ideological slot, and then trot out the standard mantras, and that's the full and complete extent of most poeple powers of debate.

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  125. Hypocrisy running rampent by Zathras11 · · Score: 0

    I find it interesting that the same people who blindly trust the government on one thing (ie, the moon landings), distrust the government on another (ie, homeland security matters). After 8 years of that jackass W.J. Blythe [Clinton, SIC] I don't trust anybody... except Ivanova. ;^)

    1. Re:Hypocrisy running rampent by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1

      Well, hypocrisy means "feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not", so I'm not sure you are using the correct word. It's the hoaxpushers who fit that description a little more closely as they claim to believe the hoax, but then peddle their books and videos. I consider them to be more the ultimate cynics than hypocrites, though.

      It's all about analyzing independent events based on available evidence for that event. That the government lied on something else does not automatically mean they lied about the moon landings. So, yeah, you can trust that the government didn't lie about Apollo, and at the same time conclude that the government lied about many other things around the same time, such as events in Vietnam. The government is not a big single monolith as much as it may seem that way at times.

      And calling it "blind" trust is an insulting strawman. You are assuming people who believe the moon landings happened did no analysis of the existing facts. There is ample evidence of it. All the hoaxpushers claims can be answered and debunked. The very idea of such a vast conspiracy holding for this length of time is, if not impossible, improbable to the point where you can safely discount it. This issue is NOT existing in a vacuum (so to speak) where it all comes down to ideological trust or distrust in the government.

      If you try to decide on the moon landings based on whether you, in general, trust or distrust governments, you've compressed the world to a single bit of information. That's not a very rational or insightful approach, is it? Sounds a bit lossy to me.

      --
      --- Ban humanity.
    2. Re:Hypocrisy running rampent by Zathras11 · · Score: 0

      How you got all that out of a three line
      message that ends totally tongue in cheek
      is beyond me...

      Actually, hypocrisy (or the act of being a hypocrite)
      is saying one thing and doing the opposite. In other
      words, blindly believing the government on one issue
      and questioning them on another. I'm sorry that you
      are so feebleminded that I had to explain this twice.
      It is people like you (liberals) who tell others how
      great public schools are then send your children to
      private schools (as one example). To follow your
      thinking, the government just lies about little
      things, but we can trust them on big things (like
      going to the moon). So just why is it that if we
      could go there in the 1960's we can't go back now?
      Technology has made DRASTIC leaps forward since then.
      So if it was possible then, then it should be more
      possible now (easier). I also find it amusing that
      the same people who argue against SDI (Strategic
      DEFENSE Initiative) by saying it will never work
      blindly followed JFK's dream without question.

  126. It's much older than Sept 2002. by Inoshiro · · Score: 2

    This is a famous troll piece from forever ago, often echoed on Adequacy (when it was around) and also shown on kuro5hin a lot.

    --
    --
    Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
  127. Uh oh. by Polo · · Score: 2

    Uh oh.

    The gig is up.

    Better sell my NASA stock and head on down to mexico.

  128. ...because you have a poor assumption by KalvinB · · Score: 1

    You're assuming the hair shows up as a single pixel or is barly perceptible as a human hair at that distance.

    It's entirely possible the human hair takes up a significant portion of the view at that distance so that anyone who doesn't know the telescope is pointed at a hair ahead of time knows that it is indeed a hair.

    Claiming it will only be 2 pixels is ludicrous. Have you seen the image of the hair through the telescope? Do you know how much of the view it takes up? Then why are you claiming to know how much of the view the lander will take up?

    All you know is that the lander will take approximatly 2.4x the amount of the view as the hair at 16km.

    I bet it will be obviously perceptible as the lander.

    Ben

    1. Re:...because you have a poor assumption by dubious9 · · Score: 2

      When spy satelites first claimed (with 1m resolution) that they could see individual cars, the cars appeared as a single pixel. The only reason you could tell they were car was you could discern the lines of streets around them. When they got better, they stopped talking about cars because you then saw little spots that turned out to be people.

      They didn't say they could identify a hair at 16km, they said they could see it. If you were catagorizing your telescope, wouldn't you want to say what the smallest thing you could see was? Doesn't something smaller sound more impressive? If a human hair took up a hundred pixels at 16km, wouldn't rather say you could still see it at 17km or 18km? Come on now.

      Usually when one makes a statement like that it means that if the object were any smaller, you couldn't see it at all. Now it might be a little bigger than one pixel because scientists like to compare thing to the human hair. I doubt it would show up to be more than a handfull of pixels, prosibly ten to twenty square at best (maybe a little longer on one side for the shadow. It would be enough to ID for you and me, but for the conspiracry people, its just a few tens of pixels.

      --
      Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
    2. Re:...because you have a poor assumption by KalvinB · · Score: 1

      "It would be enough to ID for you and me"

      Only if you're gullible. I'm sure it's there but a little black dot is not going to convince me I'm looking at it. Maybe you've never seen little black dots before. There are many reasons a little black dot would show up in the picture.

      If you're trying to convince NASA to use your telescope I think they'd be more impressed if the hair filled a significant portion of the view at that distance. Like the spy satalites that can see newspaper print. It's pretty worthless if you can't actually make out the print.

      It's a big giant waste of money to buy a telescope that can't make out the Lunar Lander if the selling point is to see the Lunar Lander. If the selling point is the detail of the moon (like the telescope that gets awesome pictures of the sun) then this is just a moot point.

      So no, I'm sticking to my original statement that the assumption is wrong. However, until we see a picture of that hair at 16km, it's a moot point although I think common sense is on my side with this one.

      If you want to brag, you sell the smallest RECOGNIZABLE object at the greatest distance. Not a pixel that could be anything.

      Ben

    3. Re:...because you have a poor assumption by dubious9 · · Score: 2

      If you want to brag, you sell the smallest RECOGNIZABLE object at the greatest distance. Not a pixel that could be anything.

      I disagree with you there. Scientistis like absolutes. At what distance you can recognize sometime is increadable grey. But enough logic for you, here's some math. Light interferes with itself. This has an interesting effect. After a certain distance observing under a certain wavelength it become impossible to distinguish two separate points.

      This is neatly summed up in Rayleigh's criterion for resolvability:

      theta(in radians) = 1.22 lamba/(diameter of lens).

      The combined light gathering strength for the Very Large Telescope comes out to be equivalent to a 16m mirror. It can also discern wavelengths well into ultraviolet range, so lets give em 100nm. SO 1.22*(100*10^-9)/16 = 7.625*10^-9 radians. Now imagine an isocoles (sp?) triangle with that angle at the top. The base would be the length of the smallest discernable object. Say it was 16000m from the top of the triangle to the bottom, how can we figure the base? Divide angle by two and make a right triangle making a known edge of length 16000m. tan(theta)= opp/adj => tan(3.8125*10^-9)*16000m = 6.1*10^-5, but wait we have to multiply by two to get our original base back = .000122m which is slightly larger than the width of the average human hair.

      Thus according to physics a telescope with apparent 16m lens and ability to measure ultraviolet wavelength at 100nm can not distinguish between two points less then .0001m apart from 16km away. Therefore if it can not discern two separate points, the best it can see is one point and thus one human hair would roughly be equivalent to one pixel. Look it up.

      --
      Why, o why must the sky fall when I've learned to fly?
  129. Shut up! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    Go to hell you fucking spammer! This shows up every single bloody time anyone says anything about the moon.

    If i had mod points I'd mod you down. In fact next time I get mod points I'll make sure to look for a bad post from you to mod down.

  130. FYI by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ten commandments are also in the Supreme Court so I guess, by your logic, your statements apply to all of us. I'm sure you're refering to evolution in your "anti-science" sentence. Evolution is a very, very broad and flexible theory and, in addition, deals with many events that occured in the distant past. Like any other study of history, there will always be speculation and debate over its accuracy due, primarily, to the lack of observation and various ways in which evidence will be interpreted.

  131. Morality by nyet · · Score: 2

    "It's not about morality and no one ever claimed it was."

    OH silly me. So when Bush says "evil", he is using the ALTERNATE definition of "not currently aligned with our short term geopolitical interests."

    "Get over it"

    Thank you for your comforting words, my ire is already fading!

    1. Re:Morality by Dun+Malg · · Score: 2

      OH silly me. So when Bush says "evil", he is using the ALTERNATE definition of "not currently aligned with our short term geopolitical interests."

      Cripes, if nothing else, haven't you figured out that you can't take what politicians say at face value? Soundbites are about morality, but the underlying geopolitics aren't, and never were.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
    2. Re:Morality by dvdeug · · Score: 2

      Cripes, if nothing else, haven't you figured out that you can't take what politicians say at face value? Soundbites are about morality, but the underlying geopolitics aren't, and never were.

      But you yourself used the word evil repeatedly in your post. How about you believe the crap you're spouting about morals being irrelevant, and then you can tell us.

    3. Re:Morality by Dun+Malg · · Score: 2

      But you yourself used the word evil repeatedly in your post. How about you believe the crap you're spouting about morals being irrelevant, and then you can tell us.

      Touche, friend. I perhaps should have put "lesser of two evils" in quotes.

      --
      If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
  132. NASA book = money for NASA by cardshark2001 · · Score: 2

    I didn't understand why NASA dropped the book idea. They said it would cost $15,000. Isn't this a paltry sum as far as books go? Gosh, they might have made millions on the thing, but certainly they could have covered the cost of making it.

    In this age of the government cutting funding for NASA, this book could have been a great boon.

    Maybe I'm missing something. Were they planning to give away the book for free?

    --
    WWJD? JWRTFA!
    1. Re:NASA book = money for NASA by nikpieX · · Score: 1

      I couldn't even begin to imagine how the accounting would work for that. The government doesn't MAKE money, they spend it. If every division has an allocated budget, who would get the money? That'd take a couple of years of budget talks alone.

      It is truly not as simple as you make it seem. The government does not operate in the commercial capacity that you describe. My guess would be that the publisher or any other contractor involved would get all the profits; otherwise, it would cost more just figuring out how to account/distribute "profit" for a gov't agency.

  133. Moon-Landing-Never-Happened Academy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    "Alternative libertarian measures such as the voucher system to allow families to send their children to private schools, and more support (tax breaks, etc) for home-schooling efforts have to be encouraged."

    So basically the some ignorant crakpots will be able to teach their kids whatever they believe? Sounds like an EXCELENT idea. (aka Bad Idea tm) In addition people who can't afford this crap get poorer education and crappy jobs and then *poof* the membership of radical Christain/Islamic/Jewish/Scientologist/Commie/Nazi /Eskimo groups grow and it is the end of the world as we know it! Sheesh.

  134. wide angle lens by Bill_EEE · · Score: 1

    I remember looking at some of the doubters material a while ago. I remember the whole face on mars thing. Everyone was like "why can't they just take a picture of the cybernia site?". And then I decided to look into the satellite a little closer to see what kind of orbit it was in. I know a bit about this as I was in Aerospace for a while.

    Most sattelites that are used to photograph the ground have extreme orbits. They zoom in very close for a very short time and most of the time they are too far away to get a good picture. The physics of satellite requires this.

    And so all of these people are thinking that it is no big deal to redirect a satellite.

    The whole cybernia thing is of the same vein. And then I remember reading that there were letters in Arabic on the picture. Arabic was not invented until the 6th century AD. And thus the whole face on Mars thing was a fabrication too, it seems.

    As far as the crosshairs on the pictures, that doesn't make sense to me.

    As far as the shawdows in some of the pictures not lining up, that could be because of a wide angle lens.

    Some of the lighting seems wrong. The radiation issue is real.

    Because of Solar Flares the whole idea of sending someone to Mars, to me, seems like sending someone to their death.

    A solar flare will release such huge amounts of radiation that if one happens when people are on the moon they will most likely die of radiation poisoning.

    And these flares happen with a frequency that there is little to no chance that a manned mission to Mars would be less than a death mission.

    I would not put it past the people at NASA to fake things. They are all about spending money as fast as they can, I don't trust them. Did they fake the moon landings? I don't know.

    Those crosshairs sure seem strange to me.

    PS: NASA wastes so much money, you can't even imagine.

    1. Re:wide angle lens by Jawookie · · Score: 1

      The crosshairs that are "missing" usually tend to be over really bright white objects. White tends to bleed over darker colors, so if the fine crosshairs are over a white object the white will most likely bleed over the black, making them disappear. The radiation in space can be fatal, after a very extended period of time. It isn't instantly fatal.

    2. Re:wide angle lens by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Because of Solar Flares the whole idea of sending someone to Mars, to me, seems like sending someone to their death.

      A solar flare will release such huge amounts of radiation that if one happens when people are on the moon they will most likely die of radiation poisoning.

      And these flares happen with a frequency that there is little to no chance that a manned mission to Mars would be less than a death mission.


      We do have the ability (and do so continuously) to shield our people from those issues. If we didn't.. well.. our instrumentation would be fried on our satellites, and any probes sent to other planets/moons would be fried instantly. (DirecTV satellites are a great example. They are exposed to solar flares a great deal, and the only thing that happens is a breakdown in communications due to the transmission being garbled by the radiation.)

      Think about these things... we have common things in our everyday life that answer questions brought up by these skeptics.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  135. Sure.... by GrimSean · · Score: 1
    ... but if I told you about it, I'd have to kill you.

    --
    I don't need to be made to look evil. I can do that on my own. - Christopher Walken
  136. Re:Ever tried to discuss with a consipiracy believ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Hm, actually i have to admit that i probably was also a somewhat fundamentalist kid some years ago. Been raised that way, i simple could not look "out of the box". Guess i was lucky i studied later on, learning a little bit of the difference between facts and ideologies.

    Better Education, imho the only chance to reduce the impact of missinformation on people. Not more information - people need to be able to select which are fact and which are not by knowing the basics.

  137. Re:Cospiracy theorist Mr. Allen : A MORON by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    troll ?? heh.. sometimes I don't understand you people.

  138. It is all about FUNDING by Bill_EEE · · Score: 1

    NASA wants FUNDING.
    They don't really care about science or astronomy at all.

    Don't put it past them to fake something.

    If it proven that the moon landings were phoney, then NASA will LOOSE FUNDING.

    But, just because NASA is a currupt beaurocracy doesn't mean that the moon landings were fake.

    But what about those cross-hairs?

    What did HAM radio operators hear back then? Any thing from them? They were the ones who determined that MIR was F'd when it was spinning out of control (because of the modulation of the signals from MIR due to the antennas spining.)

    Did HAM radio operators ever say that they thought the moon landing was fake? They would have been listening. . .

    1. Re:It is all about FUNDING by Beautyon · · Score: 2

      But what about those cross-hairs?

      You mean the ones centered on your forehead?

      Honestly, its a little sad that NASA cant put up a single decent microsite to refute every claim (like the one about the suits not being sufficient to stop radiation) but, they are busy guys...

      --
      ATH0 Bitcoin: 1DnwFLXczVZV8kLJbMYoheUrpqHesjxrSi
  139. Re:Something about this was on Space chan (cdn) to by HedRat · · Score: 1

    How about working on conspiracy theories about aliens in area 57

    I think you are getting "Area 51" and "Heinz 57" mixed up...hope that helps.

  140. Re:Aaaarrrgghhh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "you americans make me sick
    magellan? columbus? what the hell.

    The names are Cristovan Colombo and Fernão de Magalhães, you fucktards.

    At least name them correctly, these fine misters deserve it. "

    Well, I don't put any doubt about your assertion. Indeed it serves me to return on-topic: Now, thanks to you I positively know that COLON NEVER TRAVELLED TO AMERICA and all the stories about that are pure bullshit. ...for I haven seen my own eyes the handsigned capitulations between Isabel and Fernando (by means of Fernando's officer, Johan de Coloma) and somebody who spelled his own name as "Chistroval de Colon". There's no need of further proofs in order to know this is a faked document. Can be thougth that "Cristovan Colombo" didn't know how to spell his own name?

  141. I saw that movie, wasn't it called JFK? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Oh, sorry, different full of crap movie . . .

  142. Conspiracies are everywhere by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let's not get started about the
    F
    R
    E
    E
    MAS
    ??? ON
    S
    ?? ???

    ?? and how they control all of the
    Archiology departments and
    EVERY GOVERNMENT

    And how they claim to have
    STOLEN

    The BODY

    OF
    J
    E
    S

    gun shots, a hellicoptor at the window, the house explodes.

    The paranoid comments that you have just read have been posted anonymously as the poster knows that there is just a little

    AHHHH. >>>

    Can I hit the send key before I bleed to death. . .

    JUST KIDDING.

    In any case: Oliver Stone, if you need a new movie plot, I thought of it first. . .

    Slash dot poster murdered exposing
    Conspira. . .

    AHHHH GROAN. . . BLOOD

    DEATh

  143. Evidence Schmevidence by Yet+Another+Smith · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This will not be proof that NASA went to the moon. Photographic evidence isn't proof anymore. Anything can be faked. Otherwise, we'd have to believe that Burt did, in fact, meet with Osama bin Laden.

    The irrefrickinfutable evidence of the moon landings is the rock samples. They don't have evidence of re-entry, so they aren't meteorites. Chemically, these things just didn't come from earth. They don't have enough water in them. Everything on earth, no matter how dry an environment it comes from, contains a fair amount of water. Even the rocks of the Antarctic Dry Valleys, where there's been no precipitation have some water in hydrated compounds in the rocks. Same for deep-crustal and even mantle rocks brought to the surface by vulcanism.

    Fact is, the moon rocks may or may not have come from the moon, but they sure as hell came from somewhere and they didn't enter the earth's atmosphere on their own.

    --
    if ($it != $onething) {$it = $another;}
    1. Re:Evidence Schmevidence by IVI4573R · · Score: 1
      You have to belive all photos! ;)

      Burt did, in fact, meet with Osama bin Laden.

      Not only that, but giant Rabbits are real, fat cats can really fly, donkeys really do wear jetpacks , and yes, all your base really does belong to us.

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  144. There is no moon - sheesh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How can there be a "moon landing" without a moon???????????

  145. Do you guys remember the Apple Cube? by lobos · · Score: 1

    A couple days before it came out there were rumors and pictures of it... but everyone told how those pictures were fake and it would be impossible to make something like that and that the screws on the top and the cd slot were obviously done in photoshop. Wouldn't this just happen in the case of these moon photos too?

    We all got to laugh at those idiots the next day though when Apple released the cube. It was great.

  146. Chileans just want to survey their property. by xsadar · · Score: 1

    Ah, don't worry about the costs. I'm sure Chile's paying for it. I was there for two years, and they made sure to inform me every chance they got that they owned the moon. They probably paid the Europeans that run the telescope (which is in Chile) to survey their property for them. Taking pictures of the lunar lander is just an added bonus.

    --
    The only thing I know is that I don't know anything; and I'm not even sure about that.
  147. OT- but should be asked(wasRe:If I was American... by Alu3205 · · Score: 1

    It's true that a US friendly Iraq would greatly benefit the US economy, oil industries, and by extension even Bush and his associates. However is the easiest/cheapest way to get a regime friendly to the US through war? If all Bush and the government cared about was oil and money; the would it not be simplier and easier to do what France and Russia want and make good with Saddam in a "new era of friendship and trade." Don't think Saddam wouldn't jump at a chance to trade oil for weapons or atleast materials to build weapons.

    Everyone profits in this way, Bush, Americans, Oil companies and even Saddam. I'm not saying Bush has good intentions, in fact he probably has his own agenda, but I don't think money is his chief motavation.

    --
    Slashdot comments can be accurate, highly modded, or posted quickly. Pick two.
  148. Is the material reflective? by nikpieX · · Score: 1

    I got a cheap telescope almost a decade ago. The first thing I pointed it at was the Moon. One night, I noticed a bright, shiny object on the surface that shined for awhile then faded away. I had always just considered that as the reflection of equipment left by us. Has anyone else seen it? It seems like a pretty simple way to show that "something" [man-made] is on the Moon.

  149. I will personally contribute... by mstra · · Score: 1

    ...five dollars to send any doubters to the Moon. Of course, I will not contribute any money to get them back.

    --
    Photography, technology, and my dog Scout - http://mattstratton.com
  150. Not every doubter is a nut by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I doubt that the moon landings actually occurred. However, I am not a nut. I'm not saying they *didn't* occur. I'm merely stating that I am not convinved they did occur.

    For example, if the space suits that nasa had in the 60s were good enough to allow a person to pass through the van allen belt, then why are they not good enough to allow someone to don one and clean up Three Mile Island?

    Again, I'm not saying that I have any definitive evidence either. I'm merely stating that I don't trust the US government to always tell me the truth. In this case, I wouldn't mind some independent verification by non-US scientists. If they can see it through a telescope and they are independent of the US government, then that would add a lot weight to that side of the argument.

    What I don't get is how everyone here is so quick to dismiss any person who doubts the government as a nut. I thought science was based on not blindly believing authority but instead being able to independently verify things.

    1. Re:Not every doubter is a nut by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1
      I doubt that the moon landings actually occurred. However, I am not a nut. I'm not saying they *didn't* occur. I'm merely stating that I am not convinved they did occur.

      OK. You are not a nut. You're just ignorant of the facts.

      For example, if the space suits that nasa had in the 60s were good enough to allow a person to pass through the van allen belt, then why are they not good enough to allow someone to don one and clean up Three Mile Island?

      I've never ever heard that asked. I did a quick web search and could not find this comparison being made anywhere. Do you even know that there are different types of radiation? You realize that the astronauts were also in a space capsule? Why would you even make this comparison?

      Again, I'm not saying that I have any definitive evidence either. I'm merely stating that I don't trust the US government to always tell me the truth.

      That isn't even a valid premise in a rational debate.

      Just go to www.clavius.org.

      In this case, I wouldn't mind some independent verification by non-US scientists.

      So you don't trust ANY U.S. scientist? They are ALL in on the conspiracy? Can you not see how childish that is? And, yes, that's a POV where I truly begin to suspect mental health.

      If they can see it through a telescope and they are independent of the US government, then that would add a lot weight to that side of the argument.

      Just go to www.clavius.org.

      What I don't get is how everyone here is so quick to dismiss any person who doubts the government as a nut.

      Because it is more than just trusting the government. Do you have any idea how many people were involved directly in the lunar program, and how many more independently monitored the whole thing?

      And the "evidence" used to claim it was a hoax should be laugable to anyone with even a moderate education. There's also greater truths about human nature and the viability of vast conspiracies that trump any preconceived notions of governmental trustworthiness.

      I thought science was based on not blindly believing authority but instead being able to independently verify things.

      This isn't science. And if you must insist it is, the it's also bad science to blindly DISTRUST a source. The government is not ALL bad and they don't ALWAYS lie.

      --
      --- Ban humanity.
    2. Re:Not every doubter is a nut by IVI4573R · · Score: 1
      HarveyBirdman, don't be so judgemental of others' opinions.

      You're just ignorant of the facts.

      You don't know what facts he knows or doesn't know, so don't assume he is ignorant to them. He just mearly stated that he isn't convinced by them.

      So you don't trust ANY U.S. scientist? They are ALL in on the conspiracy? Can you not see how childish that is?

      He didn't say that either. He said he just wanted verification from someone else. It's called a second opinion.

      Open your mind a little and listen to what others have to say. Don't imidiatly dimiss something you don't agree with.

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
    3. Re:Not every doubter is a nut by Yunzil · · Score: 2

      I doubt that the moon landings actually occurred. However, I am not a nut.

      Actually, upon closely inspection, you are.

      For example, if the space suits that nasa had in the 60s were good enough to allow a person to pass through the van allen belt, then why are they not good enough to allow someone to don one and clean up Three Mile Island?

      A) The Van Allen belts are not so dangerous as the conspiracists want you to believe.
      B) While travelling through the belts, the astronauts had the added benefit of being INSIDE A SPACECRAFT.
      C) Three Mile Island was cleaned up years ago.

      What I don't get is how everyone here is so quick to dismiss any person who doubts the government as a nut.

      We don't. We dismiss people who continue to doubt the moon landings in spite of all evidence and logic.

    4. Re:Not every doubter is a nut by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      For example, if the space suits that nasa had in the 60s were good enough to allow a person to pass through the van allen belt, then why are they not good enough to allow someone to don one and clean up Three Mile Island?

      The amount of radiation released from Three Mile Island was minute. There wasn't much to clean up, if anything...
      If there was, I'd have cancer and probably hairless right now, considering when it happened and where I was.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  151. Re:OT- but should be asked(wasRe:If I was American by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is certainly not his only motivation. But before you decide if you're going to support a war or not - and this is a sraight moral question - you have to be clear-sighted about the reasons it is happening.

    The truth is the war drums against Iraq were being beaten as early as 30 September 2001, that is, only 3 weeks after September 11. (http://www.observer.co.uk/international/story/0,6 903,560644,00.html). Way before any evidence of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction was being touted,

    This is a war primarily to expand US interests, this is a fact.

  152. Conspiracy Theories by O++Stealth · · Score: 1

    I don't care whether we (USA) actually made it to the moon or lied about it. There are many more important events that actually have more of an impact on my life and my loved ones. I can see from many posts about this topic that we seem to be missing out on something very important: Many people are attacking conspiracy theorists in general instead of attacking the actual theories. How many posts attacking the people who doubt this event took place must I wade through before I see any fact-based answer as to why there are no stars in the pictures? Consider the serious consequences of attacking people for having new/alternative theories rather than conducting a fact-based debate. I don't believe or disbelive any conspiracy theories I've heard so far. But if I had to pick one to examine, I'd investigate the one where the naive are made to feel stupid or silly for considering any alternative theories--and then made to eventually stop considering new ideas altogether--and finally made to ridicule others who don't share their narrow-minded mindset. We don't have to visit countries run by absolute dictators or countries run by religious fanatics to see people with new ideas ridiculed. We have plenty of narrow-minded sheep to ridicule people with different theories right here on slashdot. Answer these with facts: Do conspiracies actually exist? Did our governement or elected officials ever tell lies to the public in the past? Nixon and Clinton are the most infamous examples but others can be found. I'm not saying you should believe in all the wild fantasies out there, historical examples of conspiracies and lies told by government officials just illustrate that you shouldn't give up your right to consider controversial possibilities. Freedom of thought is a liberty that shouldn't be so easily extinguished by the fear of being ridiculed. It is especially tragic that the people doing the ridiculing don't realize the consequences of their actions or how they originally adopted that mindset. Have courage and think for yourself. The X-files nonesense phrase "I want to believe" must be replaced with "I choose to think my own thoughts and will consider new ideas rationally". Peace.

    1. Re:Conspiracy Theories by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Links to informative sites have been posted.

      For example, there are no stars in the lunar shots because of the bright foreground objects. The camera shutter speed is too fast to capture the stars. That's something a godamned first grader can figure out, so that's why people like you get ridiculed. Most of the answers you see are common sense to even relatively dumb people.

    2. Re:Conspiracy Theories by O++Stealth · · Score: 1

      Based on you comments, you appear to have completely missed the point.

      As you might put it, "it is common sense to even relatively dumb people" that my post was about the impact of people attacking people rather than attacking ideas.

      Read my post again so that you have a better chance of comprehending that I wasn't asking why the stars don't show up in pictures. I was asking why there are so many posts attacking people who pose questions like that rather than directly answering them.

      By the way, if you try too hard to look smart by ridiculing others, you'll end up exposing your insecurities as well as your actual intellect when you run into someone smarter than you. Your response was the best example I've seen yet. Thanks!

  153. This has already been done by HarderDeeperFaster · · Score: 1

    There are scientist who bounce lasers off mirrors left on the moon to measure the distance from the earth to the moon. How does the lunatic fringe explain the existence of mirrors on the moon.

  154. Use interferometry to boost resolution by flowerp · · Score: 2, Informative


    To get detail images of the moon landers, you have to use interferometry.

    Your telescope's aperture limits the resolution of the image. Since it's no where practical to build 100m mirrors, you have to use interferometry. That means bundling several beams into one, like they do with the VLT telescope on Mt. Paranal.

    With radio telescopes you can use recordings of the signals, taken thousands of miles apart, using atomic clocks for synchronizing the recordings.

    If you were to send radar pulses onto the moon surfaces and watched the returned signal with several radio telescopes all around the world, I am pretty sure that you could recognize the shape of the moon lander descent stage on the moon's surface. Possibly even the rover and the other equipment they left behind.

    But who would want to fund such a huge thing, especially considering that scientists don't usually doubt that there has been a moon landing.

    --
    --- Eat my sig.
  155. Magnesium Bomb by floydigus · · Score: 2

    I can't remember which book it was, but Arthur C Clarke predicted that we would send a magnesium flare to the moon before any other missions, so that people could see it from Earth when they blew it up. How about that? How big would it have to be?

    --

    All things in moderation; including moderation

    1. Re:Magnesium Bomb by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1

      It's pointless. The hoaxpushers would just make some excuse to sell more books and videos, anf the hoaxfollowers would gobble it up. I'd rather they spend the weight and space on another instrument package and tell the doubters to all go F themselves.

      --
      --- Ban humanity.
  156. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  157. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 2

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  158. "The Doubters" by crucini · · Score: 2
    Does anyone really think that this will change
    the alleged minds of doubters?

    What if the telescope shows no vehicles? Will this change the minds of the "believers"?

    Before some excitable person starts attacking me, I haven't read the arguments of the "doubters" and I'm not especially doubtful of the moon landing. It's just interesting that it's such an article of faith. Generally, I'm more inclined to doubt than to faith.
    1. Re:"The Doubters" by IVI4573R · · Score: 1
      I haven't read the arguments of the "doubters" and I'm not especially doubtful

      How can you take a side of an argument without listening to the arguments of both sides?

      I see this all too often. Nobody has an open mind anymore. Seems like people imidiatly assume anything that the government says.

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
    2. Re:"The Doubters" by IVI4573R · · Score: 1
      + is true.

      forgot to ad that to the end.

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  159. Changing the mind of doubters... by CodeShark · · Score: 1
    Admittedly weak about the lens sizes and other critical details, but I'm wondering if the Hubble Space telescope could be pointed at one of the sites where the astronauts rolled around in one of the Moon Buggies and getting a) tire tracks,or b) footprints

    My personal favorite proof would be if NASA could turn a specific camera back on -- the one where the moon buggy sent back a picture of the LEM ascent module blasting off. 'Course the camera would have had been set up originall to be battery powered and solar rechargeable, etc. But if it was -- NASA could turn the thing back on, then let independent analysts verify the signal, location, timing, etc. -- and hopefully silence the cranks with a little thing known as the truth.

    --
    ...Open Source isn't the only answer -- but it's almost always a better value than the alternatives...
  160. Its Agnostic by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

    Ive seen totally convincing arguments that the landings were faked, then ive also seen totally convincing arguments that they were real. What does this proove? facts can be twisted and people are sheep that will believe anything.

    If the telescopes show evidence of landings, then the conspiracy theorists will say that these photos where faked, that the american government fixed it, threatened the telescope owners if they didnt co-oparate, or even sent empty lander bases and flags to the moon more recently with todays technology. Even when humans do return to the moon, the conspiracy theorists will say that all the debris was planted. Im not saying that they're wrong or right. But any evidence can be faked, and if your a big government with lots of technology and money, faking things becomes even easier.

    The telescopes cant proove 100% that the moon landings were real. They could even indicate that they wernt real.. but then they cant 100% proove that either. So infact, were never going to solve the argument. Its agnostic.

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  161. Forget the Conspiracy Theorists by dasheiff · · Score: 2

    Forget the Conspiracy Theorists, even as a kid I always though it would be cool to be able to see the remains of our moon landings from Earth. I mean the rings of Saturn are neat, but being able to be reminded in a real way that humans have gone to the moon is very cool.

    I mean really what happens in the future when the average Joe can go down to Target and pick up a high powered telescope. The Conspiracy Theorists will say, no that's not from 1969, NASA just put it on the moon to cover their asses.

    1. Re:Forget the Conspiracy Theorists by IVI4573R · · Score: 1
      Forget the Conspiracy Theorists

      So I should compeletly ignore anyone with a different opinion than mine? Don't you think that is a bit egotistical?

      --
      https://www.accountkiller.com/removal-requested
  162. Re:Aaaarrrgghhh by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

    The names are Cristovan Colombo and Fernão de Magalhães, you fucktards.

    Could care less about the later case, but Chris Columbus was nothing more than a murderous bastard that wanted nothing more than to pillage and kill.
    His own people were killed in retalliation after he left by the natives of the said country. Good riddence in my opinion.

    --
    -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  163. Re: Red Dwarf reference? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    >> The names are Cristovan Colombo and Fernão de Magalhães

    That's "Christopher Columbo," the man in the dirty mack who discovered America!

  164. Mechanical presence not evidence by eyeb1 · · Score: 1


    mechanical presence in no way proves human visitation ..

  165. footprints? by hristrdingslshdt · · Score: 1

    screw the lander, just show us the footprints! i'd like to see how one would argue that NASA not only shot up a fake lander, but also shot up a set of fake astronaut boots in a hop-walking pattern.

  166. I was joking... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    just to make that clear

    1. Re:I was joking... by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Worst part is, it actually sounded like one of the excuses made...
      lol

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  167. Re:Who cares? A lot of Muslims do... by Saint+Fnordius · · Score: 2

    At least, that's one theory that's been tossed around. Apparantly there was a Sura (I'm not sure which one) about "Splitting the Moon" or some such End Times omen. Thus, a lot of conservative Muslims want dearly to prove the the moon landings never happened.

    There was a clever French/German parody of lunar deniers recently, which "claimed" that Stanley Kubrik engineered the fake scenes, and that Nixon had the conspirators (camera crew and actors) liquidated. The nasty part was that the show kept its facade going until after the final credits rolled, then finally admitting that they had quoted out of context and did a lot of Photoshopping.

    At the end of the show, the narrator then claimed that Al Qaeda was actively claiming that the Apollo mission was a "Zionist lie".

    Still believe that all lunar deniers are harmless? But please, find out for yourself if I'm right or not; don't just take my word for it...

  168. Watch this mpeg that shows it was an hoax by yurj · · Score: 0

    http://www.moontruth.com/clips/moontruth.mpg

    http://www.moontruth.com/ :)

  169. If they can put a Man on the Moon by Looter · · Score: 1

    Then why cant they put a man on the Moon? You poor Lunatics- You can't fly to the Moon - you can't even realize that you cant go to the Moon. The quickest way for you to realize that you can't go to the Moon would be for you to try going to the Moon but we all know that'll never happen. The only people who believe in the Man on the Moon are people who've never been to the Moon. What planet have you been living on for the past 30 years, has technology stopped advancing, has the world stopped turning? Just because you're too dense to realize that you cant go to the Moon that doesn't give you the ability to fly to the Moon. Your silly Apollo show has faded into nothing, the only legacy it has left is the debate about whether it was all fake. "Get a life ... It was only a TV show" You've got the rest of your lives to figure out that it was fake- You've had 30 years already, soon it will be 35, how slow are you?? You decide!