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NASA Needs Fake Moon Dust

crisco writes "NASA's renewed interest in lunar exploration and 'in situ resource utilization,' or ISRU, is driving the need for tons of carefully faked lunar dust and sand for testing purposes: 'We don't have enough real moondust to go around,' says Larry Taylor, director of Planetary Geosciences Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. To run all the tests, "we need to make a well-qualified lunar simulant.' And not just a few bags will do. 'We need tons of it, mainly for working on technologies for diggers and wheels and machinery on the surface,' adds David S. McKay, chief scientist for astrobiology at the Johnson Space Center (JSC)."

26 of 179 comments (clear)

  1. Fake moon landing site by Joe+The+Dragon · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just take it form the Fake moon landing site.

    1. Re:Fake moon landing site by mentaldingo · · Score: 3, Funny
      We need tons of it, mainly for working on technologies for diggers and wheels and machinery on the surface,
      And fake videos..
    2. Re:Fake moon landing site by wootest · · Score: 5, Funny

      I didn't originally come up with this (although I wish I did), but the US is probably the only country where there are people who believe the moon landing was fake and wrestling is real.

    3. Re:Fake moon landing site by jasonjacks0n · · Score: 2, Funny

      U don't think we went to the moon?
      Why not tell Louis Armstrong to his face?

      ;-)
      --
      This space intentionally left blank.
  2. Re:okay, folks.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Apparently, tons of them, mainly for working on technologies for diggers and wheels and machinery on the surface.

  3. Re:okay, folks.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    42. Some may be joking though.

    The recently linked site BadAstronomy.com has a solid debunking of the conspiracy theories around the moonlandings.

  4. Re:okay, folks.. by cavtroop · · Score: 3, Funny

    You must be new here....

  5. Re:okay, folks.. by Thansal · · Score: 2, Funny

    and some one moded them all "Redundent"...

    including the first one, wich leads me to think the mod agrees and is simply saying those posts are "no, duh" type posts.

    cmon, its a joke, laugh!

    (admitedly I was going to make a fake moon landing joke as well, but as it has already been beaten into the ground, I am gona have to pass, wich obviously opens me up to a "you must be new here" comment, and shortly there after we should see a "In soviet russi, moon dust fakes you!", and a "I for one welcome our new fake-moondust-overlords". Oh, and don't for get the "I make fake moon dust you insensitive clod!")

    sigh....

    --
    Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
  6. obvious solution by Surt · · Score: 2, Funny

    Blow up the moon. We probably have enough nukes to do it, and how hard can delivery be? The amount of material that drops on the earth as a result will surely be at least several tons.

    --
    "Who is the Journal of Quantum Physics going to believe?" --Stephen Hawking
    1. Re:obvious solution by maximthemagnificent · · Score: 2, Funny

      And think of all the werewolves we'd be helping!

  7. Oh boy... by wertarbyte · · Score: 3, Funny

    Another movie remake.

    --
    Life is just nature's way of keeping meat fresh.
  8. Re: okay, folks.. by robably · · Score: 5, Funny
    That's 5 comments so far about leftover sand from the fake lunar landings.
    Congratulations, you made it 6!

    And, um, I made it 7.
  9. Riiiiiight by CODiNE · · Score: 4, Funny

    They just want us to think they don't know how to make fake moon dust. :)

    --
    Cwm, fjord-bank glyphs vext quiz
  10. lunar simulant by robably · · Score: 4, Funny
    a well-qualified lunar simulant
    That's no moon, it's a Space Station.

    And it's got a degree.
  11. Alternative Source Found by Gunfighter · · Score: 4, Funny

    From what I've seen from lunar landing footage and descriptions of the lunar surface, I have about a pound of material that would make a great substitute. It's caked on my video card and motherboard inside my computer case. I'll just scoop it up into a ziplock back and mail it to NASA. Perhaps if the other two million Slashdot readers can empty theirs as well, they would have enough to complete their mission. Where should we mail this stuff to?

    --
    -- Stu

    /. ID under 2,000. I feel old now.
  12. Re:Of course! Everybody knows the moon is cheese! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny


    Wallace: Gromit, that's it! Cheese! We'll go somewhere where there's cheese!
    [Looks at "Cheese Holidays" magazine, then out window]
    Wallace: Everybody knows the moon is made of cheese...


    NASA should just save money by scaling the sets down a bit - Oh damn I almost forgot....it might take a while to make some more sets! NASA could just import some moon dust instead!

  13. hmmm by Swimport · · Score: 2, Funny

    Whoever gets this contract, I bet NASA ends up paying $100,000 a ton for dirt.

  14. Sheesh! by seebs · · Score: 1, Funny

    Why not just use whatever they used for those famously faked moon landings?

    --
    My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
  15. No NASA, no.. by Plutonite · · Score: 3, Funny

    You're not going to cure the apathy of us 18-25 year olds with fake pot. I'm telling you, we're better than that, we are the myspace generation!

    Wait a minute..fake moondust will do just fine.

  16. Re:Fake moon sand or fake mars sand? by smitty97 · · Score: 2, Funny
    there's another request from NASA, which was previously considered unrelated:

    NASA needs hundreds of gallons of reddish-orange dye

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    mod me funny
  17. Wrestling is fake? by maximthemagnificent · · Score: 1, Funny

    What I want to know is when they are going to start having fake Nascar? Pretty much
    the same demographic as wrestling, isn't it? Imagine the crashes you could have!

    1. Re:Wrestling is fake? by D4rk+Fx · · Score: 2, Funny
      What I want to know is when they are going to start having fake Nascar?
      Wait... NASCAR isn't fake? 'Turn left next 300 miles.' Seems pretty fake to me.
  18. We dont know where to get fake moon dust.... by bigsam411 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Because we (the iPod Generation) are indifferent to space exploration.

  19. Re:I swear I've heard this one already. by Dunbal · · Score: 2, Funny

    You ever see one of the retrieved-from-splashdown Modules? They're barely big enough for the dudes that were in them.

          Not only that, but remember that moon rocks weight 1/6th of what earth rocks weigh ;)

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  20. Just take it form the Fake moon landing site. by bxbaser · · Score: 2, Funny

    Bye......
    Nice knowing you.

  21. All they need is a good blender ... by rdebath · · Score: 2, Funny