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Images of Apollo Landing Sites Soon Available

eric.brasseur writes "The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has entered lunar orbit in perfect shape. From a height of 50 km, it will image the Moon in high resolution. The hardware left by the Apollo missions will be clearly visible. The Soviet automatic probes will also be photographed. Previous best images were made by the Japanese probe Kaguya and showed a white patch where the dust had been blown away by the blast of the LM engine."

58 of 263 comments (clear)

  1. God dammit by Niris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just reading the summery makes me worried about the slew of "Moon landing never happened!" posts that are on the way

    1. Re:God dammit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Don't forget the "That's no moon!" or "we welcome our lunar overlords" or "sharks with moons on their head" etc etc.

    2. Re:God dammit by Ihmhi · · Score: 2, Funny

      I, for one, welcome our sharks with things that are no moons on their heads who are our overlords... on the moon!

    3. Re:God dammit by Alsee · · Score: 5, Insightful

      One way or the other, we will finally have proof.

      Either the photos will come back showing no hardware on the moon and we'll finally have proof it never happened, or they will release photos showing landing hardware on the moon and we'll finally have proof of an on going NASA conspiracy to manufacture a moon landing fraud.

      Yes, one way or the other we will finally have proof.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    4. Re:God dammit by sexconker · · Score: 3, Funny

      Do they run Linux?
      If so, imagine a Beowulf cluster of those.

      Someone else will have to throw in the bad car analogy.

    5. Re:God dammit by Paul+server+guy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh Gawd, where are my mod points when I need them!!!!

      --
      Your Moon, Your Mission, Get involved! http://www.openluna.org
    6. Re:God dammit by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 5, Informative

      We've had proof for a long time. The nutjobs just don't want to believe it. For one thing, they left reflectors on the moon that can bounce back laser signals. Mythbusters even did it.

      I'm sure the nutjobs will find some excuse not to believe this too.

    7. Re:God dammit by millennial · · Score: 2, Informative

      Next time realize that satire can go both ways.

      --
      I am scientifically inaccurate.
    8. Re:God dammit by Fred+Ferrigno · · Score: 2, Informative

      You have to point the laser at the Apollo landing sites specifically. That means "something" is exactly where NASA says it is, which is all these new pictures will show up, so congrats on finding the excuse they'll use to deny this.

      Anyways, Wikipedia has a whole article on independent evidence for the Moon landings, including Russian and independent radio operators monitoring mission communications.

    9. Re:God dammit by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 3, Funny

      sure, because nobody could edit wikipedia to cover for the fake moon landings!

      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    10. Re:God dammit by ocularDeathRay · · Score: 2, Insightful

      in Soviet Russia, you must be new here

      --
      Obama is a twitter sock puppet
    11. Re:God dammit by R3d+M3rcury · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes, I believe the moon landings happened. Still, it's fun to consider.

      Did anyone ever point a laser at the Apollo landing sites before the Apollo missions allegedly landed? How do you know that wasn't a natural occurrence (some shiny rock) that NASA took advantage of?

      Again, as the parent points out, no one is saying NASA was unable to land things on the moon. I'm pretty sure everybody believes, for example, that the Surveyor missions weren't faked. So I'd imagine that NASA would be able to land something on the moon that would reflect laser beams back to Earth.

      As for the communications, I would assume that the transmissions were sent from the site of the fake moon landing (Area 51) to the Moon and then back. Why? Because that's obviously the first thing that the Russians would check--are these signals coming from the moon?

      The tracking? Remember, these guys tracked a capsule that went to the Moon. Again, nobody has any doubts that capsules went to the moon. Were there people on board these capsules? We heard radio transmissions from the capsules, but much like above, there's no reasons the capsules couldn't have sent back voices from the US.

      Moon rocks? What was the big thing we learned from the moon rocks? That they had many of the same qualities as Earth rocks! What a coincidence! So NASA got some pretty exotic rocks from Earth and stuck them in orbit for a year or so to soak up all the various cosmic rays that our atmosphere protects us from. One of astronauts from the Gemini missions picked them up during a spacewalk or some such and you have instant moon rocks--rocks from Earth that have been exposed to cosmic rays.

      As I have said, I believe that men walked on the moon. But I do think it's a fun question: Could the moon landings have been faked--not were the moon landings faked. Could an individual mission--like Apollo 11--have been faked?

    12. Re:God dammit by Kratisto · · Score: 2, Funny

      You insensitive clod! My sister died from a thrown car!

      --
      Conscience is the inner voice which warns us that someone may be looking.
    13. Re:God dammit by profplump · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Was it possible to fake a moon mission -- probably. But you're missing the hard part of conspiracies: getting everyone involved to keep quiet for 50 years. Even if you assume that most of the NASA staff an contractors really believed they were launching people, there's still a lot of people involved -- the actual astronauts, the radio relay operators, the guys who sealed no-one into the capsule, the guys who recovered no-one from the capsule, not to mention the staff involved in running the filming location(s). At the very least I'm guessing you'd need 20+ people who *know* the moon landing was faked, and probably 2-3 times as many who could reasonably guess based on things they personally witnessed. How would you keep that many people quiet for so long? I'm also not sure what you gain by not sending people to the moon. You've already built a giant rocket than can lift a space craft to the moon. You've already built and used human-capable space capsule technology. You're actually going to land some relatively large spacecraft on the moon. You're already going to transmit radio from the moon from several days. You're already going to land your space capsule back on Earth. Why not just put people in your space capsule and forgo the faking bit?

    14. Re:God dammit by Hurricane78 · · Score: 2, Funny

      So all in all, we have a Beowulf cluster of Linux-driven cars that form a moon, which explains why it's not a real moon. And it is protected by space-sharks with frickin' laser beams attached to their heads. But we do not know it, because we never were there?
      And in Soviet Russia, that "moon" never was on YOU? It only was IN the Goatse guy, who at that time had a relationship with Natalie Portman, and so "poured" an insensitive clod of hot grits over her. But we, for one, would welcome them, just as Natalie welcomed the hot grits?

      Bah. In Korea, only old people and CowboyNeal would believe that, you insensitive clod!

      How much combo points do I ge%!$*%& [NO CARRIER]

      --
      Any sufficiently advanced intelligence is indistinguishable from stupidity.
    15. Re:God dammit by Shadowmist · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You also forgot one country that would have a motive to claim fakage of the moon landings... the Soviet Union which was in a desperate race to take back it's space leads. But as I recall, the Russians never once challenged the actuality of the American feat.

    16. Re:God dammit by Muad'Dave · · Score: 2, Informative

      In the Mythbusters test (as pointed out above), they shined the laser on the lunar highlands, a place totally devoid of human 'stuff'. There was no reflection other than background light. After they slewed the 'scope to the Apollo 15 landing site, there was a clear peak of light at the expected wavelength and distance.

      --
      Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.
    17. Re:God dammit by Alsee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      This just in: 4 out of 5 Slashdot posters lack reading comprehension skills

      Yeah, that's why I come here. The Slashdot community comprehension level is about 20% above that of the general population. ;)

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  2. The coverup will continue by arthurpaliden · · Score: 2, Funny

    We all know that the photos will all be doctored by NASA before they will be released to the public.

    1. Re:The coverup will continue by macdaddy357 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Seriously or sarcastically, I knew someone would say something like that. No matter how many experts say these photos are genuine, tinfoil hatters who want to believe they are photoshops still will.

      --
      How ya like dat?
    2. Re:The coverup will continue by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The perfection of the self-confirming delusion:

      If you agree, obviously I'm correct.
      If you disagree, you're part of the conspiracy to suppress my correctness.

    3. Re:The coverup will continue by Paul+server+guy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Then join us, maybe you'll get to go...

      --
      Your Moon, Your Mission, Get involved! http://www.openluna.org
  3. pics and it still didn't happen by RoverDaddy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    [sarcasm off] For the record, I believe 100% that the landings were real, but I also believe that nothing short of dragging the conspiracy nuts up to the moon themselves will convince them of the fact. Maybe not even that.

    --
    RETURN without GOSUB in line 1050
    1. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by allawalla · · Score: 5, Funny

      Not a bad idea - dragging the conspiracy nuts to the moon...

    2. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by Bazman · · Score: 5, Funny

      Preferably without suits. They won't mind, because they think they're just heading to a big warehouse in Arizona.

    3. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 4, Funny

      Not a bad idea - dragging the conspiracy nuts to the moon...

      Better: send them to the landing site for the first manned mission to the sun (but don't tell them they'll be the first ones to land there).

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    4. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by timeOday · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I also believe that nothing short of dragging the conspiracy nuts up to the moon themselves will convince them of the fact. Maybe not even that.

      How many such people actually exist? With every slashdot article mentioning the moon landings, there is a great uproar about these heretics. I'm sure they exist, but I've never met one, nor do I recall even reading a post from one on slashdot. It makes me wonder why these people (whoever they are) get under people's skin so much.

    5. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by gujo-odori · · Score: 5, Interesting

      More than you might think. I lived for a period of time in a communist country in Asia, and not only did I find there were a number of people who thought that the United States did not land people on the moon, but that those people also typically believed that the Soviet Union had.

      Why did they think so? They "learned" it in school :p

    6. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by vlm · · Score: 2, Interesting

      How many such people actually exist?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Moon_Landing_hoax_conspiracy_theories

      About 6% of the population, as of 1999. Not bad, compared to the percentages believing in religion, intelligent design, etc.

      Honestly, I think about 6% of the population is high or drunk at any given moment, so I'm not sure its a relevant figure.

      It makes me wonder why these people (whoever they are) get under people's skin so much.

      Well, sometimes its hard to interpret "get under skin" vs "laughing my * off"

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    7. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by Darkness404 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      There are a lot of reasons outside of conspiracy theories why we aren't currently on the moon.

      A) Lack of funding, the government doesn't want NASA to relearn stuff. We already "learned" about the moon back when we landed there (remember, this post is assuming the conspiracy theories are incorrect). While other planets we know a lot less about them.

      B) No evidence of life. Unlike a lot of investigated planets, we pretty much can tell that there is no liquid water on the moon without having to do much to prove the lack of it.

      C) Overcomplicating technology, the machines that took us to the moon were simple, simplicity allows you to work out a bunch of bugs and simplicity allows for more accurate human override.

      D) The space shuttle, most of the US flights recently have been on the space shuttle, which, cannot land on the moon safely.

      E) Space travel is seen as a risk with no real benefits. In the period before Challenger, space flight was considered routine, Challenger's destruction made people skeptical of why we should be putting people in space. Then space flight was considered routine until the destruction of Columbia. Today, it is considered more routine, but still lacks the "this is totally normal" that airplane flights have.

      F) The current economy has made it hard for space tourism to get off the ground. Sure, private companies have come leaps and bounds over what they previously had, but as for getting a private company to carry manned missions to the moon? Not quite yet.

      G) Space travel is looked at as needless by the average person. Sure, they would like to travel to space, but they don't think it has any benefit to them so they don't really care about it and similarly don't express concern.

      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    8. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by Ecuador · · Score: 4, Funny

      Suits won't make a difference. Even in expensive cashmere suits they will still look like a bunch of nuts suffocating on the lunar surface.

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
    9. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by arthurpaliden · · Score: 2, Funny

      Could we put them all on the 'B' Ark.

    10. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by Griim · · Score: 5, Funny

      Bah. This is easily remedied by going at night.

    11. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by EdIII · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Judging by the anonymous coward posts here on slashdot, I'd say it'd be more in the range of 90-95%.

      Not really. Sometimes it just *fun* to say that we never went to the moon. I doubt that many of them are actually serious. My own father would be in a car ride for a few hours with a bunch of guys and spontaneously say, "You know.... I really believe the single bullet theory. It was one man that killed Kennedy". Real Life Trolling.

      I remain unconvinced we went to the Moon myself. It could of have been wonderful propaganda for all we know, which considering the Cold War, there was a motivation to throw a lot of bullshit around. Seriously :) Prove that we *didn't* go the moon. Can you? I can't. We can only rely on statements from a government that I KNOW that I don't trust. It's like God you see, I can't disprove that he exists, and you can't prove that he exists.

      All kidding around aside, I think it's highly likely we went to the Moon, but we have to at least admit that all of the authoritative statements that *prove* we went to the Moon come from people that continue to lie to us to this very day.

    12. Re:pics and it still didn't happen by mgblst · · Score: 2, Funny

      I thought we were just going to send their nuts to the moon, that way at least they can't breed.

  4. That's cool and all by Idiot+with+a+gun · · Score: 4, Insightful

    But let's not pretend for a second that it'll stop the theorists. They want to disbelieve, so nothing will prevent them. As was mentioned on the Conspiracy Theories episode of Penn and Teller's Bullshit, when someone says "You can't convince me," those aren't the words of a skeptic, merely of a jerk. That being said, they should be some neat photos.

  5. Re:eh by Ethanol-fueled · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...freshly shaved Asian...pussy...

    You haven't seen very much Asian porn, have you? You're in for a big surprise once Mommy and Daddy uninstall NetNanny.

  6. Google moon? by davidwr · · Score: 2, Funny

    Can I have street view?

    --
    Knowledge is how to play a game, intelligence is how to win, wisdom is knowing what game to play.
  7. If you look closely at the picture of the orbiter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    You can plainly see that only a few feet of the orbiter are devoted to the camera, with the rest being a perfect-size capsule for a single astronaut with a copy of photoshop.

    Explain that.

  8. Obligatory Cheese Reference by spireite · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's Wensleydale, Grommit!!

  9. Lunakhod 1 by mbone · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Lunakhod 1 carried a French retroreflector array for Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) but unfortunately, contact was lost and no one knows where it is. There are good returns for Lunakhod 2, so I (and others) want Lunakhod 1 back !

    Finding this would be a great help for Lunar science (assuming it didn't get crushed in a landslide or something). I know that this is on their list, so good luck !

    1. Re:Lunakhod 1 by vlm · · Score: 2, Informative

      Lunakhod 1 carried a French retroreflector array for Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) but unfortunately, contact was lost and no one knows where it is.

      I checked the wikipedia and there is no mention, but I thought it was "generally known" that because it worked for a year or so and then "suddenly failed" it was because the optics cracked due to thermal stresses. An earth year is about 12 lunar days, and the hot/cold cycles are pretty intense. A cracked retroreflector isn't going to work.

      Given realistic spot diameter on the moon vs possible landing area position error, and the difference in cost between having grad students blast away randomly (virtually free) vs the cost of launching another mission, I don't think its just "unknown location".

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  10. Lunar ruins by Nonillion · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Just reading the summery makes me worried about the slew of "Moon landing never happened!" posts that are on the way"

    As for me, I think we did go to the moon. However I feel that these so called images will be doctored to remove evidence of the alleged "ruins" that are littered across its surface..

    --
    "I bow to no man" - Riddick
    1. Re:Lunar ruins by causality · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Just reading the summery makes me worried about the slew of "Moon landing never happened!" posts that are on the way"

      As for me, I think we did go to the moon. However I feel that these so called images will be doctored to remove evidence of the alleged "ruins" that are littered across its surface..

      I don't think the problem is whether or not we went to the moon. The problem is that we have a government which has no problem lying to us. You really want to shut up the conspiracy theorists? Restore the honor and decency and respect for the citizens that the government of the USA once had. The way I see it, that's what this whole deal is really about.

      --
      It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. - Einstein
    2. Re:Lunar ruins by MrKaos · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I don't think the problem is whether or not we went to the moon. The problem is that we have a government which has no problem lying to us.

      My girlfriend often remarks to me when we see old American movies that 'that was when it was a much nicer America' not one so conditioned to lying to it's own people that no one knows what the truth is. Obviously I don't know what the actual truth is either.

      My uncles and my father all watched the Apollo 11 Moon landing *LIVE*. As they were in Australia they were getting the feed slightly before the U.S did. I have no doubt that the moon landing happened but the three of them have all told me the same strange story about when they watched the moon landing.

      I can't say exactly when they heard Armstrong, a man known for his calm under pressure, say in an excited voice:

      "Huston, Huston: There is something large and suspiciously white moving off the crater ri.."

      the transmission was cut off and they were left wondering what was going on.

      I personally believe the majority of UFO sighting can be explained by high speed intelligence reconnaissance aircraft and UFO sightings were a convenient cover for their operations. Yet there may be some sort of conspiracy, not that we didn't land on the moon I have no doubt of that we did. But what actually happened may be much stranger.

      It seems kind of convenient that the original recordings of the moon landings have been "lost", who knows maybe the story of faked moon landings is yet another cover story. The only way to be sure is to see and hear the recordings of the original moon landing in it entirety from separation of the LM and CM to the docking of the LM to the CM. It's simple really, as it's is a significant piece of human history, why can't I buy it somehow and listen and watch without commentary? Surely, since nothing about the mission is classified, I should be able to do that, so why is it so difficult to find, even just to connect to what was achieved all those years ago?

      --
      My ism, it's full of beliefs.
  11. It's amazing by Bromskloss · · Score: 5, Funny

    What a long way we've come since the sixties and seventies. Now we can even photograph the landing sites they used back then. :-/

    --
    Swedish plasma phys. PhD student; MSc EE; knows maths, programming, electronics; finance interest; seeks opportunities
    1. Re:It's amazing by Ecuador · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why is something so sad modded as funny?

      --
      Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
  12. The "moon" - a ridiculous liberal myth by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, 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.

  13. They'll believe what they want to believe by Temujin_12 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In my experience, people who are adamant about the moon landing being a conspiracy seem to act that way merely because it gets them attention. They seem to feed off of the conflict. Since claiming these pictures are also a fake will continue to give them attention, this type of people will continue to hold onto their beliefs.

    If people want to believe that the moon landing was a hoax, that's their prerogative. But when they become combative towards anyone who thinks otherwise, that's when they've stepped over the line. It's called basic tolerance and respect. The same applies to other subjects which are debated--science/religion, windows/mac/linux, music, sports, etc. You're entitled to your opinion and the defense of it, but you are not entitled (or at least you're credibility is not entitled) to disrespect or belittle people merely for having different opinions or beliefs.

    People who feel the need to constantly attack or belittle different opinions/beliefs merely show how insecure they in their own anyways.

    --
    Faith is a willingness to accept something w/o complete proof and to act on it. Reason allows you to correct that faith.
  14. Re:Sounds like competition by the+phantom · · Score: 2, Informative

    You mean, something like this? And, before you ask, this one is pretty nifty, too.

  15. Not Soon by QuantumG · · Score: 2, Informative

    The commissioning phase will end approximately 60 days after launch, when LRO will use its engines to transition to its primary mission orbit.
    LRO is now in a commissioning orbit! - June 27

    So we're at least 56 days from "first light" and the mapping program will go for 1 year, and as there's nothing to suggest that the Apollo landing sites will be first or last imaged, a good estimate is 8 months or so from now.

    If that's "soon" to you, then I guess you're older than I am :)

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
  16. By 2080, nobody alive will have witnessed it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    BY 2080, nobody alive will have seen first-hand the media coverage of the Apollo landings. Heck, I was born in 1970 and I don't remember them even though they happened when I was alive.

    Anyway, there will come a time when nobody will have first hand memories of the event. The only memories will be those gleaned from videos, reading about it, etc. At some point, the fact that it happened will change from a fact into just something people have read about or heard about.

    Eventually many of the people alive will doubt it ever happened at all because the story of the moon landings will have become indistinguishable from a fable.

    Think about the war of 1812, or Columbus "discovering" America. We have a pretty good idea these things happened. But all we know about them is stuff we have read or heard. We have also heard many works of fiction from those same times. At some level, it's all similar.

    This ignores the concept of revisiting the moon, which may or may not ever happen. I have my doubts about NASA on this. But if we ever do go back and build a city, then those people will doubt it was ever such a big deal.

  17. Re:How about open-sourcing the transmission instea by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Informative

    A more relevant movie reference would be Capricorn One, which featured a fake trip to Mars. (And I think must have been the inspiration for many/most of the moon hoaxers.) Plus it starred OJ Simpson.

    http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0077294/

  18. Interesting observaton. by Paul+server+guy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What I find interesting is that most of the comments are about the "hoax" hoax, a few about how long it took, and not many about how very cool this tech is? Are we really that jaded?

    I for one think it's very cool. And I am looking forward to seeing the hardware.

    I'm also looking forward to using the date to help plan our mission.

    --
    Your Moon, Your Mission, Get involved! http://www.openluna.org
  19. Re:eh by Have+Brain+Will+Rent · · Score: 2, Funny

    At least then the cat won't have to hide every time it sees a razor...

    --
    The tyrant will always find a pretext for his tyranny - Aesop
  20. Re:How about open-sourcing the transmission instea by rlseaman · · Score: 2

    "the only way the public would actually accept "public" photograph data as real deal, is if NASA "open-sourced" spacecraft broadcasting interface - frequencies, protocol, encoding, where to set up a dish, size of dish required"

    Open source is the wrong term, of course, but none of this information is hidden away: http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewsr.html?pid=16926 The inverse-square law ensures that you need a very large antenna beyond Low Earth Orbit, but the public has been eavesdropping on satellites since Sputnik. In this case, just point the antenna at the Moon :-)

    KITZ ... To fake a signal from Vega, what would you need? [...] you would need a satellite, and you would need launch capabilities to put the satellite into orbit. And of course the message itself. To put something like this together, so complex, drawing on so many different disciplines...

    ELLIE ... would be impossible.

    Actually it would most definitely be impossible. The parallax of Vega is a bit over a tenth arcsecond. This is straightforward to measure with 19th century technology. More to the point, any spacecraft of Earth origin will be much, much (much, much (much, much)) closer than Vega. Simple trigonometry would reveal the scale of the distance to the origin of the signal with zero chance of being spoofed. This is the antithesis of any Moon Hoax.

  21. Non Technical Prof of Moon Landings by arthurpaliden · · Score: 2, Interesting

    In 1969 the Americans first landed men on the moon. Now some people have made names for themselves by saying that this and subsequent landings never happened. Their position is that NASA faked them in order to save face and fool the public. To prove their point they rely on explanations of the reported events using dubious science and lay explanations that any first year science major would and does, laugh at.

    However, they always miss or purposely avoid the the one piece of irrefutable proof that it did in fact happen. That is that the Soviet government never refuted the American claims and they were in a unique position to do so. For even after the Americans landed on the moon the Soviets still continued to send orbiters, landers and rovers to the moon.

    http://www.russianspaceweb.com/spacecraft_planetary_lunar.html

    Now if they wanted to get the goods on the Americans all they had to do was to land, photograph or explore with a rover the American landing sights. Just imagine the embarrassment not to mention the the damage to American credibility, at the height of the cold war no less, that such information would generate. Records even show that they never landed or even explored that areas that that American landings happened. So they did not even go and look to make sure because they knew it really happened.

    But they did not. They did not use it to pressure the Americans to stop bombing North Vietnam and Cambodia where Soviet military advisers were being killed as a result. They did not use it to pressure the United States to stop sending military advisers to and providing Stinger missiles to the Afghan fighters during the Soviet occupation. They did not use it to stop the Star Wars program of the Regan administration.

    In fact they did not even use it to turn the West's attention away from the Soviet Union during the Soviet Coup of 1991 when members of the Soviet government briefly deposed Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev and attempted to take control of the country.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soviet_coup_attempt_of_1991

    Which every body knew was the last death throws of the Soviet empire. If they did not use the information then to turn the attention of the American, and world public, inward to their own governments lies and thus corruption and force it to ignore the events in the Soviet Union in order to deal with a damaging domestic and international issue. Then the proof of faked moon landings did not and never existed.

    One final thought. After the fall of the Soviet Union the Russian economy tanked. People were selling all kinds of stuff owed by the crumbling state, ships, weapons, artworks and knowledge but nobody ever approached any Western news agency or tabloid to sell them this information. And to say that one would buy it but not publish is foolish. The seller could just keep peddling it until someone did and then it would be old news and worthless until then it would still be worth something.

  22. I put on my tinfoil hat by CuteSteveJobs · · Score: 2, Funny

    > Images of Apollo Landing Sites Soon Available

    Why not visit them in person? They're in the desert just outside Los Angeles.

    My personal theory is The Pirate Bay was shut down just to ban the documentary, Capricorn One.