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Space Exploration Politics -- and an Explanation of the Apollo Flag 'Mystery' (Video)
Meet Tom Moser. And here's another NASA oral history interview with him. And we interviewed him last week ourselves. Tom has been involved, one way or another, as engineer or manager, with every American manned space flight program since 1963. Now, among other things, he's thinking of ways multiple governments and private companies can share their resources to make future space exploration feasible, which may not be engineering -- but in many cases politics can be more important than designing and building the hardware, which is why it's worth learning about.
And thinking of hardware, do you remember the conspiracy people talking about how the U.S. flag on the moon was faked because there's no way it could wave in the breeze without an atmosphere? Moser gives us the inside scoop on that: it was an engineering screwup, and at least partly his fault. Whoops!
And thinking of hardware, do you remember the conspiracy people talking about how the U.S. flag on the moon was faked because there's no way it could wave in the breeze without an atmosphere? Moser gives us the inside scoop on that: it was an engineering screwup, and at least partly his fault. Whoops!
It's the American Dream to accidentally create one of the world's most enduring conspiracy theories.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
I have seen several cases of conspiracy theorists trying to point to that as evidence. Clearly if they can't see the rod through the top and take in account that gravity will wave a flag as it's being moved around and planted, then you probably shouldn't take the time to explain to them. Stop paying attention to the crazies, that only gives them unneeded attention!
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Either get a really cheap tripod when you do these types of interviews or a monopod. Having the image wander back and forth for five minutes is not good.
We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
Could we please hold off on the articles about the space program until the "space nutter" guy is finally institutionalized?
Mythbusters debunked the flag theory. It is caused by momentum and lack of air resistance.
>> in many cases politics can be more important than designing and building the hardware, which is why it's worth learning about
No, it's why we're all pretty much pinning our hopes on private enterprise to figure out the next generation of space. NASA's manned flight program was defanged long ago, as evidenced by the need to drag out guys like Tom Moser, the hunt for prototype moon rovers, and other nostalgic efforts dredging up a period that happened decades before I was born.
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/histor...
- Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
My biggest concern is that it's been a long time since anyone has stepped foot on the moon. You would think after 50+ years, there would have been more trips to the moon, by any of several countries now, if not independent groups, drones, etc.
At what point in the video does he talk about the what caused the flag to move? I've watched it twice now, all 5m 15s of it and I never heard anything about it from him in the interview. Slashdot is such a garbage site now a days. Its to the point where they are so slow on news, and then its so poorly written and often wrong that I question my own sanity for still even coming here. Soylent news is better anyway.
What the hell happened to you slashdot? You are like the hot chick/dude who goes away one summer and comes back 100 kilos heavier and with no self-esteem, having just completely let themselves go.
... then you can be 100 percent sure that there wouldn't be a flag fluttering in the wind. "Hey boss, I checked the film, and the wind is making the flag move". "Don't worry, nobody will notice". Really? What kind of idiot do you have to be to believe that could happen? If there was a flag moving in the wind, the recording would have been repeated.