Thanks for the up-front answers.
At this point, the conversation could branch-out in different directions; either following the "what are the dots?" thread or moving on to other evidence to persuade your friend.
If we want to pursue "what are the dots?" then I think we all understand that
a.) We can name several possibilities (but may miss some).
b.) We may not definitively be able to identify which possibility is the true source (keeping in mind that with multiple artifacts, multiple causes are possible), however...
c.) Some of these possibilities
can be ruled-out.
Possible candidates include (but are not limited to)
- Dust on the lens (ruled-out because, due to depth-of-focus limitations, it would be very out-of-focus and not a distinct dot)
- Dust stuck between the reseau plate and the film (plausible - it would show as distinct dot, and might move as the film winds, causing a similar artifact to show in a different location)
- Cosmic rays impinging on the unexposed film (plausible - the missions were exposed to cosmic rays that are normally blocked by our atmosphere. depending on the energy, the rays could penetrate to different depths of the emulsion, creating the different colors seen)
- Stars or other astronomical objects (ruled-out due to exposure limitations and the lack of correlation between successive frames)
Since the whole point of your investigation was to provide evidence (or at least persuasive counter-arguments) to your friend's uninformed opinions (good job, by the way, on the illumination-by-reflected-light riposte), there's lots of other stuff available. Some of the members here have sites elsewhere that have some great ammunition, including
JayUtah's Clavius and
Onebigmonkey's page.
As for "believing" in the Apollo missions? It's not a matter of
belief, it's a matter of
understanding. Most hoax-believers trot out a list of things that they don't understand. Somehow, their argument seems to be:
I don't understand X ---> I don't understand other people's explanation for X ---> They must not understand X either and are trying to fake it ---> X is fake.
They either do not realize, or cannot admit that their understanding and/or assumptions are wrong. After all, they're not stupid - just ask them!
I don't know if your friend is like this, but suffice to say that lack of understanding is not evidence of a conspiracy. When you understand the science, engineering, motivations and even the politics of Apollo, you won't need to "believe" one person's/organization's/government's side or the other; you will
know beyond any reasonable doubt that it happened.
Thanks for the chat. I've got to go fold laundry...