Faking the moon landings

[nweber]

And anyway, are you sure hobbits aren't real?...

Have you ever seen the president of Ireland?

[Von_Smith]

If they were from existing collections, didn't museums notice lunar meteorites disappearing? (They were in on it; pay them - forever)

And not just the institution.  Any and all employees, former employees, student interns, major private donors, colleagues from other institutions with similar collections, etc. who might know something about the collections.

[gillianren]

And correct me if I'm wrong, here, but don't we only have a very small amount of meteorites known to have come from the Moon, and didn't we identify them as such because of their similarity to Apollo samples, meaning they couldn't possibly be the source anyway?

[Dalhousie]

And correct me if I'm wrong, here, but don't we only have a very small amount of meteorites known to have come from the Moon, and didn't we identify them as such because of their similarity to Apollo samples, meaning they couldn't possibly be the source anyway?

No lunar meteorites were identified as such before the Apollo and Luna.  Indeed it as their similarity to Apollo and Luna samples that led them to be identified as such and identifiability distinct from other achondritic meteorites such as SNCs (Mars) and HEDs (Vesta).  The first lunar meteorite was not discovered until 1979 and the first recognised in 1982.

[raven]

And correct me if I'm wrong, here, but don't we only have a very small amount of meteorites known to have come from the Moon, and didn't we identify them as such because of their similarity to Apollo samples, meaning they couldn't possibly be the source anyway?

No lunar meteorites were identified as such before the Apollo and Luna.  Indeed it as their similarity to Apollo and Luna samples that led them to be identified as such and identifiability distinct from other achondritic meteorites such as SNCs (Mars) and HEDs (Vesta).  The first lunar meteorite was not discovered until 1979 and the first recognised in 1982.

I'm curious though. Since we don't have any Martian samples, how do we know those meteorites are from Mars then? One of those things I've always been curious about.

[Dalhousie]

And correct me if I'm wrong, here, but don't we only have a very small amount of meteorites known to have come from the Moon, and didn't we identify them as such because of their similarity to Apollo samples, meaning they couldn't possibly be the source anyway?

No lunar meteorites were identified as such before the Apollo and Luna.  Indeed it as their similarity to Apollo and Luna samples that led them to be identified as such and identifiability distinct from other achondritic meteorites such as SNCs (Mars) and HEDs (Vesta).  The first lunar meteorite was not discovered until 1979 and the first recognised in 1982.

I'm curious though. Since we don't have any Martian samples, how do we know those meteorites are from Mars then? One of those things I've always been curious about.

Classic case of inductive reasons and a process of elimination.

The SNC meteorites are a family of achondritic meteorites (they are essentially mafic rocks similar to terrestrial examples.)  with specific geochemical characteristicscommon to all.

The SNCs have undergone melting.  So they have to have come from a silicate body with volcanism. This means Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, Mars, Vesta, and Io. 

Earth, Moon, and Vesta are eliminated by stable isotope data.

Venus and Io are delineated by unreason energy requirements to be sent on Earth intersecting orbits.  Mercury isn not quite ruled out, but is unlikely.

The Viking landers measured the noble gas isotopes in the martian atmosphere. The noble gas isotopes in the SNCs match these. 

So Mars is the obvious choice.

This is the argument used by the initial researcher Or you can use the following argument from me:

The parent body had to be one that is of silicate composition.  That rules out all but the terrestrial planets and Io.

The parent body has to have had a long history of volcanic activity (from four billion years ago to a few hundred million years ago.  This rules out Mercury, the Moon, Vesta.

The parent body had to have free water on its surface (there is aqueous alternation in most SNCs. This rules out Venus and Io.

The great age of some SNCs rules out Earth.

Mars is the only one left.  If it did not exist it would have to be invented.

[raven]

Ooh, OK! Super cool that! And thank you, I never had it explained half so well before, Dalhousie, much thanks.

[Dalhousie]

Glad to help!

[Drewid]

That sort of answer is why I still lurk here even if I'm not active.    Nicely done

[Peter B]

Cambo, as a non-expert but with access to the world's largest interconnected source of information at my fingertips, let's say you managed to get off the fusion crust on a metric buttload of  lunar meteorites without leaving detectable traces of what was used (no mean feat given how intensely studied moon rocks have been) and let's say you find a way to re-add the zip pits and helium 3 to the outer layers, well, you still got problems. See, those meteorites didn't just fall yesterday. They've been  exposed air and water and other sources of weathering, leading to changes in their structure and composition compared to the practically pristine Apollo  and Soviet Luna samples. Oh, and their cosmic ray exposure ages tell us how long they've been on the surface.

There's also the issue of where do you find a metric buttload (is that more or less than a metric f---tonne?) of lunar meteorites - i.e. nearly 400 Kg of material (after processing) without anyone noticing it being collected, identified, processed and transported to the launches.

The story gets more and more nonsensical at every turn, and now we need teams of people scouring the planet for meteorites (in secret) plus loads of geologists to process them into "samples" - all of whom now need paying to ensure their life-long silence...

Can I suggest it gets even better?

Sure, there are lunar meteorites which have been found on Earth. But the Apollo samples consist of more than just rocks. They include soil samples and core samples. Now, okay, I suppose you could make soil samples from grinding up lunar meteorites (and watch the faces of geologists as you do it!).

But where are you going to get 2.5 metre long core samples from? From a lunar meteorite 2.5 metres across? Seriously?

[Jason Thompson]

Now, okay, I suppose you could make soil samples from grinding up lunar meteorites (and watch the faces of geologists as you do it!).

And good luck doing that without leaving evidence of whatever was used to grind it up. A similar problem the magic machine that 'removes the fusion layer' of a meteorite and adds back the zap pits would have.

[Luke Pemberton]

Now, okay, I suppose you could make soil samples from grinding up lunar meteorites (and watch the faces of geologists as you do it!).

And good luck doing that without leaving evidence of whatever was used to grind it up. A similar problem the magic machine that 'removes the fusion layer' of a meteorite and adds back the zap pits would have.

... and can create those zap pits without leaving behind a residue that has an origin from Earth.

[Dalhousie]

Now, okay, I suppose you could make soil samples from grinding up lunar meteorites (and watch the faces of geologists as you do it!).

And good luck doing that without leaving evidence of whatever was used to grind it up. A similar problem the magic machine that 'removes the fusion layer' of a meteorite and adds back the zap pits would have.

... and can create those zap pits without leaving behind a residue that has an origin from Earth.

You'd also have to manufacture the aggulinates and add in the solar wind and meteoritic iron components (as both spherules and fragments).  You would also have to arrange the zero time cosmic ray exposure ages.

[Northern Lurker]

I have understood that there were several reasons for Apollo program:
-to beat the Soviets in Space Race after Soviet wins of first satellite, first animal in orbit and first human in orbit and safely back to Earth
-to boost the popularity of JFK
-to advance science (origin of Moon, composition of solar wind etc)
-to boost US scientific, technological and industrial capacity

Without Apollo program, would US had the advantage it had in 70's and 80's in fields like microchips and computers, metallurgy, mega project management? Also if space flight is fake, why there are technologies which were developed for space flight but are on everyday use back on Earth?

Lurky

[raven]

But where are you going to get 2.5 metre long core samples from? From a lunar meteorite 2.5 metres across? Seriously?

And you'd need several separate massive moon meteorites, so scientists don't get sneaking suspicions from similarities.