Neil Armstrong (1930-2012)

[ka9q]

Far too many people seem to think (or at least talk) as if (or almost as if) Neil Armstrong was the only person to walk on the moon.

Even Jamie Hynemann of the Mythbusters kept referring to Armstrong that way in their otherwise excellent hoax-busting episode. He should have known better than to reinforce that misconception.

[Glom]

Enjoyed Colbert's tribute. That Armstrong, what a pinko.

[ka9q]

Looking at the LRO images of the Apollo 11 landing site again, does anyone else think Neil's footpath to Little West Crater looks a little more poignant now?

It has now outlived the person who made it, and it'll probably far outlive the rest of us too.

[Rob260259]

Looking at the LRO images of the Apollo 11 landing site again, does anyone else think Neil's footpath to Little West Crater looks a little more poignant now?

It has now outlived the person who made it, and it'll probably far outlive the rest of us too.

That's exactly what I was thinking on August 25th, hearing the sad news, in my vacation. Many decades from now these footpaths from Armstrong, Aldrin, Bean, Conrad, Mitchell, Shepard, Scott, Irwin, Duke, Young, Cernan and Schmitt will remain as monuments on our bright white satellite.
I honestly believe that some day some country will land some machine there again and returns a confirmation of these monuments.

[Philthy]

It's been done. While the LRO didn't land, it did send pictures back to Earth that proves the hardware left behind is still there.

Phil

[Rob260259]

It's been done. While the LRO didn't land, it did send pictures back to Earth that proves the hardware left behind is still there.

Phil

Yep. Of course. But I would love to see some kind of 'Japanese Curiosity' doing that. And I would love even more a few Chinese taikonauts making hi-res photographs of all the stuff left behind.

[smartcooky]

Yep. Of course. But I would love to see some kind of 'Japanese Curiosity' doing that. And I would love even more a few Chinese taikonauts making hi-res photographs of all the stuff left behind.

While third party evidence from something like a Chinese or Russian lunar orbiter would just about seal the deal for most people ,the "dyed in the wool" conspiracy nut-jobs could still come up with any number of reasons why they still believe the original 1969-72 moon landings were faked.

1. The US paid the Russians/Chinese off with a massive amount of money and economic concessions (I'm sure some will be able to link the Chinese economic rise in the last 10-15 years directly into the conspiracy).
 
2. The US didn't really go there during the Apollo programme because they realised it was technologically beyond them so they faked it all, and then went later, say in the mid 1990's, in secret Lunar missions.

3. All the Apollo hardware has been put in place recently, with the tracks all made by robotic rover type vehicles.

It cannot be proven with 100% certainly that any given conspiracy doesn't exist, or more correctly put

► When a given conspiracy DOES exist, it IS possible to prove that it exists!
► When a given conspiracy DOES NOT exist, it is NOT possible to prove that it does not exist!

This is the dilemma facing the debunker; the conspiracy theorist will always have the advantage because for all practical purposes, proving a negative is impossible. We live in a world where there are people who actually believe that successive US presidents have been shape changing reptilian aliens from a planet orbiting a star in the constellation Draco, so when we encounter people who, no matter how great the weight of hard, physical evidence, will always believe the moon landings were faked, how can we expect anything else? 

[Not Myself]

► When a given conspiracy DOES NOT exist, it is NOT possible to prove that it does not exist!

It's often possible to disprove specific conspiracies, which just illustrates the importance of keeping your conspiracies vague and generic.

[Rob260259]

Yep. Of course. But I would love to see some kind of 'Japanese Curiosity' doing that. And I would love even more a few Chinese taikonauts making hi-res photographs of all the stuff left behind.

...... We live in a world where there are people who actually believe that successive US presidents have been shape changing reptilian aliens from a planet orbiting a star in the constellation Draco, so when we encounter people who, no matter how great the weight of hard, physical evidence, will always believe the moon landings were faked, how can we expect anything else?

I'm afraid you're right.

"But he had to speed it up because everyone knows that NASA slowed down the video from the moon to make it look like it was on the moon because it was really filmed on a sound stage at Area 51 by Stanley Kubrick under orders from the Grey aliens and hidden by the Bavarian Illuminati, and kept secret using the Orbital Mind Control Lasers!"

This kinda nonsense...

[Glom]

► When a given conspiracy DOES NOT exist, it is NOT possible to prove that it does not exist!

It's often possible to disprove specific conspiracies, which just illustrates the importance of keeping your conspiracies vague and generic.

But remember, the conspiracy theory of the Apollohoax has a premise and nothing more. Conspiracy theorists will often switch between versions mid-sentence. Ther

[Not Myself]

But remember, the conspiracy theory of the Apollohoax has a premise and nothing more.

Very wise of the conspiracists, it places everyone else in the dilemma smartcooky describes.

[gtvc]

I found this video in youtube Neil Armstrong with Bob Hope entertaining the troops in Viet Nam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UDZ5mQnvBg

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

I found this video in youtube Neil Armstrong with Bob Hope entertaining the troops in Viet Nam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UDZ5mQnvBg

There's a gem of a question from two cute girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UDZ5mQnvBg&feature=player_detailpage#t=820s

[Noldi400]

It's interesting that Aldrin was backup CMP on Apollo 8 but became prime LMP on Apollo 11. I wonder why. All the astronauts were given an area of Apollo systems in which to specialize, and Collins' was pressure suits. That would seem to make him a candidate for LMP. On the other hand, Aldrin had done an exceptional job in preparing for his EVA on Gemini XII, and as Dr. Rendezvous he was an obvious choice for a LM crew. Does anyone know for sure how Aldrin moved from the CMP role to LMP? And does his earlier position as backup Apollo 8 CMP explain why he rode in the center seat during the Apollo 11 launch?

The way Mike Collins tells it, Deke Slayton moved in mysterious ways. The shuffling of crew assignments got a little complicated, for sure.

Collins was originally assigned as backup LMP (with CDR Frank Borman and CMP Tom Stafford) for a flight that never happened - it would have been the next flight after Grissom's and would essentially be a repeat of the first flight.

NASA management decided to cancel that flight because they saw no need for a duplicate flight; remember the time pressure they were under. So the prime and backup crews were broken up and reassigned. Collins ended up "promoted" to CMP on Apollo 8 with CDR Borman and LMP Bill Anders. He was made CMP because Anders had never been up and Deke had an ironclad rule at that time that CMPs must have flown before.

So, from 1966 on, Collins became a specialist in CM systems - as he put it, "all the things I was least interested in doing".  Then in July, 1968 - 5 months before AS-8 was to fly - Mike had to have neck surgery and was, of course, dropped from the crew.

Now. The backup crew for Apollo 8 was Armstrong (CDR), Lovell (CMP), and Aldrin (LMP).  When Collins had to drop out, Lovell moved up to the prime crew CMP spot. Deke made the decision to move Aldrin to CMP and bring Fred Haise in as backup LMP.  Buzz, presumably, promptly began cramming like a madman for the CMP role.

So, when it came time to assign a crew for AS-11 (Collins was back on full flight status by then), Slayton assigned Armstrong as CDR, put Buzz back in the LMP slot (which he had originally trained for), and Collins as CMP.

And, yes, Buzz rode the center seat during the 11 launch because he was more recently trained up on that slot and Collins knew the CM so well he could pretty much handle any position (necessary, since he might have to fly home alone).

^{SOURCES: Carrying The Fire, plus Wiki for some dates and details.}

[ka9q]

He [Collins] was made CMP because Anders had never been up and Deke had an ironclad rule at that time that CMPs must have flown before.

Was that true even for the non-LM Apollo flights (7 and 8 )?

I can certainly see Deke's reasoning for the Apollo flights with LMs (i.e., starting with Apollo 9 as flown) as the CMP would be flying the CM alone for a time, and especially for those involving lunar landings as there was a finite chance the CMP would have to come home alone, but it makes less sense for flights without a LM.