Did We Go to the Moon?

As I prepare to write a review of Apollo 18, I decided to enter into my archives of material and pull out an article I did a while ago on the overall lunar conspiracy. Did we go to the Moon? That is a great question. One that sparks different answers from millions of Americans, in fact, 20 percent of all Americans do not believe we did. I guess you could count me into that 20 percent.

To me, the quote "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind," is one of the greatest scripted catch phrases of the generations. True Americans should not fret; the government's choice to fabricate this endeavor was just. At that particular point in time, beating the Russians was all that mattered. It did not matter if it was to the moon or to the grocery store; we had to out-do the evil red machine.

The reasons why we had to win this race led to the small overlooked details, which in the end is a fate-full flaw in the story that changed history. The space agency and government apparently overlooked small items like sound-stage wind, film protection and most importantly a severe lack of technology when coming up with this charade.

As we progress through the technological age, it is easy to look back and say no way! However, the appearance of modern looking technology in that day and age was enough to fool millions. Let us look at some of the evidence. We can start with one of my favorites, the film used to take those great pictures of the lunar surface and the earth. That film is actually the same film used by our Space Shuttle astronauts today. Interesting enough, these astronauts have to keep this film encased in a radiation proof container until use, something that the original astronauts did not do. Anyone that has ever been to the Smithsonian Institutes Air and Space Museum can vouch for this as well, although they may not realize it. Look at the landing capsule on display, the real thing, it is what, three maybe four inches thick at the thickest point. In addition, there was barely enough room for the astronauts to sit and control the unit, let alone carry a load of lined anti-radiation boxes.

One more thing on the film, before I move on, those cameras must have had the best auto-focus feature ever made. The pictures taken are flawless, clear as any picture I have ever seen. I wish I had that camera, I have a thousand dollar digital SLR and I cannot keep my hands steady here on earth. It is amazing the there are no signs of shaking going on in those pictures. I would think that walk around on a desolate rock; thousands of miles above the earth would be a little scary. Maybe I am wrong, but let me see, no oxygen, no gravity, no chance of survival if something goes wrong would put some fear in me. How about you?

The flag planting, a great moment in history, that is until starts fluttering in the wind. In zero gravity, the flag should have stayed flat. I could buy it if the astronauts were shaking it, but it did not flutter like that when they were walking with it, if you can believe the video footage, we have been fed.

There are other small things. The lack of moon dust movement when the ship is landing and taking off, the lack of stars in those brilliant photo's, the lack of audible noise in any of the audio tapes (a great one, that Lander had to be loud) and disparities of light contrasts throughout the video clips and pictures. However, the largest question is how did they do it with out the technology? The computer systems in the entire rocket, the entire rocket including the landing craft, guidance systems, everything had less computing power than the Timex watch I am wearing right now. It is a known fact that there are light bulbs that we can go buy at Wal-Mart right now that could compute more stuff then anything on that mission. Yet, the American Government (and people think Republican Presidents lie) want us to believe that we not only left the atmosphere, made it through the radiation belt AND flawlessly landed on the moon with this technology. I think not!

Do not get me wrong, those astronauts were great pilots. They surely could fly anything on earth. However, landing on the moon is a very different dynamic; there was absolutely no way to prepare. Of course, as we sit here today, today's government has the technology to prove without any doubt whether we actually went to the moon. All they would have to do would be point the Hubble Space Telescope or one of the other spy satellites in the sky toward the landing zone one the moon. ALL of the rovers, carts, materials, and such we supposedly left behind. Even after all of these years something had to survive. Right?

However, as with any controversy, they shy away. This is not the first time and it will not be the last. Look at the original Mars Pathfinder. Is not it ironic that it fell off the known world when it entered the Cydonnia Region of our great Red (or maybe brown and green) neighbor. Once again, the truth is out there, we just have to look to see it. Unless, soundstage 21 is actually the landing zone, then we could be searching forever.