From The Space Review, NASA Administrator Mike Griffin talking at the Heinlein Centennial:
Question: I live about 200 miles down southeast of here, at the home of slapstick living and most of the folks down there are convinced that the Moon landing were a hoax, and wrestling’s real. [Laughter] Do you have any ideas on how to speak to these people?
Griffin: I don’t. [Laughter] [Applause] I mean, what can we say? I mean, all the guys who were still alive and a couple of the ones who are not have all become personal friends of mine, and in the intervening decades. I don’t think they’re lying to me. I just don’t. I don’t know what to tell people who say the Moon landings were a hoax.
Heh. Good for him, But if he needs a couple of pithy soundbites, I know someone who has a passing familiarity with the topic…
Tip of the spacesuit visor to Dan Durda for alerting me to the speech.
July 23rd, 2007 at 11:42 am
He doesn’t “think” that they are lying to him? That is not very reassuring!
And why did he tell us that a couple of dead astronauts have become personal friends of his?
July 23rd, 2007 at 12:02 pm
I know someone who has a passing familiarity with the topic…
Yes, please contact Joe Rogan immediately.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:00 pm
I know someone, too! Maybe Mr Griffin should read the “we-all-know-which-it-is” website where all the facts are presented!
It’s a pity that I don’t have his email address.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:18 pm
>>> “I don’t know what to tell people who say the Moon landings were a hoax.”
“Avada Kedavra”
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:20 pm
know someone who has a passing familiarity with the topic…
Yeah, the head the NASA conspiracy calling on another member of the NASA conspiracy for backup. I’m sure that will stop all the TBs in their tracks.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:21 pm
[i] know someone who has a passing familiarity with the topic…[/i]
Yeah, the head the NASA conspiracy calling on another member of the NASA conspiracy for backup. I’m sure that will stop all the TBs in their tracks.
July 23rd, 2007 at 1:36 pm
One thing I don’t recall ever seeing addressed by the conspiracy theorists - if it was a hoax, why would they fake six moon landings instead of just one? After Apollo 11, why wouldn’t they have an Apollo 13-type accident on Apollo 12, and just declare the whole thing too dangerous and cancel the rest of the missions?
Oh right, I forgot - the conspiracy theorists are idiots.
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Quiet_Desperation says: “Avada Kedavraâ€
Oooh, mixing our genres here, are we?
I just spent an entire HP weekend, accompanying my daughter to the Friday night (Saturday morning) book release. She wanted me to go in costume, so I threw together a “Mad Eye Moody” costume that actually placed in the top four!
Never done that before. It was weird, but really fun.
- Jack
July 23rd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
Avada Kedavra?
Mad-Eye Moody?
HP and the Inkjet of Cupertino?
Oh, the auror — the AUROR!
Actually, if I was to choose a spell for the moon hoax nuts (including Joe Rogan) it would be…Erudio! or perhaps…Cogito! Pardon my poor (non-biological) Latin.
July 24th, 2007 at 6:12 am
To people believing the Moon landings were a hoax my own answer is: to do _that_ with such a perfection in all the innumerable details, would have been a far greater accomplishment for NASA than… actually landing on the Moon!
July 24th, 2007 at 7:43 am
I think it’s just sad that people have such little faith in human intelligence. All the work and all the brain power that must have gone into Apollo 11… just for people to say that it never happened. Just sad.
And stupid.
>
Exactly.
July 24th, 2007 at 7:47 am
I think it’s just sad that people have such little faith in human intelligence. All the work and all the brain power that must have gone into Apollo 11… just for people to say that it never happened. Just sad.
And stupid.
**To people believing the Moon landings were a hoax my own answer is: to do _that_ with such a perfection in all the innumerable details, would have been a far greater accomplishment for NASA than… actually landing on the Moon!**
Exactly.
July 27th, 2007 at 12:40 pm
If in fact we were able to go to the moon, I wonder why we never went back? almost 40 years later and nobody try again? How come?
I don’t know how true this is, but a lot of people claim that even with today’s technology that would be imposible to accomplish, that’s why.
July 27th, 2007 at 12:41 pm
If in fact we were able to go to the moon, I wonder why we never went back? almost 40 years later and nobody tried again? How come?
I don’t know how true this is, but a lot of people claim that even with today’s technology that would be imposible to accomplish, that’s why.
July 30th, 2007 at 10:43 am
Violet,
The simple fact is at present we have no space vehicles designed for long distance travel. The Space Shuttle is not capable of flying to the moon,landing on or even just orbiting the moon, and then fly back to earth. The space shuttle being “today’s technology”
Firstly, the rocket that the Shuttle sits upon does not have enough power to get up to the necessary speed to punch out of earth orbit like the Saturn V rocket did.
In order to build another ship to go to the moon we would have to first build the machinery to make such a ship. As there are no machines designed for this specific purpose at the moment this can’t happen
To do the above, create facilities to create a space ship designed for moon landing, is far too cost prohibative right now. And we didn’t go just once. We landed on the moon with the following Apollo missions. 11,12,14,15,16,17. Apollo 10 just orbited the moon with men onboard. I think maybe Apollo 9 did also. But maybe not.
Pete
August 1st, 2007 at 4:46 pm
Haven’t you heard? World War II was also faked. Infact, Columbus never made it to America and the entire civilisation that you inhabit is actually a giant sound stage inside Area 51. Expert witness Bob Thorton explains.
‘ Atlantic currents prevented anything from crossing the ocean. Those clever folks at the CIA created the idea of America through mind control. Have you seen how the Washington Monument creates those shadows! They’re all at the wrong angle! Man I just don’t buy the fact that America exists. If you have any doubts, my vid eo’The CIA and the Civilization of America conspiracy’ is available online for $99′.
And as for the Moon hoax conspiracy - well - only a fool believes that the Moon is real and not a painting on the area 51 hangar roof!
August 12th, 2007 at 12:47 pm
Very instructive. Many humans have approached me with this theory. At first I tried saying “Trust me, I’m a Vegan investigator sent to observe your space technology and it’s quite capable of reaching your moon. Why do you think I was sent here?” But my boss kept scolding me and I had to do a lot of mind-erasings, leaving the louts even dumber, so I’ve taken to just frying them with my ray gun.
August 12th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
Aliens actually planned it all. They kidnapped the Apollo crews, replaced them with alien crews and sent them back in time to Roswell, NM to crashland in the desert. Kind of like the Planet of the Apes movies with no apes. The command module equipped with three alien crew members, miscalculated the rotation of the earth on that day in 1947 and instead of splashing into the ocean to be picked up by Atlantians who came from the planet Spock, they crashed into the desert. And, that is why we have never really been to the moon. Blame it on E.T.
November 6th, 2007 at 7:20 pm
There is an argument saying that all the engineers and the brainers who built the rocket to moon are all dead now, and that’s why we never go to the moon again after 40 years.
But our technology is getting better and better, and I think people are more brainers now than before. Then why shouldn’t we go to the moon again? All the 6 missions happened during the cold war. Now there is no more cold war, why should USA send men to moon again and waste their money? And why hubble telescope cannot find US Flag on the moon, but can take pictures from MARS which is million miles from earth?
November 6th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
The flag may not still standing caused by the lift out by Apollo 11 from the moon. Then why other Apollo missions did not put a new one?
June 6th, 2008 at 4:15 pm
Well, I just read an interesting page of calcs stating that the total radiation dose recieved by the Apollo astronauts was in the region of at most about 5 rads, about 2% of the lethal dose. Unfortunately also for the naysayers a weekend in with Newton’s calculus will prove that the Saturn V definitely provided all the thrust needed to get to the moon, and the service module or LEM pad-stage engines enough for the return trip. The moral of the story? NEVER LISTEN TO PEOPLE WHO BOUGHT THEIR GED.
I love physics. If only people would bother to do the maths and stop just talking bollocks!