5 replies to this topic

[schadeaux]

One of the long standing debates I have seen here and in many other places is the question of man actually walking on the moon.  Did Apollo 11 actually make it there?  Did Armstrong and Aldrin really conduct the first EVA on another planet on 20 July, 1969?  Or was it all a scam cooked up by a government program overwhelmed by the shear enormity of the task, confounded by failure, yet driven by a president’s commitment to superiority in the “space race?”

With the success of the private venture SpaceShip One this week, it seems that the speculations surrounding the “man on the moon” conspiracy may be answered soon, in our lifetime.  A private vehicle has made the first step, exiting earth’s atmosphere and returned safely. The next step in the evolution would be a private manned flight to the moon.  

So now the question is, how far will the government let it go?  What if our new Capt Kirk gets there ten years from now, looks around, and notices a shocking lack of a US Flag?  Or no footprints from the previous astronauts or their landing craft?  What if the landscape is totally different than the images sent back to us forty five years before?

Any thoughts on this one?

[BurnSide]

Interesting stuff. That really be the only way to make everyone believe one way or another.

But the problem is, when we get there and see no lunar lander or flag, what's to stop everyone saying 'yeah well they just didn't land in the right place'.

[Chauncy]

Well I don't think that that urban legend is even remotely true, the U.S did land on the moon, to say anything else is complete rubbish.

Your on to something here though, there will be a myth busted. A matter of fact one already has. And it has to do with how much it costs to go into space. The inflated budget of NASA will be revealed.

A CNN article had this to say in this regards. "In a press statement last December, Allen said: "SpaceShipOne is a tangible example of continuing humankind's efforts to travel into space, effectively demonstrating that private resources can make a big difference in this field of discovery and invention."

I think the threat of private ventures such as this will give NASA the proverbial kick in the pants. They have long been the mediaries between us and space.

If a small percentage of the most affluent people on the planet pooled their cash together we would have one hell of a space program.

Hopefully this will force NASA to embrace the private sector for future endeavors.

[schadeaux]

[jonfr]

[schadeaux]