A UNITED PLANET

If we can unite our planet by using Space above… Perhaps we can find a way to spread God's gift of love.

But we must band together as one with a common goal or we will never find our true role

Our role in the cosmos is still unclear but we can be sure it will not be near if we continue to act with greed and fear.

The unknown awaits us in the heavens above...
But we must start with love.

We now have the power to unite our planet in Space
We no longer need a "Space Race".

If we look closer at this "Star System" we have made of human beings on this Earth….
You will see that our "Stars" are wasting time and money by trying to achieve separate goals of unlimited wealth and fame.

It's a heartache game...

So rise up and reach out to those in need...
Help those who want to change their world and cast out your greed.

Only God can say what our purpose here is all about..
But as Elvis and the Beatles showed us…. we can live peacefully even if we scream and shout.

So shout out to the world...and demand peace on earth

And the flower of love may unite our planet up above...with love...

For what its worth.

 WHY WE MUST RETURN TO OUR MOON (LUNA)

The following letter was sent to national T.V., newspapers and magazines and to the Whitehouse and President George W. Bush.

THE AMERICAN PEOPLE WILL RALLY AROUND A COMMON SENSE PLAN THAT WOULD BRING THE 

WORLD TOGETHER AND RISE ABOVE THE WAR AND KILLING THAT CONTINUES TO LEAD OUR EARTH

 ON A PATH OF SELF-DESTRUCTION.

The International Space Station must be completed, fully operational, and manned

 by astronauts of all races, colors, sexes, and countries on this Earth if we 

are to live as one in a global society and reap the benefits that may be 

uncovered in a weightless environment. The ISS gives us a docking port and

 potential safe haven for astronauts to return to in the event of an accident 

while in Earth orbit. The ISS can also be used as a construction site to build 

satellites and vehicles that will allow us to attain Trans Lunar Injection and

 propel us back

to the Moon and beyond.

What are the potential benefits of returning to and permanently living on our Moon?

1) NO NEED TO CARRY WATER TO THE MOON TO LIVE.....It already exists as frozen

 water ice at the poles on the moon.

2) UNLIMITED SOLAR POWER ENERGY CAN BE CAPTURED ON THE MOON BECAUSE OF THE LACK

 OF AN ATMOSPHERE TO BLOCK THE COLLECTION OF SOLAR RAYS......Can be used to 

supply energy to the power grids on the Earth through microwaves.

3) ABUNDANCE OF MINERALS ON MOON CAN BE USED TO BUILD A LUNAR BASE AND DEVELOP 

NUCLEAR FUSION POWERED SPACE VEHICLES.

4) CAN BE USED AS A LAUNCH PLATFORM AND TRAINING GROUND FOR A DEEP SPACE MISSION 

TO MARS.

5) CAN BE USED TO OBSERVE AND PROTECT OUR EARTH FROM ENVIRONMENTAL OR MANMADE CATASTROPHES.

The completion of the International Space Station and development of a

permanently manned American lunar base seem to be the next common sense steps

 in the evolution of our space program. Without these goals to achieve, we

 will continue to just exist and watch our children continue to lose their

 way without a meaningful sense of direction......but we must choose to be

 leaders NOW........If we wait 15 years, we may be looking up at a Red Moon.

How can we afford to make these dreams become reality?

I would gladly explain how this can be fiscally accomplished if those who 

read this letter can feel the same passion, creativity, and devotion to the 

New Frontier as myself. (It involves the Entertainment Industry, the American 

Public, and a daily devotion to the common goal.)

Thank you all once again....May Luna become the name of our Moon so that we

 may return to see her again soon.

Sincerely,

Daniel Wingsand Reed

Brookhaven, Pennsylvania

December 2003 

   U.S President George W. Bush finally spoke to his fellow Americans and the World in January, 2004....outlining his administration's vision for space exploration with the following speech given at NASA headquarters and broadcasted and reported in both American and world news agencies. 

Video (Real)  Audio (CLICK ON AUDIO TO LISTEN TO SPEECH)

President Bush Announces New Vision for Space Exploration Program

NASA Headquarters
Washington, D.C. JANUARY 14, 2004 

  3:25 P.M. EST..... THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. I'm honored to be with the men and women of NASA. I thank those of you who have come in person. I welcome those who are listening by video. This agency, and the dedicated professionals who serve it, have always reflected the finest values of our country -- daring, discipline, ingenuity, and unity in the pursuit of great goals. America is proud of our space program. The risk takers and visionaries of this agency have expanded human knowledge, have revolutionized our understanding of the universe, and produced technological advances that have benefited all of humanity. Inspired by all that has come before, and guided by clear objectives, today we set a new course for America's space program. We will give NASA a new focus and vision for future exploration. We will build new ships to carry man forward into the universe, to gain a new foothold on the moon, and to prepare for new journeys to worlds beyond our own. I am comfortable in delegating these new goals to NASA, under the leadership of Sean O'Keefe. He's doing an excellent job. (Applause.) I appreciate Commander Mike Foale's introduction -- I'm sorry I couldn't shake his hand. (Laughter.) Perhaps, Commissioner, you'll bring him by -- Administrator, you'll bring him by the Oval Office when he returns, so I can thank him in person. I also know he is in space with his colleague, Alexander Kaleri, who happens to be a Russian cosmonaut. I appreciate the joint efforts of the Russians with our country to explore. I want to thank the astronauts who are with us, the courageous spacial entrepreneurs who set such a wonderful example for the young of our country. (Applause.) And we've got some veterans with us today. I appreciate the astronauts of yesterday who are with us, as well, who inspired the astronauts of today to serve our country. I appreciate so very much the members of Congress being here. Tom DeLay is here, leading a House delegation. Senator Nelson is here from the Senate. I am honored that you all have come. I appreciate you're interested in the subject -- (laughter) -- it is a subject that's important to this administration, it's a subject that's mighty important to the country and to the world. Two centuries ago, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark left St. Louis to explore the new lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase. They made that journey in the spirit of discovery, to learn the potential of vast new territory, and to chart a way for others to follow. America has ventured forth into space for the same reasons. We have undertaken space travel because the desire to explore and understand is part of our character. And that quest has brought tangible benefits that improve our lives in countless ways. The exploration of space has led to advances in weather forecasting, in communications, in computing, search and rescue technology, robotics, and electronics. Our investment in space exploration helped to create our satellite telecommunications network and the Global Positioning System. Medical technologies that help prolong life -- such as the imaging processing used in CAT scanners and MRI machines -- trace their origins to technology engineered for the use in space. Our current programs and vehicles for exploring space have brought us far and they have served us well. The Space Shuttle has flown more than a hundred missions. It has been used to conduct important research and to increase the sum of human knowledge. Shuttle crews, and the scientists and engineers who support them, have helped to build the International Space Station. Telescopes -- including those in space -- have revealed more than 100 planets in the last decade alone. Probes have shown us stunning images of the rings of Saturn and the outer planets of our solar system. Robotic explorers have found evidence of water -- a key ingredient for life -- on Mars and on the moons of Jupiter. At this very hour, the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is searching for evidence of life beyond the Earth. Yet for all these successes, much remains for us to explore and to learn. In the past 30 years, no human being has set foot on another world, or ventured farther upward into space than 386 miles -- roughly the distance from Washington, D.C. to Boston, Massachusetts. America has not developed a new vehicle to advance human exploration in space in nearly a quarter century. It is time for America to take the next steps. Today I announce a new plan to explore space and extend a human presence across our solar system. We will begin the effort quickly, using existing programs and personnel. We'll make steady progress -- one mission, one voyage, one landing at a time. Our first goal is to complete the International Space Station by 2010. We will finish what we have started, we will meet our obligations to our 15 international partners on this project. We will focus our future research aboard the station on the long-term effects of space travel on human biology. The environment of space is hostile to human beings. Radiation and weightlessness pose dangers to human health, and we have much to learn about their long-term effects before human crews can venture through the vast voids of space for months at a time. Research on board the station and here on Earth will help us better understand and overcome the obstacles that limit exploration. Through these efforts we will develop the skills and techniques necessary to sustain further space exploration. To meet this goal, we will return the Space Shuttle to flight as soon as possible, consistent with safety concerns and the recommendations of the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The Shuttle's chief purpose over the next several years will be to help finish assembly of the International Space Station. In 2010, the Space Shuttle -- after nearly 30 years of duty -- will be retired from service. Our second goal is to develop and test a new spacecraft, the Crew Exploration Vehicle, by 2008, and to conduct the first manned mission no later than 2014. The Crew Exploration Vehicle will be capable of ferrying astronauts and scientists to the Space Station after the shuttle is retired. But the main purpose of this spacecraft will be to carry astronauts beyond our orbit to other worlds. This will be the first spacecraft of its kind since the Apollo Command Module. Our third goal is to return to the moon by 2020, as the launching point for missions beyond. Beginning no later than 2008, we will send a series of robotic missions to the lunar surface to research and prepare for future human exploration. Using the Crew Exploration Vehicle, we will undertake extended human missions to the moon as early as 2015, with the goal of living and working there for increasingly extended periods. Eugene Cernan, who is with us today -- the last man to set foot on the lunar surface -- said this as he left: "We leave as we came, and God willing as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind." America will make those words come true. (Applause.) Returning to the moon is an important step for our space program. Establishing an extended human presence on the moon could vastly reduce the costs of further space exploration, making possible ever more ambitious missions. Lifting heavy spacecraft and fuel out of the Earth's gravity is expensive. Spacecraft assembled and provisioned on the moon could escape its far lower gravity using far less energy, and thus, far less cost. Also, the moon is home to abundant resources. Its soil contains raw materials that might be harvested and processed into rocket fuel or breathable air. We can use our time on the moon to develop and test new approaches and technologies and systems that will allow us to function in other, more challenging environments. The moon is a logical step toward further progress and achievement. With the experience and knowledge gained on the moon, we will then be ready to take the next steps of space exploration: human missions to Mars and to worlds beyond. (Applause.) Robotic missions will serve as trailblazers -- the advanced guard to the unknown. Probes, landers and other vehicles of this kind continue to prove their worth, sending spectacular images and vast amounts of data back to Earth. Yet the human thirst for knowledge ultimately cannot be satisfied by even the most vivid pictures, or the most detailed measurements. We need to see and examine and touch for ourselves. And only human beings are capable of adapting to the inevitable uncertainties posed by space travel. As our knowledge improves, we'll develop new power generation propulsion, life support, and other systems that can support more distant travels. We do not know where this journey will end, yet we know this: human beings are headed into the cosmos. (Applause.) And along this journey we'll make many technological breakthroughs. We don't know yet what those breakthroughs will be, but we can be certain they'll come, and that our efforts will be repaid many times over. We may discover resources on the moon or Mars that will boggle the imagination, that will test our limits to dream. And the fascination generated by further exploration will inspire our young people to study math, and science, and engineering and create a new generation of innovators and pioneers. This will be a great and unifying mission for NASA, and we know that you'll achieve it. I have directed Administrator O'Keefe to review all of NASA's current space flight and exploration activities and direct them toward the goals I have outlined. I will also form a commission of private and public sector experts to advise on implementing the vision that I've outlined today. This commission will report to me within four months of its first meeting. I'm today naming former Secretary of the Air Force, Pete Aldridge, to be the Chair of the Commission. (Applause.) Thank you for being here today, Pete. He has tremendous experience in the Department of Defense and the aerospace industry. He is going to begin this important work right away. We'll invite other nations to share the challenges and opportunities of this new era of discovery. The vision I outline today is a journey, not a race, and I call on other nations to join us on this journey, in a spirit of cooperation and friendship. Achieving these goals requires a long-term commitment. NASA's current five-year budget is $86 billion. Most of the funding we need for the new endeavors will come from reallocating $11 billion within that budget. We need some new resources, however. I will call upon Congress to increase NASA's budget by roughly a billion dollars, spread out over the next five years. This increase, along with refocusing of our space agency, is a solid beginning to meet the challenges and the goals we set today. It's only a beginning. Future funding decisions will be guided by the progress we make in achieving our goals. We begin this venture knowing that space travel brings great risks. The loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia was less than one year ago. Since the beginning of our space program, America has lost 23 astronauts, and one astronaut from an allied nation -- men and women who believed in their mission and accepted the dangers. As one family member said, "The legacy of Columbia must carry on -- for the benefit of our children and yours." The Columbia's crew did not turn away from the challenge, and neither will we. (Applause.) Mankind is drawn to the heavens for the same reason we were once drawn into unknown lands and across the open sea. We choose to explore space because doing so improves our lives, and lifts our national spirit. So let us continue the journey. May God bless. (Applause.) END 3:43 P.M. EST

•  Patriot Act ? (CLICK HERE TO FIND MORE)

NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NEW Constellation Program to return to moon and Mars

NASA's New Spacecraft: Ares and Orion

Spaceship Mockup

11.05.07

Missing Image above: A mockup Orion crew module built by NASA Dryden Flight Research Center's Fabrication Branch gets a lift to its new home in the center's former Shuttle hangar. NASA photo by Tom Tschida

NASA's Orion spacecraft now in development is America's first new manned spacecraft since development of the space shuttle 30 years ago.

It's the centerpiece of NASA's Constellation program, which aims to take the next generation of human explorers to the moon and beyond.

Orion's launch abort system, a "rocket on top of the rocket," is designed to ensure the safety of its astronaut crew by pulling the crew module away from it's booster rocket in the event of a booster malfunction, either while on the launch pad or during ascent to orbit.

NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center in Southern California is leading the Orion launch abort system flight testing.

As part of this effort, NASA Dryden's Fabrication Branch constructed a mockup of the Orion crew module. More simplified than the actual spacecraft, the Orion mockup is the actual size of the real thing, inside and out.

Dryden is using the mockup to develop and verify integration and installation procedures for things like avionics, instrumentation, and wire harness routing in advance of the arrival of the first abort flight test article, called "Boilerplate 1."

 

Missing Image above: NASA Dryden's mockup Orion crew module is located in Dryden's former Shuttle hangar. NASA photo by Tom Tschida.

Boilerplates, in this sense of the term, are flying simulators used in early tests designed to mimic the flight characteristics of the actual vehicle. They have the exact dimensions, aerodynamic and mass properties of the operational vehicle they will simulate in flight, in this case the Orion crew module.

The mockup has no attached forward bay on it's top, but Dryden technicians are building one that will remain separate for parachute integration procedure development.

Two pad abort and four ascent abort flight tests of the launch abort system are planned, all unmanned, with the first scheduled for 2008 and continuing through 2011.

Gray Creech
NASA Dryden Flight Research Center

(NASA Home) ....www.nasa.gov

Page Last Updated:November 29, 2007
Page Editor:Jim Wilson
NASA Official:Brian Dunbar

• Budgets, Strategic Plans and Accountability Reports
• Equal Employment Opportunity Data Posted Pursuant to the No Fear Act
• Information-Dissemination Policies and Inventories

• Freedom of Information Act
• President's Management Agenda
• Privacy Policy & Important Notices
• Inspector General Hotline
• Office of the Inspector General

• Contact NASA
• Site Map
• USA.gov
• ExpectMore.gov

The Leading Edge

A close-up view of the exterior of space shuttle Endeavour's crew cabin, starboard wing and payload bay door was provided by the station's Expedition 16 crew. Before docking with the station, STS-123 commander Dominic Gorie flew the shuttle through a roll pitch maneuver, basically a backflip, to provide the station crew with a good view of Endeavour's heat shield.

Using digital still cameras equipped with both 400 and 800 millimeter lenses, the station crew took a number of photos of the shuttle's thermal protection system and sent them to teams on the ground for analysis. A 400 millimeter lens was used for this image.

Image Credit: NASA

NASA Home

Page Last Updated: March 14, 2008
Page Editor: Yvette Smith
NASA Official: Brian Dunbar

• Budgets, Strategic Plans and Accountability Reports
• Equal Employment Opportunity Data Posted Pursuant to the No Fear Act
• Information-Dissemination Policies and Inventories

• Freedom of Information Act
• President's Management Agenda
• Privacy Policy & Important Notices
• Inspector General Hotline
• Office of the Inspector General
• **********************************************************************************************************************************

                                        * SATELLITE EYES*

       By Daniel Reed and Mike Kelly

*

There are stories…the darkness and redness of Mars

Levitating through our background of stars…

In this vacuum that draws it near and far,

Mars, it seems, once had oceans that soon became ocean less bars

Where is the moisture of the Red Planet, so dry?

We continue to search, we continue to try…

Strange, however, that robots are sent where a man must fly

Visiting other worlds through satellite eyes.

*  

  WE MUST CHOOSE TO BE LEADERS

If we choose to be a leader…

We must be respected by the world.

If we choose to live in the past…

We must be willing to accept others as leaders.

If we choose to follow others…

We will never be leaders.

If we choose to be pioneers….

We will attract followers

If we achieve a goal and rest on that accomplishment…

We will cease to be a leader.

If we went to the moon over 30 years ago…

Why can’t we return with the increase in technology we have today?

If we went to the moon over 30 years ago…

Why can’t we travel to Mars today?

If we choose to return to the moon…

We will become leaders again.

If we choose to live on the moon…

We will become pioneers.

If we choose to become leaders and pioneers…

We will become heroes.

If we choose to become respected…

We must become leaders, pioneers, and innovators.

If we choose….We must choose now.

But if we choose…

We must choose wisely.

Yes, WE MUST CHOOSE TO BE LEADERS!

AMERICAN ASTRONAUT- JOHN GLENN- THE FIRST AMERICAN TO ORBIT THE EARTH 3 TIMES IN FEBRUARY 1962...AND THE OLDEST ASTRONAUT TO SET SAIL BACK INTO SPACE ON BOARD THE AMERICAN SPACE SHUTTLE

*                                                                         *                                                                            *

 TO RETURN TO WHERE NO MAN HAD GONE BEFORE

It was 35 years ago today….

Buzz and Neil taught the world how America could walk and play

On the moon……it soon went in and out of style

But the moon landings can still make us smile

So may I introduce to you today, the 12 men who made those moments stay

All those years ago…

There was Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and 14 who were able to walk on the moon

Soon behind came Apollo 15, 16, and 17 who were able to drive on the moon

With pictures and words…….their journeys should be etched in our minds

But their journeys may have come too soon.

In those 35 years we have lost our vision and direction…our leadership and goals

Now we give our astronauts secondary roles.

If we need a destination in space….we can fly again to the moon.

We can develop a lunar module and return again soon

Because its been 35 years ago today

That Apollo 11 showed the world just how far America was willing to play

With 6 American flags and traces of our moon journeys left behind

We must continue President Kennedy’s challenge to the New Frontier

 And return to the moon to stay…. giving the modern generation a new goal to find

Robots may be fine as art but its human exploration that will give us our start

Apollo showed us that dreams could become reality

Even after 35 years

What we make of today is now up to us….

-A united planet in search of the New Frontier-

It can be here once again…. but only if we reach out together

And fly our spacecrafts back to the moon, on to Mars and into the great forever!               

                                           July 20, 2004

*   

A SHUTTLE NAMED COLUMBIA

A space shuttle named Columbia once blasted off to fly…

It was a common occurrence in the clear blue Florida sky

It carried on board seven astronauts that fateful January day

On their way to the space station for about a two week stay

A shuttle launch had become routine, or so they say

But just like Challenger, it was cold in Florida when Columbia flew

There should have been more caution to protect the crew

It seems that at launch a piece of foam broke off and struck the tiles to seal their fate

How could they return and on what date?

The shuttle was able to reach orbit and all systems said go for a return

But as it reentered the atmosphere there was a horrible burn

The Columbia soon broke up and the astronauts were lost

Should space travel come at such a cost?

NASA again discovered the problem and fixed the flaws for future flights

As nights became days and days became nights

Again we lost precious time to complete the International Space Station on time

But when we travel into the unknown we take a risk and sometimes lose lives

We will eventually return to space in 2005

May we always remember Columbia and Challenger.

For they made us dream of a higher place…

A place in space that may yet prove to be the future of our race.

   February 2003

A SPACE POEM


Let us look up to the sky and continue to wonder why
Why it is so that we have lost the faith to go....
To return to the moon....we must change our tune

We have made stars of people on the Earth
Yet their guiding lights have not yielded their worth
They laugh and play in a world where others dare not stray
...with fame and greed they will plant their seed
Yet a new generation continues to call out for help and direction
as they get swallowed up within life's imperfections

We must look inside to find the truth
but never forget the Apollo adventure that occurred in our youth
If we are to travel to the stars....
We must do more then dream of places like Mars
It's the reality of our planet
With history as our guide
That will lead us back to our moon...
And if we work together… we can make it soon

We must reach far beyond the fame and any earthbound hotel

This is for sure
It is from NASA that my dreams and heroes will always endure.

January 2000

USA

*

THE INN SPACE PLACE

                                                                                                                                       

Welcome, the Inn Space Place

Welcome, the deep space race

To one and all, to large and small

Welcome, to the pioneers of a new space and time

Welcome, to this story of reality and rhyme

The reality began on a late sixties date

It was here that we sat; it is here that we wait

On a pad, by the sea

In a space, in a place called Cape Kennedy

Atop the Saturn, atop the Five

To the moon and back, the pioneers survived

Waiting and counting, hoping to see

The new Space Inn, a place to be

Welcome, the Inn Space Place

I hear the station is new, I hear the people are true

Hope to see it soon, you know, Tranquility Base, the moon!

Houston, can you copy, can you hear?

It's really lonely out in the blue

Well, it's not that blue when the sky turns black

It's only a three day ride (and a free ride back)

This story took place not so long ago

Can you remember the story, can you recall the show?

They called it Mercury, Gemini, and Project Apollo

They brought true a dream in a time of tomorrow

But where did they go? Apollo 18, 19, and 20

We achieved our goal so they took our money...

They took our money, but not our suits

They took our rover, but not our boots

We still have the rocks, we left behind the prints

We still have the money, we still have the mints

So Washington, please print some soon

Please, Mr. Politician, have you ever FELT the moon?

Welcome, the Inn Space Place

Welcome, the deep space race

The deep space race is about to begin

And we know in our hearts why we must win

From Mars or the Moon, from Jupiter or Pluto’s moon,Charon

Wherever we land, hand in hand, woman and man...

There's a place for us

There is a place...SOMEWHERE in space

A LONG WAY TO GO  

As the days turn to nights and the earth spins around the sun 
As the moon revolves around the earth 
As the earth revolves around the sun 
Time is measured by the second hand 
Do we really have a plan? 

Days turn to weeks.....weeks turn to months 
and months turn to years… 
What do we have to fear? 

Time marches on without knowledge of the future 
But living the present and recalling the past 
Do we have a plan and will it last? 

We must help those in need and cast out our greed 
If we are to survive....to stay alive 
Why must we fight a war? 
When tragedy is all around 
We should spread our wealth to help others in their disaster stricken towns. 

As the sun goes down and a new day rises 
We must spend our time looking for our future and shed our disguises 
For time is only relevant when man makes it so 
Yes, mankind still has a long long way to go.

                                               June 2005

 *

*

 LUNA: A FACE FOR OUR MOON

The face on the moon spoke to me one day

Up in the sky....far, far away

Come visit me my son, come fly away soon

Leap back now through time...

Won't you please soar again to the moon?

This journey took place by humans you see

So the face in the moon means more now to me

Because we've seen her true face...

We've left behind our tracks in her sand with footprints on her plain

Isn't it time that we return to our Luna to reclaim our domain?

August 1998

 
DO LEADERS CHOOSE OR CHOOSE TO LEAD?

 
 


We once became leaders and shot to the moon…
With each shot in time came reason and rhyme… 
Fulfilling the devotion of President Kennedy's goal in 1969....
And then we boldly explored this place that was new...
We landed in the mountains and drove inside its craters until 1972   
Daring and challenging, evoking American Spirits to rise up together...
and leave behind a path of glory to the moon for future generations to follow forever

Yet sadly, as Space Shuttles ,Discovery ,Atlantis,and Endeavour may circle the Earth...
-For what it's worth-
Our forever path of glory to the moon may soon also be made in China
Without an American lunar project and a plan of our own
Those 6 American moon bases that we left behind may no longer be called home


If we choose to lead again...
We must do so with added vigor, direction and a common sense plan
For our youth desperately need a sense of purpose
and a moon called Luna may yet turn out to be their promised land.


 


January 2000
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Great Moon Hoax
Moon rocks and common sense prove Apollo astronauts really did visit the Moon.

ebruary 23, 2001 -- Last week my phone rang. It was my 
mother ... and she was upset.
"Tony!" she exclaimed, "I just came from the coffee shop and there's an [adjective omitted] man down there who says NASA never landed on the Moon. Everyone was talking about it ... I just didn't know what to say!"
That last bit was hard to swallow, I thought. Mom's never at a loss for words.
But even more incredible was the controversy that swirled through her small-town diner and places like it across the country. After a long absence, the "Moon Hoax" was back.
Above: Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the surface of the Moon in 1969. [more information]
All the buzz about the Moon began on February 15th when Fox television aired a program called Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon? Guests on the show argued that NASA technology in the 1960's wasn't up to the task of a real Moon landing. Instead, anxious to win the Space Race any way it could, NASA acted out the Apollo program in movie studios. Neil Armstrong's historic first steps on another world, the rollicking Moon Buggy rides, even Al Shepard's arcing golf shot over Fra Mauro-- it was all a fake!
 

Sign up for EXPRESS SCIENCE NEWS delivery
Fortunately the Soviets didn't think of the gag first. They could have filmed their own fake Moon landings and really embarrassed the free world. 
Shows like Conspiracy Theory ought to be as tongue-in-cheek as they sound. Unfortunately, there was an earnest feel to the Fox broadcast, enough to make you wonder if the program's makers might have fallen under their own spell.
According to the show NASA was a blundering movie producer thirty years ago. For example, Conspiracy Theory pundits pointed out a seeming discrepancy in Apollo imagery: Pictures of astronauts transmitted from the Moon don't include stars in the dark lunar sky -- an obvious production error! What happened? Did NASA film-makers forget to turn on the constellations?
Most photographers already know the answer: It's difficult to capture something very bright and something else very dim on the same piece of film -- typical emulsions don't have enough "dynamic range." Astronauts striding across the bright lunar soil in their sunlit spacesuits were literally dazzling. Setting a camera with the proper exposure for a glaring spacesuit would naturally render background stars too faint to see.
Here's another one: Pictures of Apollo astronauts erecting a US flag on the Moon show the flag bending and rippling. How can that be? After all, there's no breeze on the Moon....
Not every waving flag needs a breeze -- at least not in space. When astronauts were planting the flagpole they rotated it back and forth to better penetrate the lunar soil (anyone who's set a blunt tent-post will know how this works). So of course the flag waved! Unfurling a piece of rolled-up cloth with stored angular momentum will naturally result in waves and ripples -- no breeze required!
Left: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin deploy a U.S. flag on the Moon in 1969. [more]
The Fox documentary went on with plenty more specious points. You can find detailed rebuttals to each of them at BadAstronomy.com and the Moon Hoax web page. (These are independent sites, not sponsored by NASA.)
The best rebuttal to allegations of a "Moon Hoax," however, is common sense. Evidence that the Apollo program really happened is compelling: A dozen astronauts (laden with cameras) walked on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. Nine of them are still alive and can testify to their experience. They didn't return from the Moon empty-handed, either. Just as Columbus carried a few hundred natives back to Spain as evidence of his trip to the New World, Apollo astronauts brought 841 pounds of Moon rock home to Earth.
"Moon rocks are absolutely unique," says Dr. David McKay, Chief Scientist for Planetary Science and Exploration at NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC). McKay is a member of the group that oversees the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility at JSC where most of the Moon rocks are stored. "They differ from Earth rocks in many respects," he added.
"For example," explains Dr. Marc Norman, a lunar geologist at the University of Tasmania, "lunar samples have almost no water trapped in their crystal structure, and common substances such as clay minerals that are ubiquitous on Earth are totally absent in Moon rocks."
"We've found particles of fresh glass in Moon rocks that were produced by explosive volcanic activity and by meteorite impacts over 3 billion years ago," added Norman. "The presence of water on Earth rapidly breaks down such volcanic glass in only a few million years. These rocks must have come from the Moon!"
Right: A glass spherule (about 0.6 mm in diameter) produced by a meteorite impact into lunar soil. Features on the surface are glass splashes, welded mineral fragments, and microcraters produced by space weathering processes at the surface of the moon. SEM image by D. S. McKay (NASA Photo S71-48109).
Fortunately not all of the evidence needs a degree in chemistry or geology to appreciate. An average person holding a Moon rock in his or her hand can plainly see that the specimen came from another world.
"Apollo moon rocks are peppered with tiny craters from meteoroid impacts," explains McKay. This could only happen to rocks from a planet with little or no atmosphere... like the Moon.
Meteoroids are nearly-microscopic specks of comet dust that fly through space at speeds often exceeding 50,000 mph -- ten times faster than a speeding bullet. They pack a considerable punch, but they're also extremely fragile. Meteoroids that strike Earth's atmosphere disintegrate in the rarefied air above our stratosphere. (Every now and then on a dark night you can see one -- they're called meteors.) But the Moon doesn't have an atmosphere to protect it. The tiny space bullets can plow directly into Moon rocks, forming miniature and unmistakable craters. 

"There are plenty of museums, including the Smithsonian and others, where members of the public can touch and examine rocks from the Moon," says McKay. "You can see the little meteoroid craters for yourself."
Right: Nick-named "Big Muley," this 11.7 kg Moon rock was the largest returned to Earth by Apollo astronauts. One side of Big Muley was peppered with meteoroid "zap pits." Below right: A close-up view of 1 mm diameter zap pits shows tiny craters lined with black glass surrounded by a white halo of shocked rock. [more]
Just as meteoroids constantly bombard the Moon so do cosmic rays, and they leave their fingerprints on Moon rocks, too. "There are isotopes in Moon rocks, isotopes we don't normally find on Earth, that were created by nuclear reactions with the highest-energy cosmic rays," says McKay. Earth is spared from such radiation by our protective atmosphere and magnetosphere.
Even if scientists wanted to make something like a Moon rock by, say, bombarding an Earth rock with high energy atomic nuclei, they couldn't. Earth's most powerful particle accelerators can't energize particles to match the most potent cosmic rays, which are themselves accelerated in supernova blastwaves and in the violent cores of galaxies.
Indeed, says McKay, faking a Moon rock well enough to hoodwink an international army of scientists might be more difficult than the Manhattan Project. "It would be easier to just go to the Moon and get one," he quipped.
And therein lies an original idea: Did NASA go to the Moon to collect props for a staged Moon landing? It's an interesting twist on the conspiracy theory that TV producers might consider for their next episode of the Moon Hoax.
"I have here in my office a 10-foot high stack of scientific books full of papers about the Apollo Moon rocks," added McKay. "Researchers in thousands of labs have examined Apollo Moon samples -- not a single paper challenges their origin! And these aren't all NASA employees, either. We've loaned samples to scientists in dozens of countries [who have no reason to cooperate in any hoax]."
Even Dr. Robert Park, Director of the Washington office of the American Physical Society and a noted critic of NASA's human space flight program, agrees with the space agency on this issue. "The body of physical evidence that humans did walk on the Moon is simply overwhelming."
"Fox should stick to making cartoons," agreed Marc Norman. "I'm a big fan of The Simpsons!"
RETURN TO MENU AT TOP OF PAGE AND CLICK ON:
"MY SPACE LOG" TO GET CURRENT AND PAST INFORMATION ON THE BUILDING AND COMPLETION OF THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ALONG WITH OTHER NEWS FROM NASA AND OTHER NEWS SOURCES FROM AROUND THE EARTH.