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Ask HN: Why do people think the USA did not go to the moon in 1969?

5 points by tamaharbor 4y ago

And why does this seem to be mentioned more often in social media lately?

ZeroGravitas 4y ago
I always assumed this started as a USSR psyops.
rbanffy 4y ago
Conspiracy theories are like crack cocaine for some humans - they get stuck in the quick dopamine cycle of self-actualization of "knowing" something most people don't.
- ClapperHeid 4y ago
  Exactly. I've encountered a couple of conspiracy theory nutters in my time. And the self-delusion is incredible. They really believe that they and their fellow nutters have somehow uncovered the "truth" that, until now, has eluded the world's intelligence agencies and the world's best investigative journalists. And, incredibly, they've managed all this, via the internet, without ever leaving their bedrooms.
pjkundert 4y ago
A few of the more we’ll known theories: - no stars in photos (film’s dynamic range too low) - no observable landing sites (resolution of telescopes too low) There are many others.
- ClapperHeid 4y ago
  >A few of the more we’ll known theories: no stars in photos (film’s dynamic range too low)... And, ironically, if you were going to fake the moon landing photos, you'd probably have put some stars in, just so people wouldn't ask "Why are there no stars?"
proc0 4y ago
My take is that it actually speaks to the incredible achievement. It was so unbelievable some people still don't believe it. I can certainly sympathize, given the technology at the time it seems far fetched that those aluminum foil vehicles made it to the moon. It's also somewhat suspicious nobody else has gone back, but I think China might be planning a moon trip next? The next landing will certainly clear all doubt.
- krapp 4y ago
  I think what seems the least believable nowadays isn't the technology but the long-term political and cultural cohesion that was necessary to make it happen. JFK said we were going to do something difficult and we actually did. Unfortunately, the US no longer seems capable of anything on the scale of a moonshot or Manhattan project or even Hoover dam. Except war, of course.
- ashwagary 4y ago
  >My take is that it actually speaks to the incredible achievement. It was so unbelievable some people still don't believe it. My take is some people have an extreme distrust of the US government and its claims where national security may be concerned.
  - rbanffy 4y ago
    > My take is some people have an extreme distrust of the US government My take is that a lot of people learned to stimulate that for their own personal gain.
32gbsd 4y ago
Its a long standing conspiracy theory which is hard to prove or disprove without actually being apart of the team that worked on the mission. I figure that even the people on the team might have doubts.
- krapp 4y ago
  It's not that hard to prove. Aside from having rocks from the moon, astronauts left evidence behind in the form of equipment, footprints and laser reflectors that can (and have) been verified by multiple independent sources.
  - 31337Logic 4y ago
    Corner cubes!
  - 32gbsd 4y ago
    Links?
  - rbanffy 4y ago
    When you try that, they'll tell you an unmanned probe could do all that.
    - krapp 4y ago
      OK, it's not that hard to prove to people who are capable of accepting proof.
      - rbanffy 4y ago
        If they were, they wouldn't be conspiracy theorists.
- brutus1213 4y ago
  Was telling my little kid that some people still believe the earth is flat. She immediately brought up: - haven't these people used aeroplanes? - we can see how the timezones wrap around - what happens if you go over the edge if the Earth was flat. - we can the Earth is like a marble when we look at it from space (e.g. a satellite) It truly boggled my mind how the flat earth theory can be plausible in this day and age.
rhelz 4y ago
Its due to the fast falling cost of fake. Today, of course, its much easier to fake 50 or so hours of footage to look like going to the moon. But back in 1969, it was way easier to just go to the damn moon than it would have been to fake the video sent back. Even in Kubrik's 2001, there was no effort at all to film, say, even what walking looks like on the moon--even in the shots which putatively happen on the moon--even in the shots which happen indoors on the moon! It just would have been too expensive. This in a film in which they went all-out to create awesome special effects.
- retrac 4y ago
  Kubrick was indeed hired by NASA to film the Moon landing, but his pefectionism ultimately required that they film on location.
- Someone 4y ago
  > But back in 1969, it was way easier to just go to the damn moon than it would have been to fake the video sent back. I am not sure of that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program says the Apollo program cost €25 billion. That’s a lot of money compared to the movie 2001, which cost €10,5 million (about 1/23,000 of it)
  - krapp 4y ago
    Still need to build a massive rocket, though[0]. [0]https://youtu.be/sE-tpiAiiHo https://youtu.be/sE-tpiAiiHo
- shyn3 4y ago
  I always wonder. When I had sex the first time I wanted to have it more. Why didn't America want to go to the moon again. That would silence critics.
  - perilunar 4y ago
    They did — there were 6 landings, and 3 other missions to the moon that didn't land.
mrKola 4y ago
Watch this https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7794734/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7794734/
MrGuts 4y ago
It's not really about whether we went to the moon or not. Humans visited the moon, case closed. It's really more about how people process authority and the centrality of their own view of the world vs the experience of other people. It's as if someone said, "there is light in the world and I am able to see because light comes from my eyes." (People did indeed used to believe that eyes radiated light so that objects could be seen.) Such an eye-lighter will never process the experience from other people that the world did not go suddenly dark when the eye-lighter closed his eyes.
oldsklgdfth 4y ago
There’s just something fun about having your bubble burst. I think most people (including me) think the tech was too primitive. This is what I think computers were then [1] Ultimately, I think bad ass people banded together and worked their butt off to pull off a stretch goal. I wonder if I romanticize engineers from then or there are similar folks today. [1] https://youtu.be/gwf5mAlI7Ug https://youtu.be/gwf5mAlI7Ug
- rbanffy 4y ago
  If you are into that, you should watch HBO's From the Earth to the Moon miniseries.

5 points by tamaharbor 4y ago

And why does this seem to be mentioned more often in social media lately?

ZeroGravitas 4y ago

I always assumed this started as a USSR psyops.

rbanffy 4y ago

Conspiracy theories are like crack cocaine for some humans - they get stuck in the quick dopamine cycle of self-actualization of "knowing" something most people don't.

ClapperHeid 4y ago
Exactly. I've encountered a couple of conspiracy theory nutters in my time. And the self-delusion is incredible. They really believe that they and their fellow nutters have somehow uncovered the "truth" that, until now, has eluded the world's intelligence agencies and the world's best investigative journalists. And, incredibly, they've managed all this, via the internet, without ever leaving their bedrooms.

pjkundert 4y ago

A few of the more we’ll known theories: - no stars in photos (film’s dynamic range too low) - no observable landing sites (resolution of telescopes too low) There are many others.

ClapperHeid 4y ago
>A few of the more we’ll known theories: no stars in photos (film’s dynamic range too low)... And, ironically, if you were going to fake the moon landing photos, you'd probably have put some stars in, just so people wouldn't ask "Why are there no stars?"

proc0 4y ago

My take is that it actually speaks to the incredible achievement. It was so unbelievable some people still don't believe it. I can certainly sympathize, given the technology at the time it seems far fetched that those aluminum foil vehicles made it to the moon. It's also somewhat suspicious nobody else has gone back, but I think China might be planning a moon trip next? The next landing will certainly clear all doubt.

krapp 4y ago
I think what seems the least believable nowadays isn't the technology but the long-term political and cultural cohesion that was necessary to make it happen. JFK said we were going to do something difficult and we actually did. Unfortunately, the US no longer seems capable of anything on the scale of a moonshot or Manhattan project or even Hoover dam. Except war, of course.
ashwagary 4y ago
>My take is that it actually speaks to the incredible achievement. It was so unbelievable some people still don't believe it. My take is some people have an extreme distrust of the US government and its claims where national security may be concerned.
- rbanffy 4y ago
  > My take is some people have an extreme distrust of the US government My take is that a lot of people learned to stimulate that for their own personal gain.

32gbsd 4y ago

Its a long standing conspiracy theory which is hard to prove or disprove without actually being apart of the team that worked on the mission. I figure that even the people on the team might have doubts.

krapp 4y ago
It's not that hard to prove. Aside from having rocks from the moon, astronauts left evidence behind in the form of equipment, footprints and laser reflectors that can (and have) been verified by multiple independent sources.
- 31337Logic 4y ago
  Corner cubes!
- 32gbsd 4y ago
  Links?
- rbanffy 4y ago
  When you try that, they'll tell you an unmanned probe could do all that.
  - krapp 4y ago
    OK, it's not that hard to prove to people who are capable of accepting proof.
    - rbanffy 4y ago
      If they were, they wouldn't be conspiracy theorists.
brutus1213 4y ago
Was telling my little kid that some people still believe the earth is flat. She immediately brought up: - haven't these people used aeroplanes? - we can see how the timezones wrap around - what happens if you go over the edge if the Earth was flat. - we can the Earth is like a marble when we look at it from space (e.g. a satellite) It truly boggled my mind how the flat earth theory can be plausible in this day and age.

rhelz 4y ago

Its due to the fast falling cost of fake. Today, of course, its much easier to fake 50 or so hours of footage to look like going to the moon. But back in 1969, it was way easier to just go to the damn moon than it would have been to fake the video sent back. Even in Kubrik's 2001, there was no effort at all to film, say, even what walking looks like on the moon--even in the shots which putatively happen on the moon--even in the shots which happen indoors on the moon! It just would have been too expensive. This in a film in which they went all-out to create awesome special effects.

retrac 4y ago
Kubrick was indeed hired by NASA to film the Moon landing, but his pefectionism ultimately required that they film on location.
Someone 4y ago
> But back in 1969, it was way easier to just go to the damn moon than it would have been to fake the video sent back. I am not sure of that. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_program says the Apollo program cost €25 billion. That’s a lot of money compared to the movie 2001, which cost €10,5 million (about 1/23,000 of it)
- krapp 4y ago
  Still need to build a massive rocket, though[0]. [0]https://youtu.be/sE-tpiAiiHo https://youtu.be/sE-tpiAiiHo
shyn3 4y ago
I always wonder. When I had sex the first time I wanted to have it more. Why didn't America want to go to the moon again. That would silence critics.
- perilunar 4y ago
  They did — there were 6 landings, and 3 other missions to the moon that didn't land.

mrKola 4y ago

Watch this https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7794734/ https://m.imdb.com/title/tt7794734/

MrGuts 4y ago

It's not really about whether we went to the moon or not. Humans visited the moon, case closed. It's really more about how people process authority and the centrality of their own view of the world vs the experience of other people. It's as if someone said, "there is light in the world and I am able to see because light comes from my eyes." (People did indeed used to believe that eyes radiated light so that objects could be seen.) Such an eye-lighter will never process the experience from other people that the world did not go suddenly dark when the eye-lighter closed his eyes.

oldsklgdfth 4y ago

There’s just something fun about having your bubble burst. I think most people (including me) think the tech was too primitive. This is what I think computers were then [1] Ultimately, I think bad ass people banded together and worked their butt off to pull off a stretch goal. I wonder if I romanticize engineers from then or there are similar folks today. [1] https://youtu.be/gwf5mAlI7Ug https://youtu.be/gwf5mAlI7Ug

rbanffy 4y ago
If you are into that, you should watch HBO's From the Earth to the Moon miniseries.