Neil A. Armstrong (1930 – 2012)

[aj]

With the passing of Neil A. Armstrong (1930 – 2012) yesterday 25th august.

Which hurts more then one would expect, considering time and distance.
The utter bravery and a very special deed in a life full of achievement.

Possibly for some a good opportunity to view the Super-8 registered moonwalk again.
This is closer to the original TV-signal from the moon then anything else.

Apollo 11 moonwalk registered on Super-8

http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_ ... per_8.html
http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/

[marc]

A.J., Neil Armstrong was a great man in his own right. But can you explain how man can survive several days passing through the Van Allen radiation belt, not once but twice, in a ship made of tinfoil? And a celestial body having virtually no atmosphere is both a blessing and a curse. It makes it easy to enter with no heat issues. But you also see how unprotected the surface is because there is no protective atmosphere to keep it from being "pock marked" with craters. Even if one could survive days of deadly radiation, how can he survive the onslaught of micrometeors traveling at 60,000 miles per hour? Easy, just call on Stanley Kubrick to get the Job done!

“Just a month before, Apollo 11 astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong had left their colleague, Michael Collins, aboard spaceship Columbia and walked on the Moon…The old carpenter asked me if I really believed it happened. I said sure, I saw it on television. He disagreed; he said that he didn’t believe it for a minute, that ‘them television fellers’ could make things look real that weren’t. Back then, I thought he was a crank. During my eight years in Washington, I saw some things on TV that made me wonder if he wasn’t ahead of his time.” – President Bill Clinton

[Scotness]

Good dose of skepticism there Marc! I believe they went there - it'll eventually be proved to all the skeptics when they get some close up photography of the landing sites - some probe went past a few months ago and photographed the tyre tracks etc - but from a great distance. Unless of course you think they'll distribute fake photos as well!

I don't disbelieve conspiracy theories (I do believe aliens are coming here) - but I don't think Apollo 11 is a conspiracy.

Anyway vale Neil Armstrong - what an achiever! And now my wife will probably have to stop telling her favourite joke (google Neil Armstrong and Mr Gorsky!)

Scot

[aj]

The unbelievable disrespect and bad manners!

Maybe apply to witness the ping-test of the reflectors on the moonsurface.
Or ask a copy of the detailed photographs recently made by an India moon reconnaisance craft.

[marc]

Who is behind these alleged recon photos? Again, forget that they are supposedly Indian or Japanese. Who is really behind them? The same power structure that perpetrated the images back in 1969? This power structure can hide behind any nationality. The ping test can be perfomed right off of the moon's surface. You don't need a refelctor. It is no disrespect to Neil. As I have said, he is a great man in his own right. He is an example of grace under pressure. He handled himself well for many years for a man that was "used" by the system. Why do you think that he has been so humble for all these years? I am sure that being told that he had to assist in perpetrating a lie made his life very difficult and stressfull considering that he is a man of great honor. The disrespect goes to the power structure that used all of the Apollo Astranauts!

[Will2]

My father was part of the small team at Westinghouse that built the video camera that took those famous (albeit fuzzy) images.

I'd probably be one of the people that would doubt that it was possible except that I've met too many of the hundreds of thousands of engineers working on the project. This is America. People love to talk. If there was any truth to the conspiracy theories, there would be plenty of people ready to set the record straight and some undoubtedly with proof.

These engineers were a bunch of twenty something kids, fresh out school, who dreamed of nothing but putting a man on the moon and being first to do it. It's really an inspiring story.

The test pilot astronauts were brilliant risk-takers. Truly the best of the best that could stay calm under the most incredible life & death stresses.

By the way, all the original negatives taken by the medium format Hasselblad film cameras are available for examination/scanning if you're a serious pro. Of course they are amazing images vs. the video camera my dad worked on. But then video cameras were the size of small cows then, he had to make it fit into a meatloaf pan.

[Nicholas Kovats]

Amen, Neil. You inspired many and you achieved so much. What an incredible generation of engineers/astronauts! Thanks for posting that great pic, Will. Allegedly the Mauer 16mm DAC film camera was "appropriated" by one of the astronauts.

But sadly enough...even in space you can hear the conspiracy twits babbling nonsense. I thought this guy was banned previously? So disrespectful.

[Will2]

The engineers not only had to make it small and light, but draw less power than a Christmas light bulb; 7 watts. And they had to fight like crazy for those 7 watts.

[Nicholas Kovats]

Note the Switar lenses on the camera!

[marc]

No, I was not banned. Are unpopular opinions grounds for banning? If so, that would make us all sheep! And you guys still have not answered the question about the Van Allen radiation belts, the hostile enviornment of the moon (lacking any protective atmosphere) or the fact that the temperatures are 250 in the sunlight and minus 250 in the darkness.

I saw an interview with the guy that made the Hasselblad cameras. and he said that the cross hair etchings would not be obscured by any objects in the photograph. But many of them were. And how does film fare in such extreme temperatures?
The Russians concluded that it would take 4 foot thick walls of lead all the way around to survive the Van Allen radiation belts.
Is it easier to stay in your comfort zone and pretend that these issues don't exist? I would love to believe that my country achieved what it claims to have. But I love truth above all else!!!

[Andreas Wideroe]

Marc,
It's up to you to believe the moon walking or not. I think most people think it happened. I believe it happened and I want to chime in and say RIP Neil Armstrong. Great man, great achievement!

I'm not very into the Van Allen belts and moontravelling, but a quick Google search led me to someone who tries to explain things.
http://www.wwheaton.com/waw/mad/mad19.html

Anyways, please don't drift too much away from the main topics of these forums: Film and filmmaking.

[Will2]

No, I was not banned. Are unpopular opinions grounds for banning? If so, that would make us all sheep! And you guys still have not answered the question about the Van Allen radiation belts, the hostile enviornment of the moon (lacking any protective atmosphere) or the fact that the temperatures are 250 in the sunlight and minus 250 in the darkness.

They did get dosed with radiation going through the belts. But they went through very quickly and the dose was small. Airplane pilots probably have more to worry about than the Apollo Astronauts. They also had doseometers with them and probably took something of a risk to their long-term health by agreeing to the mission.

The suits were liquid cooled to handle the extreme heat and insulated enough to retain heat when not in direct sunlight. The astronauts talk about being careful with the gloves as they were not liquid cooled and they could feel the heat more through them, especially when the sun was at a higher angle.

If they made it up I just wish they'd do something cooler like pretend fight aliens or something.

[Nicholas Kovats]

That I have survived to this day as a mere mortal as the mighty Earth spins on its axis and plunges along it's elliptical path through the deadly Van Allen Radiation Belts.

There I go but for the grace of God the Almighty.

[marc]

I'm not very into the Van Allen belts and moontravelling, but a quick Google search led me to someone who tries to explain things.
http://www.wwheaton.com/waw/mad/mad19.html

http://ocii.com/~dpwozney/apollo5.htm

[hirudin]

Are you seriously basing your evidence on the thoroughly debunked 'research' from the same guy who thinks dinosaur fossils were planted in the nineteenth century as a vast conspiracy to displace God?

http://ocii.com/~dpwozney/dinosaurs.htm

Let's quit this nonsense, please? I like science, which gave us film and cameras and I'm hoping we can talk about that some more.