Re: Did man really walk on the moon

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Tip of the day:  Re-use your plastic bags. 
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fwding reply -4

-vulcan
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Subject: Re: Did man really walk on the moon
   Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 19:29:35 -0400
   From: "Lawrence M. Geary" <larry.geary@worldnet.att.net>
Reply-To: <larry.geary@usa.net>
      To: "Astro-L" <astro-l@uwwvax.uww.edu>

This kind of stupidity is not that surprising. About two weeks ago,
there was an article on the MSN.com site that mentioned the moon landing
in passing, and got the date wrong. I got them to correct it.

A couple of years ago, TV Guide declared that the video of the moon
landing was the #1 "TV Event of the Century". They went on to describe
in detail sitting in front of their TV sets watching the Lunar Module
flying over stark craters, the dust kicked up by the lander, the shadow
of some contact probe on the surface just before touchdown, then the
words "Contact light!", etc, etc, all in living color. All very
accurately described, except for one minor thing: There was no such
video. The events described were witnessed live only by Neil Armstrong
and Edwin Aldrin, and by the *film* camera recording through the window
of the LM. We on the ground had to make do with audio, a NASA cartoon
simulation, and Walter Cronkite. Only after the astronauts returned and
the *film* was developed did the rest of the world see what TV Guide
described. (The moon walk, on the other hand, *was* shown live by a
black and white video camera activated by Armstrong while half way
down the ladder of the LM.) Of course every documentary about the moon
landing combines that (silent) film with the voiceover to create a
complete representation of the event, and that's fine, but it is *not*
what viewers on earth saw - not even at Mission Control.

It is amazing what people can confabulate, and with such confidence.

--Larry




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