Apollo 18 is a SF/Horror movie presented as newly-found film footage taken by the crew of a lost 1970s lunar landing mission. The Apollo 18 film uses real NASA movie footage from the Moon (some of it doctored with CGI) and new studio-shot footage with actors and special effects to tell its story. In reality there was a planned Apollo 18 mission but it never left the ground. Let us examine Apollo 18 and other lost Moon voyages.
Cosmic Horror:surprisingly the film makers seem to have done a good job making the lunar scenes look authentic.(Image credit:Dimension Films)
(NB if you are looking for a discussion of the realism of the movie Apollo 18, see my review.)
“Project Apollo dominating the ‘70’s like a bloodless war, was to pass into history…After that nothing would ever be the same again. When men raised their eyes to the Moon they would know that their comrades were looking down at them.”
These words were written by Arthur C. Clarke in 1964 in an early draft of what later became 2001: a Space Odyssey. At the time it seemed a plausible vision of the future. NASA officials and most space buffs expected dozens or more Apollo missions to the Moon in the next decades. However only an insignificant minority of taxpayers were interested in grand space adventures (a fact which is even more true today) and public support for the project faded. As early as 1967 NASA’s budget began to shrink while the US struggled to waste money and lives in Vietnam.
A mere six months after the triumph of Apollo 11, NASA abandoned its plans for Apollo 20 in January 1970.Worse was to come:Apollos 18 and 19 were officially cancelled in September 1970 because of planned cuts to NASA’s budget for 1971.Public interest in the exploration of another world had dropped sharply after Buzz and Neil’s excellent adventure with minimal attention paid to Apollo 12. Newspaper editorials were calling for the following flights to be cancelled and the money allocated for them spent to eliminate poverty instead. It is said NASA chiefs were not wholly unhappy with the decision to terminate the lunar missions; the Agency had achieved the goal of landing men on the Moon and returning them by John F. Kennedy’s deadline, and they feared a fatal accident would eventually occur if the program continued. Losing an Apollo crew might have damaged NASA so severely as to destroy the Agency, ending American manned spaceflight.
The Last Man on the Moon:Eugene Cernan poses by the flag in his A7L spacesuit in December 1972.(Image Credit:NASA)
All three cancelled missions were so-called ‘J-series’ missions like Apollos 15-17 (Apollo missions were originally planned in lettered series, becoming more ambitious as they proceeded through the alphabet). These missions called for astronauts to stay on the lunar surface for three days or so and make three moonwalks. They would take advantage of improved procedures and technology developed with the experience of the earlier landings, for example on these missions the crews wore upgraded spacesuits permitting greater comfort and mobility and they rolled over the Moon’s terrain in Lunar Roving Vehicles to increase the area explored. The Lunar Modules used were of an updated design allowing heavier loads of gear to be carried to the surface. The last three Apollo missions delivered substantial scientific returns, and one can only speculate on what the cancelled missions would have found.
Apollos 18-20 were intended to visit a couple of large impact craters, the hope being that the samples returned would include ancient rocks from deep inside the Moon.This was expected to be essentially unchanged since the Moon formed.Such primordial material is buried beyond our reach on Earth and studying it would have provided a bonanza of data on the early Solar System.
An important character in the story of the lost Apollo missions is astronaut Harrison “Jack” Schmitt (b1935), a professional geologist.Schmitt was one of the ‘scientist-astronauts’ selected in 1965 for their academic and research skills rather than their piloting proficiency.When it became clear that the moonlandings would cease in the mid-1970s, NASA was pressured into ensuring that at least one of these scientists flew on a mission, leading to Schmitt’s selection for a place on Apollo 18.Schmitt lobbied for his mission to visit the crater Tsiolkovsky on the lunar farside.This would require a dedicated communication satellite to relay the crew’s transmissions to Earth and Schmitt costed the use of surplus Telstars in his proposals.However NASA’s management rejected this plan for its expense and greater risk.No human being has yet walked on the Moon’s farside.
Apollo 18 was intended to take place in July 1973.It would have seen the mission’s Commander (CDR) Richard Gordon (a veteran of Apollo 12) and Lunar Module Pilot (LMP) Harrison Schmitt descend to a landing in the crater Gassendi on the northern edge of Mare Humorum.Left behind in lunar orbit would have been Command Module Pilot (CMP) Vance Brand (note that astronauts Benjamin Anderson, Nathan Walker and John Grey, the crew members named in the movie Apollo 18 are completely fictitious; no astronauts of these names ever existed). In the event, Schmitt did make it to the Moon despite the cancellation of Apollo 18. He was reassigned to Apollo 17 to explore Taurus-Littrow, replacing Joe Engle as LMP on that mission so that a scientist did get to the Moon’s surface before the project was terminated. Schmitt was the first and so far only scientist to carry out research on another world. Today, the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project’s CSM is occasionally referred to as Apollo 18, but this not correct. The Saturn 5 intended for this mission is on display at the Johnson Space Center in Texas.
Copernicus Crater photographed from Apollo 17.(Image Credit:NASA)
Apollo 19 was pencilled in for December 1973.The landing site would have been the floor of the prominent crater Copernicus.The crew would have been Apollo 13’s LMP Fred Haise (CDR), William Pogue (CMP) and Gerard Carr (LMP).
At the time of its cancellation, a crew had not been selected for Apollo 20.If it had gone ahead in the summer of 1974, the astronauts would have explored the volcanic domes in the Marius Hills on the Oceanus Procellarum, or possibly the rim of the bright crater Tycho. Tycho was considered a slightly risky landing site, and going there would have needed relaxation of some of the rules, but as a relatively young crater (possibly less than 200 million years old) it was intriguing to geologists. Apollo 20’s Saturn 5 was modified and used to place the Skylab space station into orbit in 1973.
The rim of Tycho imaged by the Kaguya mission.In an alternate universe Apollo 20 could have landed there in 1974 (and found that black monolith 27 years early!) (Image credit:JAXA)
Strangely in the past couple of years an elaborate hoax has been created around Apollo 20. Someone calling himself William Rutledge (or sometimes Routledge) claims in telephone interviews with European journalists to have actually flown on this mission as the LMP in August 1976. Launched from Vandenberg AFB in California, this mission was allegedly commanded by veteran cosmonaut Alexei Leonov while the CMP was a lady called Leona Snyder (who would have been the second woman in space were she not entirely fictitious). “Rutledge” says the secret US-Soviet mission was an exploration of a derelict alien vessel on the farside of the Moon. A lot of work has gone into supporting this fabrication, including the creation of elaborate (but unconvincing) CGI movies, but it is accepted as fact only by those who prefer fantasy to reality (and, unsurprisingly, this hoax is claimed to be genuine by some who decry Apollos 11-17 as fakes!).
Could the US have launched an Apollo lunar mission in secret?The answer, unsurprisingly is no.All the Saturn 5 rockets ordered are accounted for.Even if an additional one had been built, where did it go?Moving individual stages of this cyclopean booster was a major task.For example, the 42m long S-1C stage of each rocket was built in New Orleans before loaded into a barge and shipped along a public waterway to the Gulf of Mexico on the way to Florida.It would be hard to miss that.Even harder to explain would be how a 3000 tonne rocket could be launched without anyone noticing!
Apollo 8′s S-1C stage being erected.It would impossible to conceal engineering on this scale.(Image credit:NASA)
There were other cancelled Moon missions on the other side of the Iron Curtain.I have written elsewhere about the USSR’s abortive plans to reach the Moon. Nine cosmonauts trained for landings but their missions were cancelled after Apollo 11 (if these had gone ahead Leonov would have been the first cosmonaut to climb the ladder down to the lunar surface). If you watch the Apollo 18 trailer there is a “blink and you’ll miss it” shot of a Soviet LK lander which is a nice detail.
The Saturn 5 rockets and Apollo spacecraft were already paid for and under construction when their missions were cancelled.The Apollo components became museum exhibits and two of the rockets were transformed into the world’s biggest and most expensive lawn ornaments.Alas, despite the premature ending of Apollo, the poor are still with us.After years of training, the disappointed astronauts assigned to these flights retired or were reassigned to the Skylab or Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.Some even flew in the Shuttle in the 1980s. It is hard to believe that some evenings they do not stand in the silvery moonlight and wonder about what might have been.
(You can read my opinions on other Apollo movies here.
UPDATE:my review of Apollo 18)
I’m in two minds about this.. It’s a good idea, but it looks like a low-budget “shocker” type of movie, which isn’t my cup of tea..
It’s not mine either, but I find the premise so intriguing that I’m interested in how they’ll bring it off (though I’m prepared for disappointment). Mind you the trailer so effectively precises the movie, there’s not really a need to see it!
YES THERE IS
Interesting but cryptic comment. Care to expand upon it?
It’s a really good movie and it gets you thinking.
im confused is this film real footage and was there an apollo 18 or was it the apollo 17 that made them not go back to the moon
Hi Lara, to quote the article “In reality there was a planned Apollo 18 mission but it never left the ground” and “Apollos 18 and 19 were officially cancelled in September 1970 because of planned cuts to NASA’s budget”. Apollo 17 was the last mission the US government was prepared to pay for.
The movie is complete fiction but appears to use some bits of genuine footage (spacecraft orbiting the Moon and so on) from various missions, but most of it is newly filmed material with actors.
I hope that helps.
no the film is not real footage because i went to go check in the bonus to see what else there was like extra information but no it just said some dudes commentary and allternative deaths and alternative endings
look i study this and foun evidence like a news article for the santa barbra 1974 by robert cae claming that with a picture there was a lunch and the towns people that heard it went outside and saw it witch nasa said nothing about and when they were questiond QUESTIONS WERE DENIED
So did we ever land on the moon? or was it a hoax? haha
Hi, this one is easy!
The Apollo missions landed on the Moon. It wasn’t a hoax.
To many Brazilians, man has never landed on the Moon, it’s has been a Hollywood special-effects job for NASA only. How come today Americans can’t return to the Moon if today’s technology is much more advanced? That’s the true evidence.
(GILBERTO SAUGEN from Brazil)
To many Brazilians, man has never landed on the Moon
If that is true, it is saddening that so many citizens of a great nation are ignorant or misinformed.
How come today Americans can’t return to the Moon if today’s technology is much more advanced?
The technology of rocketry has not changed in fifty years. Can you suggest any technological innovations in the decades since the Moon landings that would make going there easier? Sadly, it is politics and lack of money that has prevented further lunar missions.
Good article, and excellent facts. I am just now looking into this and scoping through site after site, but what I’ve read so far is and can be bias. For one, the government has and is a fact “holding” intelligence from “the people” since the 40′s and even late 30′s. What I impose is to question, why be so closed of thinking that this Apollo 18 isn’t real and confirmed mission but classified. I looked at the videos and pictures of Apollo 20 and personally I think it’s load of BS. But 18 could of taken flight and kept under secrecy. I can go on about how easy it is in tricking the public as the government has done so before right under our noses. If you take the accounts of how retired scientist, engineers, and researchers have clearly stated that even back in the 50′s government intelligence was at near 50 years ahead in advancements that they won’t release to the public. A good fact to look at is simply the SR-71, and how productive it was but how long it took to release to the public of it use. And now their not using it? TR-3B perhaps? Project Aurora maybe? It’s a pattern of government intelligence. When decommissioned, something new and far better has been built to replace it. Ex; F16=F22R,and F-117 decommissioned to what we don’t know yet. The governments love of power and control wouldn’t just stop with the use of mechanical machines that were kept air superiority at its finest unless there was simple something far better to use. Whether or not it’s released or leaked to the public is out of our hands. So it’s okay to be skeptic on this so called “artificial footage” of Apollo 18, but don’t turn a blind eye thinking that it never happened. Unless you’re part of the retired arms of CIA, FBI, Special intelligence or have any substantial proof to provide; your words are as meaningless as mine.
I’m sorry but there is no way that an Apollo lunar mission could be launched in secret. Every single Saturn 5, Apollo spacecraft and Lunar Module paid for and built is accounted for. Look at the astonishing scale of the facilities built at the KSC, where could an equivalent facility be hidden? And what about the thousands of supporting engineers, how could they be recruited and trained for a one off-secret launch without anyone noticing?
the accounts of how retired scientist, engineers, and researchers have clearly stated that even back in the 50′s government intelligence was at near 50 years ahead in advancements that they won’t release to the public
References to back this up please.
A good fact to look at is simply the SR-71, and how productive it was but how long it took to release to the public of it use
Announced to the public on 25 July 1964, first flight 22 December 1964. (yes, it was public knowledge before it flew, I know that doesn’t fit the legend).
I’m not a skeptic of the Apollo 18 footage because I’m a government agent, there’s nothing to be skeptical of. It’s a Hollywood movie with actors!
of course the government can get a mission started and hidden from the public with out any one noticing.do any one know what is going on in area 51? i doubt it, unless you are part of the government.its a really good question when u come to think of it. why is it we never went back? government lied to us people enough times.they dont care about us people.the government is a group of high powered men who lie , grow and do scientific research for good and bad. and will do anything for it.
and please may you explain to me how you know this to be true?
I’m sorry but you’ll need to be a little more specific.
Not everyone knows this – The Saturn V was not the only launch vehicle – I will leave it at that…
Go on, that sounds interesting!
What do you mean? How can they keep the workers secret? Just like when you have a clearance you can’t talk that’s how. just like when i had a clearance you can’t talk period. Government agent? Did you forget the atom bomb, or advance Nuclear Missles, and the Hydrogen bomb? they were all top secret when being built just as our air defenses, land defense, and troop defenses. CIA, Secret Service, FBI all have clearances. They do a lot of ops that are classified and Secret without the public knowing. So don’t say that the government agencies can’t hide things from the public. Whether or not this film is real or fake it raises questions that the public wants to know. They have that right. I really don’t give a rats ass what you idiots do. Between NASA and all government agencies I don’t know who is worse. YOU people forget that Earth is in Space. you people act like Earth is in this protective bubble that stationary or something. i wouldn’t give a darn if the govenment sent astronaut up there to die and find what ever. I’m not the one who volunteered for that nasty job.
(Edited for language – ADMIN)
to say something can’t be done is just idiodic. they said along time ago flight wouldn’t be possible, they said we would never go to the moon. Hmmmm, makes me wonder if you agents are as smart as you should be.
read the area 51 declassified documents…
they’ve been published w/ testimony from retired workers whose contracts became null and void after retirement age
Dear Jon, please tell me which ones I ought to read and what will I find there?
i could not have said that any better. nod to u
i like what you said, especially about our defense airplaines which brings up the U-2. they had that under lock and key and the Russians knew about it and shot us down when we try to fly over for spy ops. our military has secret branches that our taxes pay for that public doesn’t know about especially after wwii. with the public interest into their own daily lives the average american doesn’t pay attention to what NASA is doing. Could the Secret Service and the Department of Defense spent money in NASA to conduct an experiment on the moon with expendable astronauts? I wouldn’t think that they couldn’t. What they consider things for Mankind and the U.S. Security and our definition are completly different. Besides, they have the power. Would the President need to know? Not really since his position is 2-4 year term. Could this film be fake? Yes. Could this film be real? Yes. Could it be both? It’s possible. Movies are made with messages to bring accross the public to make people think about what they had just watched otherwise what would the sense be in making a film. There are a lot of laws that have to be regarded when making a film. Since NASA once again was on a budget crises and they’ve had many misshaps during launches. I wouldn’t be suprise if tax payers are fitting the bills.
So to think that the government couldn’t do this top secret is nuts, since the making and testing of the Atom-bomb was very top-secret no one knew it was even being made until they dropped it on Japan.
Could NASA launch a Rocket without the American people knowing about it. I believe so.
Do the American people need to know everything that they are doing? No, even if tax money is spent on doing it. However, the government or angencies should be held accountable and by it’s people to see that the law protects the citizens when it goes beyond any morale state in the missions they are setting out.
I would also like to add that everyone speaks of the funds were insufficient to continue with these missions. I’m surprised that people honestly think that the government doesn’t have an open check book for means necessarily for their benefits. Right there stating that they are not able to require the funds needed for the mission just turned off all the attention to them from the public. Simple procedures..
I suggest that you might want to read some history books. The NASA budget is a matter of public record. The US government began to reduce it in 1967, an immediate result was that Saturn 5 production was capped at 15. By January 1970, it was decided to sacrifice Apollo 20 so its Saturn 5 could be used to launch Skylab. Further budget cuts (the Nixon administration was very unenthusiatic about space exploration) lead to the cancelations of Apollos 18 and 19 eight months later (after the rockets and spacecraft had already been built).
why is it as an agent your defending it im a brit and when the second gulf war came Gordon Brown announced to the country that there was a 1 billion pound war chest available were did this come from when the country was broke its exactly the same as this appollo 18 story if the american government needed the funds to fly a secret mission to the moon they could have it who said it would be built on american soil or even launched from american soil also why has no one returned to the moon
“Gordon Brown announced to the country that there was a 1 billion pound war chest available were did this come from”
I believe the £1 billion was made available by forcing the country deeper into debt.
“if the american government needed the funds to fly a secret mission to the moon they could have it who said it would be built on american soil or even launched from american soil also why has no one returned to the moon”
Please read the post again.
Well I’m only 21 and looking up things that I haven’t had the chance to live and witness through as some have, but I do agree that the NASA’s budget are up for public records, but this doesn’t mean these missions could have been fully canceled. NASA was once stated that “NASA is essentially a public relations organization or a front that obscures Air Force Space research.” From what I’ve read and researched when ever there is a military involvement or interest this “funding” no longer becomes an issue. I do agree with everything you are mentioning given your career status and knowledge which is much higher than mine haha
But I see this Apollo 18 movie essentially almost as a propaganda strike. Yes it’s entertaining, and yes it will bring in the $. Every movie has a small message and speaks of some truth, or about looking into these subjects. But back to the Apollo 18 possibly being fact or fiction, in 1963 a high ranking general mentioned in a conference that the US had a defense system in place that consisted of satellites, in orbit not only around Earth but Mercury, Venus, Mars, and more distant planets. Does the public know this? No, and do they broadcast this like the did the big Apollo 11 shuttle mission. Don’t think so either. Makes you think how easy it could really be to send something to space so easily.
NASA was once stated that “NASA is essentially a public relations organization or a front that obscures Air Force Space research.”
in 1963 a high ranking general mentioned in a conference that the US had a defense system in place that consisted of satellites, in orbit not only around Earth but Mercury, Venus, Mars, and more distant planets.
Can you let me know where these were originally said?
Let’s not forget how the United States Air Force “had” its own shuttle system, and said these shuttles could be launched from a highly secured island around the Pacific known as Johnston Island. So is a secret mission really possible, I very well think so.
I’d really appreciate if you could dig out a reference for the USAF launching Shuttles from Johnston Island.
I agree with t on this one.. To sit there and believe that the government can’t hide shuttle launches is beyond ignorant.. do the research and you’ll find the facts… Have you ever researched topics such as other countries area 51s… Every country has one just a different name for it.. One day if you have time research the bohemian grove.. That will blow your mind.
So you have no evidence for there being secret Shuttle missions then?
Lol…this is real bro you humans are so selfish to think you are the only ones in this universe and Im about to blow your mind…Again.
ITS A CLEANCPEARACY MAN RUN FOR YO LIFES HUMMANS!!!!1
Admin-
I applaud your diplomatic answers. Considering you ARE a government employee, arguing with you on whether or not “Apollo 18″ has any truth to it is a complete waste of time.
The general public won’t ever know what really happens behind closed doors, BUT you really can find out a LOT through networks on/offline.
For the record, I am employed by Armagh Planetarium, not any government.
then you lied to us in the previous comment when you said
“I’m not a skeptic of the Apollo 18 footage because I’m a government agent, there’s nothing to be skeptical of. It’s a Hollywood movie with actors!”
Correct?
I am looking forward to seeing this movie. It would have been nice if they had actually launched Apollo 18 in real life.
Apollo 18 is like “paranormal Activity” or Blair Witch Project” movies. With supposed real footage. Its a PR and advertising trick that works and guaranties a good opening in the box office. Off course there is always a secret agenda in NASA and ESA and everywhere else, but I am sure that it couldn’t find a way to the theatre. Apollo 18 mission? I think if it really happened someone by now would have blown the whistle. Off course this does not prove that there are no secret missions or projects of some kind just because the rockets are “accounted for”. But come on… real footage of a secret mission open in the movies? Conspiracy theories are having some truth in them but it is never the real thing.
http://missioncontrolblog.org/ enough is said. Not even All the Governments in the world can hide evidence forever, catch my drift!http://www.burlingtonnews.net/ufocrashes.html
Admin you keep saying ” where is your proof” But really do you have any other proof yourself, other than your own beliefs or what the Government/ NASA has told yourself and the world. I think not!! You are oblivious just as bad as a lot of other civilization in this world. Every Government in the world is in a race for the most ostentatious technology ever to be built. Do you really believe we are the upmost immense living beings in this era or even this universe? Look at Nazi Germany 1936 – Black forest; Poland 1938 – Jelenia Góra Province or even back in the 1400s Madonna paintings or how about 4000bc Egyptians in Cario and other parts of Egypt! It’s all inevitable facts; just hidden under our noses and eventually like everything with time it surfaces! But how much time do we really have anymore….
“But hey what do I know” I am just one of those firefighter guys who does not get out enough but one major huge movie buff and likes mind boggling Science Fiction or is it? That’s just my prerogative, just like you have your own.
Wow. I find interesting that people are so caught up in what they can not explain that they will believe anything in a movie that has not even come out yet.
Lets look at this for what it really is…when there is a chance for people to make money,(Like Hollywood movie producers)they will say, do and lie, opps, pardon me I mean “fabricate” whatever they want. The movie is just a movie, it is entertainment. The Producers want you to spend your money and see their movie.
Am I the only one that can see it for what it really is. . . Now with that said, I am looking forward to seeing this movie because I think the story is fascinating, just like when I read the Lord of the Rings as a high school student in the 1970′s. I enjoyed the story in the books, but did not think that there were really, Dwarves, Elves and Goblins.(some people do)
Finally. Yes it’s true, the government keeps things from us, but after reading some of the things written here,(and on other Blogs) I do not blame them one bit. Ignorence can be an evil thing.
fyi, i watched this movie for free at home before it came out. its not ignorant to believe something that no one else might not believe, get your facts right.im assuming your the type who rather get lied to , or get things hidden from then know the real truth
(BE WARNED: SPOILERS FOR APOLLO 18 MOVIE FOLLOW – ADMIN)
Ive recently seen Apollo 18, decent film, except you dont get to see the big evil mean alien till right to the end.
just for people like Believe dont read to much into that missioncontrol site most of its just wackos. Having said that there is some truth in it they’ve just over emphisised on it.
i wouldnt lose sleep over aliens coming to kill us because dont forget theese “facts” are based in the 1950′s to 1970′s they were UFO crazy space was a new concept of course in the back of there mind there going to consider the possibility of ET life but they would never speek out loud for it would make them look childless and stupid if they talked about “Aliens”. resulting from that the CIA and the DoD are going to keep an eye on it secretly as it could be considerd a national threat, but if they told the world there on the look out for Aliens they would be a laughing stock and the CIA would not be taken seriously.
That small bit based about the geologist saying there excitied about the rocks they found on the moon, they sure are , they get really worked up by rocks on some random beach in the middle of nowhere so of course there going to be excited about moon rocks.
Also that tat about US-USSR joint space venture to pick up a deserted Alien vesel which happend to be on the dark side of the moon, (convient, eh) is capital nonsense. They couldnt trust each other over simple earth matters from just politcal differences to whether or not to nuke each othe, so i highly doubt they would happily share an alien spaceship.
Finnaly someone somehwere would of noticed a big in your face space rocket flying in the sky, the USSR masked sending off satilights by using smoke from buring forest fires or artificial fires but the website doesant even mention that so someone would of noticed a rocket flying about.
Oh yer if big meaaan killer evil aliens lived on the moon then Richard Branson would not be allowed to do commecial space flights which a Russian comanpy actually did a few years ago for a precily sum of $20,000,000
Overall its a okay film not brilliant and has now create a new generation of wackos, considering its a pop ‘n scare movie there not meny poppy uppy bits i remeber about 3. Also the poster of the footprint next to the claw mark is misleading as there is no real huge monster.
sorry for proberly tons of typos and erros.
(Slight edits for language- ADMIN)
SPOILER ALERT
Just saw the movie. Loved it, but you have to suspend reality to believe it. Besides what’s mentioned here already, you would have to believe that alien beings could shape shift into rocks, then magically survive without oxygen for as long as they’ve been on the moon, then attack our boys by changing into little crabs. Then, you have to believe that they can operate a lifeless human body that was oxygen-deprived and make it speak English. Name one carbon-based life form that can do that?
In the film apollo 18 it says the 3 astronauts died if this is true was the soon after the supposed mission and all around the same time thanks .
Hi James, please remember that the movie is just a movie made up for entertainment.
The real Apollo 18’s crew would probably have been Richard Gordon (Commander), Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot) and Vance Brand (Command Module Pilot). All three are alive. To learn more about US astronauts the NASA astronaut biography page is a useful resource.
To Ted, I just watched it yesterday too a little later than you but i agree with t wayyy above, i read all these comments and its pretty clear that the goverment hides a lot from us (public). they dont want us to know anything and yes the apollo18 was a good movie, just if it was real footage how would they get the videos if there was nothing launched back to step at the moon? I also agree , yes its hollywood, hollywood add a lot of stuff just to go make you watch it but i agree like someone said above that in every movie there is a fact (in some?). And admin you said in the first comments you worked for government then later you said you didnt work for government that you worked for Armagh Planetarium…? Anyways, I say goverment should tell us public stuff we dont know about, what if you (government) were in our position?
When have I ever said I work for any government?
I’ve read thru all of your replies and I appreciate your opinions but you should cruise through your replies especially for August 18th @9:07 pm
“I’m not a skeptic of the Apollo 18 footage because I’m a government agent, there’s nothing to be skeptical of. It’s a Hollywood movie with actors!”
You did indeed state that you work for the Government or I should say a Government Agent. Watch out your credibility has been compromised!
You cannot be serious!
Well Admin they were and are your words scroll up and look…like everyone else did and does;)
Also, adding to my paragraph above, how the cover of Apollo 18, the line that says, “There is a reason we’ve never gone back to the moon.” And I strongly agree of that line!
I have seen apollo 18 and it realy is just a film and after a bit of reserch admin is correct wen he/she said the apollo 18 mission was canceled.But the fact is the goverment could hold a secret mission and there are forces at work that we will never understand.I have so mu evidence that the goverments keep secrets it is unreal but wen i voice these i get told am crazy.The word UFO is taken as an ET but it can be anything untill it is identified.The things on the moon in the film are not real because they are primative the stacks of evidence i have show that our world leaders are in contact and do as they are told by other worldly beings.NASA have hidden the truth from us since the begining because we wouldnt be able to handle it.There is even a breading facility for humans underneath the ground in america the location i will not say apart from america.This is because our world leaders have estimated a 80% world wide humans will die when our planet is no longer needed.I could go on all day about the proof i have but all am going too say is the people who have found the whole truth have disapeard the goverment could hide a launch from us its obvious.And why bring out this film is it because the moon is holow and rings like a bell wen struck??? We all see it everyday and suspect nothing but what is really watching us from the moon??
well i think we should look even closer to the facts the americans built a stelth bomber great piece of kit how though did they find the technology simple they studdied the wreckage of the alien aircraft after the roswell crash they didnt know it had landed on earth because it could not be detected
There’s no need to invoke alien technology for development of the stealth aircraft. Radar absorbent materials were in use (on German U-Boat periscopes and snorkels IIRC as early as 1944), shaping airframes to avoid bouncing radar back to the transmitter was discussed in UK even earlier than that (pre-WW2). Attempts to reduce the radar signature of U-2 aircraft began in 1956 (see Dark Eagles by Curtis Peebles), building a dedicated stealth aircraft wasn’t possible until computer technology was capable of calculating a stealthy shape compatible wth aerodynamics. This was possible by the early 1970s, and the Lockheed Have Blue flew in 1977. Development of the F-117, B-2 etc followed. Stealth technology fits perfectly into Cold War military technology development with no ET assistence involved. Humans are smarter than UFO fans think!
This is to admin. I saw a post close to the top of the comments where you state you ARE a government agent. Then found a discrepancy with one of your following posts.
admin
Posted August 18, 2011 at 9:07 PM
“I’m not a skeptic of the Apollo 18 footage because I’m a government agent, there’s nothing to be skeptical of. It’s a Hollywood movie with actors!”
Then this one where you state you ARE NOT a government agent.
admin
Posted August 27, 2011 at 6:20 PM
For the record, I am employed by Armagh Planetarium, not any government.
Please clarify this matter for me so we do not think you are completely full of BS.
Thank You.
I was responding to a previous poster who said “Unless you’re part of the retired arms of CIA, FBI, Special intelligence or have any substantial proof to provide; your words are as meaningless as mine.”
I said “I’m not a skeptic of the Apollo 18 footage because I’m a government agent, there’s nothing to be skeptical of. It’s a Hollywood movie with actors!” to deny that I work for any of those agencies (or any other for that matter), I suppose I could have expressed it better though. For the last time, I’m employed by Armagh Planetarium to write and talk about space and astronomy, see our staff page.
Please read through the comments again, from the start.
Ok just saw your explanation and I get it
However you should have stated that you are NOT a government agent so why would that have any weight to your decision. I understand your explanation but for all those that see it and do not see your rebuttal until further in the “forum” you have to understand their stance;)
At the end of the movie, they said all 3 astronauts were killed in separate air plane crashes and their bodies were never recovered. What are the odds of this happening? This in itself seems like a cover-up. Almost makes you wonder if the movie wasn’t true. Did the 3 astronauts scheduled to go in Apollo 18 die like the movie said?
Hi Bill, please remember that the movie is complete fiction; watch the end credits for the names of the actors, writers and special effects people!
The real Apollo 18’s crew would probably have been Richard Gordon (Commander), Harrison Schmitt (Lunar Module Pilot) and Vance Brand (Command Module Pilot). All three are alive. To learn more about US astronauts the NASA astronaut biography page is a useful resource.
I have now seen this movie, you can see what I thought it about at http://www.armaghplanet.com/blog/apollo-18-astronotes-goes-to-the-movies.html .
Admin there’s a reason why you work where you do! Keep up the fish feeding! Everybodys aware of what’s is goin on and day by day time will tell. These type of films are designed to call our (public) bluff!
These type of films are designed to call our (public) bluff!
So no one ever makes up a movie just to entertain people then?
http://missioncontrolblog.org/ proper scary stuff i found on this website
You do know your link is to is a fiction site to tie in with the Apollo 18 movie?
i thought the film was very poor and u find yourself waiting for someting good to happen an then 5 mins before the end it all starts, waste of time watching it. The only good thing about watching it is that it as lead me to this site and has given me an insite on the facts about the apollo space flights. Admin keep up the good work iv found your article and comments interesting
if there was landing on moon
so why they not going to the moon again ??
= how many times we land on moon?
and how many times every one see they land on the moon !
so ?
all Hollywood movies aim the moon!
someone tell me why?
if there was landing on moon
so why they not going to the moon again ??
It costs a lot of money and no government is interested in sending people to the Moon at present.
how many times we land on moon?
Six Apollo missions landed on the Moon, 12 robot probes have successfully landed there too.
and how many times every one see they land on the moon !
so ?
I’m sorry but I don’t understand, please clarify what you are asking.
all Hollywood movies aim the moon!
someone tell me why?
Again, I don’t understand your question, please rephrase it.
Haha this argument is like the truth of the bible. You nor none of us was privyed to see or be there to say it is or isn’t the real truth! Unless you were DIRECTLY involved in these affairs you cannot say with certainty that it is what you say it is. Your words to me and everybody else are as credible as the next man. You have a lot of facts but stated “FACTS” are not always correct. The truth is the government does hide certain issues! Look how people react when they say a bad storm is coming….complete pandemonium! Now imagine the government outright telling people there really are extraterrestrial life forms out there. People would go bananas! So unless you have insider information your “facts” are the same as saying which religion is the right one:) Look at operation gun runner…there are complete FACTS that prove they ( the gov.) knew of there blunder and Eric Holder still denies that he received those email…that were found in HIS “inbox”! We as a race of being are so conceded and ignorant to see outside the box that most just want to just get by living for today…but some want to delve into the future! Can you explain or do you know anything about the Anunnaki?
Haha this argument is like the truth of the bible. You nor none of us was privyed to see or be there to say it is or isn’t the real truth! Unless you were DIRECTLY involved in these affairs you cannot say with certainty that it is what you say it is.
I don’t agree with you; the Apollo moonlandings must among the best- documented historical events ever, whereas we know the historical accuracy of much of the Bible is doubtful.
Now imagine the government outright telling people there really are extraterrestrial life forms out there. People would go bananas!
I really doubt this. Remember in 1996 when NASA announced that there were possible fossils in that Martian meteorite (which has turned out to be probably not the case), I don’t remember any panic then. Why do you think there would be a panic?
Look at operation gun runner…
Sorry but I’m not. This blog covers space and astronomy and that sounds rather off topic.
Can you explain or do you know anything about the Anunnaki?
They were gods in Sumerian mythology; today crazy people think they were aliens.
crazy people invent Nuclear bombs that can wipe out human existance. we just proved it could be created, because we said to ourselves we our smart. For an astonomer you aren’t as bright i though you’d be. Considering the fact that there are over 100billion galaxies that we can actually get in the telescope out in space and considering the age of the universe is and to even think that we are the only intelligent life in space that can fly, have weapons, create, destroy, live and die is insane. i remember my astronomer proffesor asking a question if human life on Earth or any life on Earth is totally by accident or something else have a hand in it?
The answer to that question there is none, because we really don’t know. We don’t have the answer that says yes it was by evolution of life in the Universe and that’s how it works or if evolution from beyond our galaxy had created us. It’s like asking the question how did all this stough in the Universe become what it is when the Universe or Space was completly empty. My question is to you astonomers is, how did it get there if it was empty? Space I beleive was never empty and the Big Bang theory is just one big event that took place in space that kind of got thing jumping along. Space evolution you could say. But, how did this stough get there if it was empty?
Has everyone caught up on what Dr Edgar Mitchell from the Apollo 14 mission has said.
You may be surprised to learn what he knows.
Hi, I’m not sure what you mean. Are you saying that Mitchell claims there were additional Moon missions after Apollo 17?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1772240/fullcredits
i gotta laugh, at some of Admins comments on this page. They remind me of some funny episodes in history. Like when people bury their head in the sand and because they think they have a certain power, over other people they think that their outlook on everything is 100% right. These people seem to forget the idea that the human eye and brain do not always see and process the material that is right in front of them. In the case of the eye, i offer you the various colours in the spectrum of light. In the case of the brain, i offer some people who have been famous and famous for not seeing what was right there for all to see.
SADDAM’S RIGHT HAND MAN WHEN IRAQ WAS BURNING, HITLER WHEN TOLD OF GERMANY’S IMMINENT FALL, THE US WHEN THE VEIT CON WAS GONNA WIN THE WAR, IF YOU LOOK THROUGH HISTORY THEN, THERE ARE A GREAT NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO DENY OR DON’T SEE WHAT IS RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR FACE. I SUGGEST YOU RESEARCH AND LISTEN TO THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON BY PINK FLOYD, Admin.
then come and talk with me for a while
Hi, thanks for your comments. So what should I be listening for in the Dark side of the Moon?
nasa always claim it cost too much to go to the moon but that is bull, computers are cheaper and more powerful today than ever before, and companies like microsoft and other multi billion pound / dollar would get together to fund it, after all you build a ship that can reach the moon and get back, how much would people pay to visit the moon, not to mension the other reasons to go there, we waste billions on nukes we`ll never hope to use, i`m sure nasa could return to the moon if it wanted to, the real question is who is stopping them and WHY?
Computer power doesn’t make a difference. The problem is lifting a heavy weight (crew plus life support and heatshield) to lunar orbit with a rocket. The technology of rocketry has not changed in fifty years. I repeat that it is politics and lack of money that has prevented further lunar missions.
WHAT ABOUT THE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS THEY USE TO LAND OR CRASH SPACE VEHICLES INTO COMETS AND PLANETS TO SEE WHAT IS THERE OR TO WATCH IT EXPLODE…..NOW TO ME THAT IS STUPID AND WASTEFUL. IF ALL THIS COSTS THE GOVERNMENT (WHICH IS REALLY THE TAX PAYERS)TO MUCH MONEY, THEN WHY ARE WE SPENDING ALL THIS MONEY WE DONT HAVE FOR SPACE EXPLORATION ON WARS THAT WE HAVE NO BUSINESS BEING IN? JUST AS MOST PEOPLE BELIEVE, OUR GOVERNMENT IS SECRETIVE IN ALL THAT THEY DO. I WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND WHY THEY CANT BE HONEST WITH THE PUBLIC ON WHATS GOING ON IN OUR WORLD, (AFTERALL WE ARE ACTUALLY THEIR BOSSES)…IF THERE IS SOME KIND OF LIFE OUT THERE IN OUR UNIVERSE, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW….THAT MEANS THAT THERE COULD BE A BETTER PLACE TO LIVE OTHER THAN HERE ON THIS CRAZY MIXED UP PLANET.
I’m old enough to have seen most of the missions. Believers and nonbelievers both have interesting points of view, atleast some. If we ever give up on mars a movie will be out about the alien life forms there and we’ll be back at it again. For there to be a good movie they have to make it real in a sense which will always carry suspicion doubt and controversy. At the present we haven’t stepped on mars so people understand the movies of alien life there is just that a movie. I also believe in “If I can’t see it its not true” but science has proved in many ways over seeing is not always the only way to believe. I have to hand it to the admin for keeping his cool with all the posters, you all made a good read
Hahahahah its. So funny how the admin. Keep defending the gov u either on payroll or blind as bat. Goverment always lies no money for nasa?? Well they got billions funding a ghost chasing war!! One or. Maybe 2 days off of that war should. Balance the books. A bit. Hahahahaa its funny how ppl reccur to insults or give me proof or be more specific or can u talk more about this or that?? Gimme a break! Just so funny and sad. Wether we like it or not admit to it or not there is so much we will never know all that’s important is to be standing on the right side. Of the fire line when the stuff hits the fan! Goverment has nver lied ppl open your eyes! This. Is the land of the blind I. Mean the free and broke mean brave dammit this keybord! Oh say can u see? Proof its true how about prove its a lie? I. Have seen a lot in my life never believe the official story everyone lies everyone has an agenda… it doent have to be important big or even real to. The person that has it its as escential as the. Air we breath…. well hope u guys at least laugh.
(Editted slightly for language- ADMIN)
just saw this movie, just finished reading all the posts…so what is the point in this movie was there or wasn’t there a landing from the Russians on the moon, did the states or Russia land first. I find this movie fascinating, not sure why maybe out of curiosity, like others have said on here NASA has the funds to do more exploring in space. I prefer they don’t, It seems to me that everytime they do, they screw up the atmosphere. I’m not sure I beleive in aliens, highly unlikely but the secrets that alot of these men have taken to thier graves is mindblowing.
I have just seen the film and I have to admit that I was not keen on watching it at first but found it very interesting. I am sure that we are not the only ones, there has to be other life forms out there. What I don’t get is if it is true, why hush it up? Mmm it does make you stop and think……
and yes I did watch the Movie and knowing that it is fiction it does get one thinking about how manipulative our own Government can be in real life and how lives have been lost, exposed,scapegoated patsey’d and sacrificed for the “GREATER GOOD”
if they wanted me to go to the moon i would
Good film – very entertaining but don’t forget that old killer – “Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence”. Who knows what’s out there that NASA is not telling us about.
DEAREST reader and visitor,
I do too curious bout these topic. I read it carefully, and this blog successfully caught my interest to respond.
I’d like to ask to ADMIN here:
as you believe that there were men landed on the moon, you’re not full of evidence too, you just choose to believe it. right? and the basic question is the same? why don’t they go to the moon again?
politics and lack of money? (do you have evidence bout the reason and where/when exactly this statement publish?)
and you said “Computer power doesn’t make a difference. The problem is lifting a heavy weight (crew plus life support and heatshield) to lunar orbit with a rocket. The technology of rocketry has not changed in fifty years” (what??) two statement from me: 1. Technology does develop as computers more powerful. of course it will affect the moon mission (if there is one) much more effective and easy. 2.Rocketry has not changed? this is bias. –i agree it’s not change, so that’s why they can’t go there again as they are never been, cause the rocketry tech still not providing the requirement ever. –not agree, i doubt it’s not developed in 50 years. c’mon.. what is your evidence beside what they tell you as you say again to us the visitor.
anyway, you caught many people interest that’s only good result of this blog. but, I don’t get any clarity and acknowledge more then before like i expected when i start reading the blog.
For me, you simply lack of knowledge as the visitors. you’re the professional, and hey, ;
Believer should have evidence and enlighten others with it.
Non-believer just asking question cause they want to believe as you are or simply find the truth. that just the law.
I argue and asking questions because of many visitors here have the same problems..non-clarity and the way you answer people question.
And the movie is only a movie. that’s true. apollo missions is only missions. both is SF.
have a nice life
Hi, thanks for your comments.
as you believe that there were men landed on the moon, you’re not full of evidence too, you just choose to believe it. right?
Why shouldn’t I believe the Apollo Moon landings happened? They were just another historical event. Why should any one not accept they happened? I would need some extraordinary evidence.
politics and lack of money? (do you have evidence bout the reason and where/when exactly this statement publish?)
Sorry but you need to go back and read the article again.
Technology does develop as computers more powerful. of course it will affect the moon mission (if there is one) much more effective and easy.
I actually agree with that, but increased computing power would not really make that big a difference to sending a mission to the Moon and back. Launching stuff into space is very expensive. If you really want to research this look at how much Arianespace, the world’s leading provider of commercial launch services charges to put a kilogramme into low Earth orbit. Multiply that by the weight of a manned spacecraft, the fuel needed to send it to the Moon, land on the Moon, blast off back to Earth again and you’ll be shocked! (And that’s grossly simplified, I’m ignoring what you need to pay the salaries of thousands of technicians and so much more.)
i agree it’s not change, so that’s why they can’t go there again as they are never been, cause the rocketry tech still not providing the requirement ever. –not agree, i doubt it’s not developed in 50 years. c’mon.. what is your evidence beside what they tell you as you say again to us the visitor.
I’m not sure what you are trying to say here, can you rephrase it?
For me, you simply lack of knowledge as the visitors. you’re the professional, and hey, ;
Believer should have evidence and enlighten others with it.
Non-believer just asking question cause they want to believe as you are or simply find the truth. that just the law.
Again, I’m not really sure what you are trying to say. If you are disappointed that I’m not supplying evidence to prove the reality of the Apollo missions to you, well that’s too broad a requirement. Imagine someone asked you to prove that there really had been a war between the UK and Argentina in 1982, how would you do it?
non-clarity and the way you answer people question
I’m sorry but I think I have been very clear.
And the movie is only a movie. that’s true. apollo missions is only missions. both is SF.
No, the apollo missions were real.
have a nice life
You too!
ALEINS ARE REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the government doesnt want us to know about the exact truth of what happend up there……people call it aliens!? those are actually demonic spirits on the moon if you are christian and you know about the bible you will get my point when i say that…..aliens are not real……there actually demons, all these lies an secrets the government is making up! *shakin my head* (smh) i did went to lunartruth.com the government doesnt want us to know the truth…..
ALIENS ARE NOT REAL!!! WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE BELIEVIN IN ALIENS ITS A WHOLE LIEE!!! THERE ARE ACTUALLY SPIRITS ON THE MOON AND OTHER PLANETS…..THE GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO STOP ALL THESE LIES AND SPEAK OUT THE TRUTH OF WHAT IN THE HELLL REALLY HAPPEND TO APOLLO 18 AND STOP MAKING UP (nonsense)!
(Edited for language – Admin)
Hi. Admin this is not a shot at any thing you have said… but iv read somewhere that on September 1974 there was an unexplained launch (forgive me for my lack of information) some were in I belive Texas were there were several eyewitness account of seeing a shuttle taking off, and when asked of NASA to explain they said they had not launched any shuttles. I’m just asking you to shed some light on this information as I’m sure you no more about it than I. Please let me know of your findings
Hi, very briefly, I am unconvinced by this story.
No Shuttles flew in September 1974. The Shuttle project was only approved in 1972, the first Shuttle, Enterprise, was not completed until 1976. The first Shuttle flight was in 1982.
There are no launch facilities in Texas and none could be hidden (they are just too big).
Even in the 70s, there were amateurs tracking satellites, even secret military ones. No US space launches occured this month, see here and here. (Note that we know a classified US HEXAGON satellite was launched from California on 29 October 1974, so it’s not like these lists omit stuff the US governments wants kept quiet).
Sorry, but I need a lot of evidence to accept this.
mentions this i think. Probably they are the source of most doubtful claims made in the comments here.
Funny how a website made by the PR department of a movie company gets people convinced with some low res scans..
Governments do hide things, I am pretty sure of it. I only hope leaders do get to see this stuff.
I am looking forward to actually seeing some ‘proof’ in stead of people yelling about things they heard.
Thanks for the extra info about the Apollo missions, interesting stuff.
look i study this and foun evidence like a news article for the santa barbra 1974 by robert cae claming that with a picture there was a lunch and the towns people that heard it went outside and saw it witch nasa said nothing about and when they were questiond QUESTIONS WERE DENIED……………………………………..
Ha all u fighting over appollo 18 movie but there’s credits at the end so it must be fictional or the men who went to the moon were staring in a movie they did not know was gonna be a movie and when did Russia get to the moon
How come http://www.lunartruth.com is fake? Is all this a hoax or is it real and the government doesn’t want us to know about a alien society that is watching us. Tell me that Admin.
This is what happens when people keep secrets. It’s very difficult to trust the people you are told to trust. The question about Hollywood is that it reflects reality, but creates reality by distortion unless it’s a documentary. Which in this case it wasn’t, but even documentaries have a specific audience to get it’s message accross. Will we ever know the truth about these so uncalled missions and reasons for not going back to the moon? That’s like getting the truth about JFK’s Assasination. It’s become an enigma. There are always two sides to a story.
Even if someone here did actualy have proof about what happen, it would have the same result, unless it took place via-live nationaly and internationaly by all communities of science and non-scientific specialties. It seemed very real to me at first untill a certain clip in the film you could see that special effects was involved.
No one knows if there isn’t life out there or if there is. We search and that’s the only way to find out, and it doesn’t matter by whom. To believe that we are the only intelligent life out there and I mean like ourselves in Space is insane.
The Hubble Telescope has revealed things about our Universe that only raises more questions and things that continue to defy what we call physics. We know that there are over 100billion galaxies in just in one area in space the size of point of a pin, and to know that the age of space is wow, how old? Earth is still in it’s womb for heaven sake compared to everything else out there.
I believe my self knowing and studying psychology that many people wouldn’t know how to react if life out there existed. I say many not all.
However, I do like the film fake or not, causes it raises many question on what NASA should really be doing. Me I have know questions about what they are doing since I visit their site alot to see what kinds of projects they are doing. If they do anything Top Secret and people die in these missions I’m all for it, as long as it wasn’t against their will, and NASA should be responsible. I don’t question their integrity, but there are times people will violate what’s right and what isn’t.
To the people who question about the First Landing on the Moon. I don’t know, I wasn’t there to see it on TV., even though i had seen the footage. But, if you know anything about space and astronomy you will not see stars from the moon that is a fact. I believe it was real, but that’s what I believe, because I believe the pilots who told their story.
Could there be some kind of creature living on the moon though it has no atmosphere? I don’t know? I’m not going to be the one saying no or the one saying yes. I’ll be the first to say it’s possible, because we wouldn’t really know the anatomy of such a creature to be able to live in such a hostile environment such as the moon. Just, because we can’t doesn’t mean something else can’t. We are finding creatures in the sea living in or next to volcanic heat in currents on the oceans’ floor. So, you never know.
I find it funny when we try to solve things that have no explanation, and we haven’t even solved human life or evolution. It would be a sad event if humans do become extinct, but I’d like to think we won’t.
I STILL WILL NEVER FORGET ABOUT APOLLO 18 I SEEN THE MOVIE AN TRIED TO GO TO LUNARTRUTH BUT THE WEDSITE IS BLOCKED THATS OKAY BECAUSE I ALREADY KNOW THE TRUTH AND I DONT CARE WHAT THE WHOLE WORLD SAYS ABOUT IT I KNOW
Dear Emily, http://www.lunartruth.com is still accessible. Please note that its content is a fiction to promote the Apollo 18 movie which is of course fiction too.
I don’t believe NASA, but i definitely don’t believe the movie either. It does however leave you with one question… Why DID we stop going to the moon?
For the admin…i have a question about NASA’S lies for you….
In the 80′s I watched the news one day and a spokesperson for NASA said something close to, “We have found an object that is orbiting our sun that is beyond pluto.” We are calling it a planet and we have no other name for it, for now we are calling it planet x.”
I remember this clearly. after this he said no further comments at this time and walked away from reporters… Now… then some years later they say that there is nothing beyond pluto orbiting our sun and years after that we hear of several many comets that are flying in wide patterns around the sun….
So what is it? a planet? a comet? and how fast is it approaching?
Some australlian guy who claimed to have worked in an observatory for NASA says that it is a comet and it is comming fast…. also our local news a few months ago said this time next year there will be a comet lighting up our skky that will be 10 times brighter than the moon…. dont you think an object close enough to be that bright would cause gravity to shift the earths plates, spew lava from volcanoes, cause gaseous poisens to heat the water and kill massive amounts of fish, of wait all these things ARE happening… whats really going on?
I can only assume that your 1980s discovery was the report of mystery objects in the IRAS satellite survey. These are now known conclusively to be distant galaxies not nearby planets (see Unidentified IRAS Sources: Ultrahigh-Luminosity Galaxies). I hope that helps.
The bright comet predicted for next year is Comet ISON, in January 2014, Comet ISON will be at its closest to Earth, passing our planet by 60 million km. It is a tiny ball of ice and rock and is not going to collide with Earth, cause earthquakes or anything like that!(If this sort of thing worries you, just remember all the failed doomsday predictions for Comet Elenin.)
I must admit, ADMIN you have done an amazing job of fighting off the comments directed at you and answering the questions posted by the individuals who frequent this forum.
In response to the individuals who state that there is no proof of anyone going to the moon, I suggest you go to your local Observatory during an ‘open day’ or, during a public invite event and request that they prove to you that people landed on the Moon.
They will be able to bounce a laser off the landing site of Apollo 17, if I recall correctly, and show you that we still have equipment up there on the Moon’s surface.
In relation to us not going back to the Moon, the US Government, UK Government and Russian Government have identified and stated that the entire world is going through a stage of Financial crisis. This is brought on by the incidents surrounding events over the past 15-20 years and have caused companies which would usually support or assist in the deployment of Space Missions to have their fundings cut or shortened to a state where they cannot action a viable research pattern towards progressing in Lunar Based Missions.
NASA and the associated offices have no real interest in going back to the Moon for further study, due to the financial cost that this will imply for a simple deployment of 4 men towards a rock nearly 350,000 Kilometres away. Lets put it into perspective, to travel from Houston Texas to Sydney Australia, it costs an average airline company nearly 110,000 USD to fly 300 people that distance. That is only 14,000 kilometres, to fly the same distance required to travel from the Earth to the Moon, you would have to do that trip 25 times – costing a normal airline 2,750,000 USD in the process.
That is for atmospheric flight costs, to carry out ‘stellar travel’ between the Earth and the Moon, you would need specialist equipment – as you would understand – you would need to mathematically work out exact trajectories, re-task satellites, plot departure routes out of our atmosphere into space, be able to break the speeds required to pass the gravitational pull of the planet which is 17,000 MPH – at this speed it would take a 4 man task force 28 days to reach the moon – this is FINANCIALLY unacceptable and NOT viable to governments as they find no requirement to revisit the rock. Originally the Artemis Project was said to cost the US Government 100 BILLION USD to get a manned mission to the moon, countries DO NOT have a requirement to spend that sort of funding to send a man to the moon to research something which has no benefit to the country who sent him there anymore. It was a mission to show that it could be done AT ALL COSTS and it succeeded.
Again, Admin, lots of respect for your valiant defence and I hope people listen to you more now.
Take care,
Spike
Yesterday I was on the Enterprise in ten forward drinking Romulan Ale and eating Klingon Blood Pie with Jordi La Forge.
I think admin has done a great job answering all that dribble.
Just one bit of dribble from me is cant you see the lunar rover and other stuff from manned missions just by using a powerful telescope pointed at the moon????
Can anyone do that just to shut up people who think we never went.
Well done Admin
Kirk
That’s a common suggestion but it just isn’t possible. The minimum size of object that can be resolved with a given telescope at a given distance is worked using a formula called the Rayleigh Criterion which is very well established science (a couple of centuries old).
I believe the biggest single telescope operating at the moment is the Gran Telescopio Canarias, which has a 10.4 m mirror. At the distance of the Moon (380 000km), the GTC cannot see features less than 100 m across which is way larger than the base of a Lunar Module (about 5m).
To see small features on the Moon you need to get up close, hence missions like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Just a couple more things as the moon is our closest celeistal body can anyone explain
the comment that buzz aldrin had seen alien craft on the moon in a crater?
did he actually say that?
Also he was told by aliens to f*** off the moon thats why we aint been back!
And that the so called house looking object on the moon is not just a piece of rock?
I dont know why we are so hooked on moon fiction when at this moment in time kepler is finding earth like planets millions of light years away.
By the way the film was good i enjoyed it a very good sci fi with tense moments.
Filmed on a budjet with not the run of the mill actors but really liked it made you think for a bit about the whole space race back in the seventies and what brave men they where knowing it could be a one way ticket.
one nil to the Admin
Kirk
There are a lot of Apollo 11 -related UFO stories, some are misunderstandings, some are hoaxes, see http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/luna/esp_luna_22.htm .
Thank you for replies admin.
Just on the telescope reply can hubble see the moon surface in good detail or is too close and only set up for objects outside our galaxy?
Regards
Kirk
The Hubble Space Telescope rarely looks at the Moon as that’s not really using it to best advantage (anyway we have lots of close up images of the Moon’s surface already), the HST was intended more for studying galaxies and nebulae (these objects may be sometimes millions of light years away but are still hundreds of thousands of light years across, making them much easier to resolve than a 5m wide Lunar Module at 380 000 km). Some HST images of the Moon are at http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/photo_gallery/photogallery-moon.html .
Apollo 18 is fake…it may be based on fact but it is only a movie.
I am just now seeing this blog…I think the reason there hasn’t been anymore missions to the moon is because there is no need to go back…they studied it, found out what it is made of and that it is not habitable and decided that it was time to move on to bigger better things like Mars and other galaxies. I myself believe in aliens and I also believe they been to earth and are watching us, not to learn about us but waiting for us to destroy ourselves so they won’t have to. I do not claim to be an expert about anything so you can take this with a grain of salt…you have your beliefs and I have mine…I will say that I have been told by a credible source that Wright Patterson AFB is where the UFOs are at …I can’t prove or disprove this but I am definitely looking into it.