https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/11/science/moon-apollo-11-archaeology-preservation.html Drunk idiots could wipe out Neil Armstrong‘s footprints. Would you trash the Apollo landing site for an Instagram selfie opportunity?
I’ll bet Armstrong’s first footprint was most likely destroyed by the lunar module when it launched off of the moon
I think Armstrong & Aldrin have punched more than a few tinfoil hat assholes when confronted with that shit.
Yeah, there's no way it was faked. The govt wasn't in the business of producing blockbuster action/adventure films. I remember hearing stories about some Fed alphabet agency calling the set of Get Smart and asking for the plans for the Cone of Silence...only to be told, “It's not real. This is TV. It's make-believe.” To which said agency responded, “But you do have one...” No way a group of maroons of that caliber could script the way the astronauts seemingly floated and the kicking up of dust that didn't otherwise get disturbed by air turbulence, etc. It was otherworldly.
It sounds to me like this is a classic example of how stories change to be more entertaining when shared. I have the entire video set of Get Smart including a lot of background interviews with cast producers. I think it was Buck Henry (one of the producers) who told a slightly more realistic version of that story. Evidently sometimes when their writers would invent a spy gizmo for the show they would accidentally mimic something that strongly resembled some secret espionage project. After this happened a few times they got hassled briefly by some agency to make sure someone wasn't leaking this stuff.
Side note, I'm attending a documentary premiere tonight for a film produced by a really good friend of mine. It will also premiere simultaneously on Amazon Prime. Called "50/50 Lunar Legends," if you want to check it out.
I just watched something about that. And yes it did. The famous footprint is actually the "last" footprint. They also blew over the American Flag.
What Plarp said. In order for a craft to propel itself away from the surface of the moon it has to eject matter towards the lunar surface. If you were on the moon and you threw a bowling ball at the flagpole you'd likely knock it over. The LEM had to thrust matter with the equivalent power of hundreds of thrown bowling balls to have a prayer of getting off that surface.
Yep I agree. Just figured the blast radius if you will would be very small and dissipate rather quickly. Sounds like of all the Apollo flags that one was placed closest to the vehicle
The moon actually has an atmosphere. It's just a lot thinner than the one in the average car scene from a Cheech and Chong movie.
One of the later Apollo's pointed the camera at the LEM and video'd the blast off from the moon. You could see the flag whipping around in the ejecta. By the way...bowling balls? KE=1/2 m v2. low mass but high velocity. In addition, the direction is controlled by the nozzle so that most all the KE is in the opposing direction.