APPOLLO 11-Happy Anniversary: July 20, 1969 (great pics & maybe some debating!)

reply to post by anon72


Picture 10.
The bag underneath the lander?.

'OK, it was a feeble April Fool's joke that only Americans fell for', NASA admits

In 1969 NASA copied the BBC, who had made a documentary about pasta being harvested from trees in Italy for an April Fool's joke, and made their own silly film about people landing on the Moon.

'Hey, it was only a bit of fun', astronaut Buzz Lightbrain said, 'we filmed it all in April 1969, but had to wait til July before showing it to millions of American people. And one dog in Britain. And a parakeet in Morocco. How were we to know that people, well, American people, would take it all so seriously?'

The famous spoof landings are full of in-jokes for viewers, many of whom had already guessed long before the 'landings' that it was a hilarious send-up of Americans believing anything they see on TV.

There's the many-angled shadows clearly visible from all the studio lights, there's no stars in the sky, and backdrops of 'landscape and rocks and earth' look like they've been made in a joiner's workshop, they're so geometrically perfect. And funniest of all is the United States flag waving in the Moon's wind. There is no wind on the Moon, or any possibility of there being any wind.

'Look', Lightbrain protested, 'you're talking about the people that believed that when 'War of the Worlds' was first broadcast on radio, Earth was really being attacked by aliens, and ran out into the streets in panic. The people that believe US soldiers that are currently dying for opium and oil and defending Israel in the Middle East are dying for 'peace and democracy'.'

'The people that haven't yet noticed they've elected a President who is never in America, and didn't notice they'd previously elected one that was a brain-damaged, alcoholic moron.'

The April Fool's joke was so amateurly done that to this day hardly any of the 'footage' is ever shown on TV - if they showed the full 'footage', you can imagine children brought up with CSI movies laughing at the 'landings', the few clips on TV look like an episode of a 1950s cheap sci-fi TV show.

'Yeah, I know', Buzz Lightbrain laughed, 'every July me and the team all get together at Cape Warcriminal, and watch it all again on DVD over a few beers.'

As the world yawned at yet another unsurprising revelation about the USA, and Americans failing to realise the joke being played on them, an anonymous Prime Minister in London said in an aside: 'Next thing Americans will think the British didn't want to hold on to their American colony in the 1700s, and that Americans were conned into joining World War One by the British torpedoing The Lusitania.'

'Mind you, Americans will believe anything. The Twin Towers were built so that it was scientifically impossible for them to be brought down by being hit by airliners, but they believe they were brought down by airliners.'

'And two World Wars were fought to a standstill by 1917 and won by 1944, but the Yanks believe they won them without joining them til 1917 and 1944. Not surprising that they believe the Moon is made of cheese, and that Neil Armstrong walked on that cheese, hehehehe.'

reply to post by bokonon2010


What point, if any, were you trying to make with that article exactly? Oh and you forgot your source:

The Spoof

You know it's a satire site right?

Regarless of any fakes, made up stuff and or anything else:

Happy Anniversary Appollo 11!!!!

I was almost six years old when Apollo 11 landed. I was sitting in front of a huge (to me) black and white TV watching Walter Cronkite...and my parents. I think I was more impressed by their reaction then with the landing itself...the emotion on both faces was what stuck with me.

I mean seriously, however close the moon may be, it was still another world...and we were standing on it, if only vicariously through Armstrong. How could you not be emotional?

reply to post by seagull

How could you not be emotional?

Very great point seagull. I think overall, that is the one thing that strikes me as odd. The un-emotions, if you will.

I would have been peeing my pants REGARDLESS of how much training and all I went through.

And, with that, I can only say, He must be a real professional. Too bad-joy and leavity are our human great assets.

It will be VERY interesting to see what happens when Humans go back there. Probably won't be headed by USA but by Russia. I await the day.

reply to post by anon72


I was referring to those of us who watched from here on Earth.

The astronauts? Test pilots are trained to be unemotional, or at least in control of said emotions... It's what they are. ...and Apollo was the ultimate in experimental aircraft/spacecraft. I don't want them being overly emotional...I want them telling us what they're seeing, how the spacecraft is performing, etc...

But seriously, you can't here the emotion in the "Houston, the Eagle has landed"? I sure can.

reply to post by seagull


Oh... lol. Got it.

Yes, I know about test pilots etc. Was engauged to ones daughter back in the 80's. Got to know him well and yes, they are what they are.

I guess I can say that as a noob sitting here today. The attitude and atmosphere (the Russians program etc) they had to be on it and appear to be in complete control.

Still though. wouldn't you just want to jump off the ship, lay on your back and roll all around the dust as you look at Earth? Mabe make a few angels while you are down there. Or make a big Kilroy was Here! or something? (no answer required-just saying) Maybe it's just me.

[edit on 7/21/2010 by anon72]

reply to post by seagull


Indeed, Charlie Duke couldn't even get the words out right for the reply "Roger twangquility..." It was a tense few moments at landing and you could hear their relief in mission control. Armstrong was an extremely level-headed guy though. He faced certain death multiple times as an astronaut and never flinched. In every interview I've ever seen of him, before or after Apollo, he is always reserved and almost unemotional. Pete Conrad had a pretty emotional response when he hopped on the moon though; "Whoopee!" He had a bet with a reporter who claimed Armstrong was reading from a script and that they weren't allowed to say whatever they wanted when stepping on the moon, so Conrad made a wager for $500 that he would say "whoopee" for his first step as proof it wasn't scripted. Like any good Apollo conspiracy theorist, the journalist never admitted to being wrong and never ponied up the dough.

[edit on 21-7-2010 by ngchunter]

reply to post by anon72

Still though. wouldn't you just want to jump off the ship, lay on your back and roll all around the dust as you look at Earth? Mabe make a few angles while you are down there. Or make a big Kilroy was Here! or something? (no answer required-just saying) Maybe it's just me.

Oh, hell yes... Then again, I might want to fly again, too... So I'd probably control the temptation....

You got to remember the atmosphere of the sixties and seventies... This was the height of the Cold War. This wasn't just about exploration, it was also about scoring points against the adversary... I'd be really surprised if the Apollo crews weren't pulled aside at some point in the prep. and told..."when you get there, don't do anything too crazy...".

Not sure how I'd have acted... A "whoopie" is probably closer to the truth then "the Eagle has landed", or "One small step...".