MovieChat Forums > Apollo 18 (2011) Discussion > We've been back to the moon.

We've been back to the moon.


The U.S. has been to the moon six freaking times. We haven't gone back since the seventies because there is nothing there. This entire logline is ridiculous.

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Well, NASA did plan to build a space station on the moon. then they got the budget cuts.

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If you want horror - tune in the news channel.

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Vote Newt in 2016, he wants to colonize it :)

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while we (as in humans) havent gone back physically, there have been plenty of robotic missions.

And no there is stuff there, specifically water.

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12 men have walked on the moon.

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And no there is stuff there, specifically water.

Not enough for it to be a viable resource. There are only sparse quantities of mineralized ice pockets in the moon's crust. Liquid water cannot exist on the moon because of the temperature range and the absence of an atmosphere which causes water vapor to be lost to the vacuum of space. The only other resources that are plentiful on the moon are aluminum, iron, magnesium, and titanium (all of which we have an abundance of on Earth anyway).

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He3 is another mineable resource.

http://t.space.com/all/28189-moon-mining-economic-feasibility

However, the best use of moon minerals is probably for the construction of a moon base to serve as a staging post from which to explore the solar system.

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i still remember bush's speech back in 2002: "we will put a man the moon again in 2010".

didnt happen.

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I still remember his "Fool me once..." speech. I guess it just goes to show that anyone... LITERALLY ANYONE, can really become president!


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....Obviously

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Anyone who's rich, went to Yale and father was President.

What we have here is failure to communicate!

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Or black and just makes people feel good and relevant for voting for him.

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You people, and your ”Black” Theories. Hilarious!!!

”Deh Deh Deh, DA Dabacco”-Puert Rican dude from the ”I aint your Papi” episode of COPS.

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^You got that right. Look at who we have right now.

That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die.

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You have no idea how ironic it is to read this statement now.

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Not literally, you still have to have connections, or family ties into politics, or royalty. G.W. Bush was the dumber of the 2 sons, but image wise, he looked more presidential than Jeb. If Jr. wasn't Jr. he wouldn't have stood a chance to be president, or at least I hope. We're pretty much a 2 party country, never mind the other ones, it's always Donkeys vs. Elephants. Dubya was also a Skull and Bones member, and so was John Kerry, which didn't give us much of a choice. No matter what, we were getting a president with skeletons in the closet. Also, if you study the Bush family tree, theres a connection to European royalty, and even Obama is supposed to be a distant relative. If you want to be president, you have to have connections, but if you are correct in the sense, that intellect, and common sense no longer matter. Anyways, 8 years of Bush, was 8 years of hell for me. I had no peace of mind that entire time.

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Not literally, you still have to have connections, or family ties into politics, or royalty. G.W. Bush was the dumber of the 2 sons, but image wise, he looked more presidential than Jeb. If Jr. wasn't Jr. he wouldn't have stood a chance to be president, or at least I hope. He was also voted for by senior citizens that recognized his name, and though that George Bush Sr. was making a come back. They weren't paying attention to all the pre-election info, but somehow decided to vote anyways. I guess it doesn't matter when we're in the mindset of being a 2 party country. Never mind the other parties, where it's always Donkeys vs. Elephants. Dubya was also a Skull and Bones member, and so was John Kerry, which didn't give us much of a choice. No matter what, we were getting a president with skeletons in the closet. Also, if you study the Bush family tree, theres a connection to European royalty, and even Obama is supposed to be a distant relative. If you want to be president, you have to have connections, but if you are correct in the sense, that intellect, and common sense no longer matter. Anyways, 8 years of Bush, was 8 years of hell for me. I had no peace of mind that entire time.

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@merco_yavin: We kinda got involved with a whole thing in the middle east. Sent moon trips back on the peg a bit.

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No one has been to the moon...well not then anyway, all smoke and mirrors to win the prestige of the space race, this has been noted many times...lighting errors, no stars in background, bullcrap physics, photoshopped (yes photoshopped in the day) pictures taken...all done in a warehouse in the desert....12 men have been swarn to secrecy to stick by their story.

Neil Armstrong left Nasa soon after and has been very quiet since, where as Buzz punches people in the face who bring up the hoax.

Money has been removed from space exploration because its a lost cause....officially that is.

Now hollywood makes these types of films, capricorn 1, transformers, moon and this to make light of it and as form of misdirection.

why not just announce the grey have been living there for centurys monitoring us, with the alliance of the reptillians and the Nords waiting for us to be ready for a full disclosure?




don't point that beard at me, it might go off... Groucho marx

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I lol'd, nobody in their right mind believe the lunar missions never occurred.
Of course they did, just like Science really DO exist. God on the other hand is what weak people believe in, and that goes for magic and unicorns too.

Go back to your Harry Potter marathon, troll!

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...there are MANY people who dont believe apollo 11 went there and that its all jus a large conspiracy.
USA had much to gain and did not want to lose this major part of the space race to the russians and too history.
They already lost the 1st man in space to USSR with Yuri gagarin..so motive was there....there are many many sites which note inconsistancies in both audio and visuals attatched to the footage aswell as the mentioned prestige for USA.

Its not like its the 1st time governments have lied to its people.

and yeah..i agree...however i will note that "current science" may not be the correct truth.....historically science has been proven wrong...with 500 years ago....the earth being the centre of the universe...to the earth being flat...that the sun revolves around earth...we are very nieve to believe that "THIS" moment in human history SCIENCE is correct in its answers to the universe

We are many years away from that....back thats a nother kettle of fish


don't point that beard at me, it might go off... Groucho marx

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Uh, all that "science" that you said was proven wrong actually wasn't science. That was religion that made all those claims.

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no, read his post again and read your history books (about science).

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thank you for your support.

Give it another 500 years and they will look back and say...."did they actually believe that!" and "they were close on this" etc

though correct on many other things...just not everything.


don't point that beard at me, it might go off... Groucho marx

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You and Darkscoroer are simpletons. Science has been proven wrong in some fields, but not in everything. Everything from evolution to treatments of disease offer proof of this.

The fact is that darkscorcer has no evidence to disprove that they went to the moon. None who believe like he do. What they do have is sophistry--the appearance of a valid argument. But upon close inspection their augments fall apart when challenged by people who actually know what they are talking about.

The internet has been boon for congenital idiots like DarkScorcer and Obaminableshowman.

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Science has been proven wrong in some fields,


It has? What proved it wrong?

Science is a method and a process, not a body of knowledge. The process works by taking what we think we know, comparing it to the real world, and finding discrepancies. When the discrepancies are found, then the process finds out why they exist and alters what we think we know to account for them.

As for the notion that nobody went to the Moon, the Soviet Union would have had to be in on the conspiracy. And anybody who thinks that that would have happened is a loon.

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King James Version of Isaiah 40:22.


It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:



King James Version of Job 26:7.


He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.



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Where did the moon rocks come from? Every scientist that has examined them says they came from the moon. What is your expertise that you can state the U.S. has not been to the moon? You read a bunch of conspiracy theories and you are an expert on space travel. But that is another kettle of fish. What a joke.

Help stamp out and do away with superfluous redundancy

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It has been a month since you have made this post, but I felt the urge to make an IMDB account to inform you that, since the dawn of actual science no one has REALLY believed the Earth was flat. That is one of the very first things we learned and never forgot. Cavemen might think the Earth was flat, but since the dawn of civilization we've known the Earth wasn't flat. I know you were probably told that in school, but you'll learn that that is a lie when you get to college.

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[deleted]

I'm saying that, when he gets to college, he will learned that no one in the civilized world ever thought that the world was actually flat (an example he used in his paragraph.) The whole "world is flat" idea is just something they use to help explain the circumstances to children.

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[deleted]

YOU:

I really don't understand your post. Are you saying in college they teach that the earth is flat. If you are saying that the earth is flat, you must be some kind of nut.



JOE:
It has been a month since you have made this post, but I felt the urge to make an IMDB account to inform you that, since the dawn of actual science no one has REALLY believed the Earth was flat. That is one of the very first things we learned and never forgot. Cavemen might think the Earth was flat, but since the dawn of civilization we've known the Earth wasn't flat. I know you were probably told that in school, but you'll learn that that is a lie when you get to college.



What part of his post was confusing to you.
You have accused him of exactly the OPPOSITE of what he was stating.
But this is what I expect from a jack @$$ that continues to insist on being factually wrong in something as evidentiary as a date (Dec 6th vs Dec 7th)
I note that you have failed to show yourself back in the other board because you KNOW you are wrong and accused others (namely myself) of being wrong and an @$$ when in fact I and the others were correct, as correct as you are wrong and you are as wrong as you are here, completely getting another person's post bass ackwards!

Until you show up over there
Until you admit your mistake (no shame in that, everyone makes mistakes, even I)
Until you can BE A MAN (instead of being a punk)and apologize for attacking others who were correct and pointed out your error..
I will make sure to point out every major frakup and stupidity that utters from your lips.


I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!

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I thought by now you would have checked yourself into some rehab center. You are a Class 1-A troll. Still following me around and trying to intimidate me. What is it with stalkers/trolls like you that you think you can tell other people what to do? Why do you think you are better than the rest of the world? If you stalk me ONE more time, I will report you to IMDb. Of course you think you are above any reprimand.

Help stamp out and do away with superfluous redundancy

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[deleted]

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YOU : on multiple occasions, on multiple boards, keep correcting others or attacking others when IN FACT it is YOU that is in the wrong.

ME : mearly pointed out that, No... it is You that is wrong. The other poster is correct.

For that, it is YOU that started off with the namecalling and insisted that you werere right even in the face of overwhelming evidence.

So who's the troll? Not me.

You are in fact ... a moron.

I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!

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[deleted]

There were no stars is your proof that we did not go to the moon.

You do know they were on the light (daylight) side of the moon. I did not see any stars out today either.

I also saw a myth busters episode where the had a flag in a vacuum and push it into some sand and because there was no friction the foil flag went back and forth numerous times just like the one on the moon.

Now I could still be wrong but here is my real proof.
The current state of politics over the last 30 years tells me that if the party not in power knew it was fake they would using the scandal over and over again.
There is no way they would both agree on this as they can not agree on anything.

Every time the conspiracy theorists were proved wrong they just say they do not believe it.

It is so easy to just say it was fake just like Bush blew up the towers and the levy's in New Orleans.


Then again maybe the internet is not really here and I did not post this.

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Good lord threads like these make me weep for humanity. Every conspiracy theory brought up has been challenged and proven wrong. From the lighting, to the stars, to the flag and more. Those with lower functioning brains prefer a little paranoia in there lives. Conspiracy nuts are just that, nuts.


But aliens do exist...;)


You people and your slight differences disgust me.

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A large conspiracy? You really think that thousands of people for over 40 years would have kept quiet if it were a hoax? I have handled moon rocks myself in a special project and they are different, mineralogically, from any known Earth rocks.

How do you explain the mirrors set up on the Moon by astronauts?

You obviously know little about photography, especially vintage film and cameras: the depth of field and film sensitivity would likely not resolve stars without the foreground becoming seriously over exposed.

Actually, what am I doing? Arguing with fools is pointless!

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I'm sure you can explain away the fact that there's a perfect low-gravity arc of moon dust spraying away from the lunar rover's wheels (and from the astronauts' boots) in all those NASA clips...


And when we didn't have no crawdad, we ate SAND!

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Sooooo.....you believe Yuri Gagarin went up and walked in space, but you don't believe we reached the moon. Huh.

Lethe

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Soooo....because 'many people' believe something, then of course it must be true?
'Many people' believe the theory of evolution is false. 'Many people' believe life on earth was planted here by aliens. In fact, 'many people' think that the people who think the lunar landings were fake are idiots. Are you saying that all these 'many people' are right, too?

And BTW, science is a process, not a person or an entity.

Lethe

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stop trolling or don't be an idiot or both. watch the Mitchell & Webb video about the fake moon landings.

Didn't watch this film as it seemed to stupid. Quite glad.

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Lol I'm gonna have to reply to this Science does exist and does nothing for you, They invented Bullet proof vests to protect you from bullets but you take it out and that's when you see a human's true strength, science advances but men doesn't.

I think your arrogance is proof of the true face of science and the little box they live in. Anything that science cannot explain cannot possibly exist even if it did, if you saw a person flying super man style in real life you'd burn that person alive because it would shatter the little box. All your research theories and evidence everything you used to build the walls of that box you worked so hard to build Shattered that one moment. How about trying to think outside the box for a while there son?

I don't believe in a god either but there are places and things science cannot reach and you should have the humility to admit so. But people like you are so full of yourselves that your field of view is narrowed to a single line you deny anything that comes from outside that box. That's not what science is you let it in you try to understand it, you try to work with it. Sure there's a lot of hoax and fakes but the human mind is evolving who knows what course will it take and how will it be in a couple hundred/thousand years and what will humans be capable of? I always believed that Technology is there only to aid us evolving. Imagine mankind develops a system that aids amputated people move a hand through thought using some kind of head .

Think about it, he will have to train his brain and his mind to be able to do that kind of thing naturally, Theoretically speaking the brain is not too far from be performing Telekinesis itself. Imagine if that trained mind will reach a point where it could move the amputated hand without the head clips?

It may sound foolish but there's nothing wrong in believing in evolution.

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How ironic, then, that so many astronauts were inspired to credit God before, during and after their missions. That must have really chapped your ass.

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Boy you must be brain-dead. No stars? Photoshop? Geez. Neil & Buzz left a 2-foot wide panel with 100 mirrors. Reflectors were left behind during Apollo 11, 14 and 15. Scientists around the Earth have pointed lasers at it and received the return photons, thus proving either A or B:

A.) NASA left mirrors on the moon
B.) Aliens did it and told us about it

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2004/21jul_llr/

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Wow, I figured your humor was clearly highlighted with the last line, but I guess some people are that dense, huh?

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You know what has me confuse, didnt the usa left flags on the moon can't anyone see those flags ? surely if we can see planet through telescope and what not can't someone with a powerful telescope see those flags or anything else, the moon ain't that far and with today's technology

"Let me not to the marriage of true minds admit impediments..." sonnet 116

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The flag left by Apollo 11 is 54" x 28". The Moon is 238,857 miles away. No, you can't see the flags on the Moon with either an Earthbound or the Hubble telescopes.

http://www.rocketroberts.com/astro/flag_on_moon.htm


This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

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You know what has me confuse, didnt the usa left flags on the moon can't anyone see those flags ? surely if we can see planet through telescope and what not can't someone with a powerful telescope see those flags or anything else, the moon ain't that far and with today's technology


The quick answer is "no". There are limitations to the capabilities of telescopes. You can see planets with your unaided eyes you know (assuming you have normal vision). That doesn't mean that you can see details on those planets. With a telescope you can see some details. But no telescope has ever provided the same kind of detailed images of other planets that spacecraft actually going there provided.

Every few years the astronomers come up with a cleverer telescope design and perhaps one day they'll have one on Earth that can resolve flags and footprints on the Moon, but that day is not today.

If you ever take an optics course you'll understand why.

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I'm surprised that no one has brought this up. Just last year a lunar orbiter took pix of the Apollo sites and yes, you can see all sorts of stuff.

http://www.cbsnews.com/network/news/space/home/spacenews/files/a9d8c2c 59c39f13a5e38899996f7f826-328.html

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html

Deal with it, hoax-nutballs....



The thorn defends the rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict.

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I'm surprised that no one has brought this up. Just last year a lunar orbiter took pix of the Apollo sites and yes, you can see all sorts of stuff.


No point in bringing it up. The conspiracy nuts just claim that NASA faked those images.

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Agreed, but that won't stop me from calling them on their bullsh!t...




The thorn defends the rose, yet it is peaceful and does not seek conflict.

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Hollywood isn't making light of the "hoax", but of those who believe it.

And all the "theories" have been disproven, too.


This will be the high point of my day; it's all downhill from here.

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You must be quite idiotic if you don't believe that man walked on the moon. Where did the moon rocks come from? If we never went to the moon; how did the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter snap photos of the landers and the flags?

I suggest looking at this article about the Mythbusters take on this 'myth'
http://mythbustersresults.com/nasa-moon-landing

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"well not then anyway, all smoke and mirrors to win the prestige of the space race, this has been noted many times..."

Since you seem to know all the answers, maybe you can fill in the gaps left by your fellow conspiracy theorists:

As you admit, we were in a race with the Soviets. Why didn't they tell the world we faked it? They were monitoring every single mission. It was easy enough to do; just point an antenna at the moon. They would have known in an instant if the transmissions weren't coming from where we said they were.

It's a simple question; why didn't the Soviets call us out and ridicule us in front of the world?

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Years ago I found a great website that showed them taking photos of the astronauts in the desert. That looked exactly like ones taken on the moon. I can't find it anymore, but it was amazing - and made me a believer that noone has ever been to the moon.

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So for some reason you believe something you once saw on an unidentified (and now unlocateable) website, but you do not believe all the other proof before your eyes. Uh HUH.

Folks, this right here is why you will never convince any of these nut cases of anything. Fortunately, we don't have to. We just go on with our research, and tune in to their feedback for laughs.

Lethe

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Really! We haven't been to the Moon. What are you smoking man. They have proved we been to the Moon so many times it's not even funny anymore. Our bigger Telescopes have taken pic of the equipment we left up years ago and now we have good photographs taken recently by the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) here is a link to a pic of the Apollo 11 lunar module

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-11.html

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Are you trolling? Please tell me you're trolling. The alternative does not do you any favors.

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Thanks, Sorcerer. At last someone has the courage to reveal how the government has been fooling us with these fake claims. At least we can take comfort from knowing that Professional Wrestling and TV reality shows are real.

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It's more than 12 men who would have had to keep quiet, Jack. Hundreds. You think you could have kept all of them quiet? Not a chance. Nice try, though.

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The logline refers to the fact that we've never gone back AFTER the first 6 missions (or according to this film, 7 missions).

The war is not meant to be won... it is meant to be continuous.

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[deleted]

[deleted]

I think you've seen too many movies :)

Mining the hell out of Earth hasn't done anything to our gravitational orbit etc..

However I don't think mining the moon is feasible, bringing anything back to Earth would cost a fortune.

That being said... www.planetaryresources.com

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However I don't think mining the moon is feasible, bringing anything back to Earth would cost a fortune.


Not so. Getting things from the Earth to the Moon costs a fortune. Going the other way not so much. Takes 25,000 miles an hour delta-v to get from the Earth to the Moon, only takes 5000 miles an hour to get from the Moon to Earth.

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Mining the hell out of Earth hasn't done anything to our gravitational orbit etc..


In fairness, mining 25 million tonnes of material from Earth, but using it on Earth, has a net change of 0 Earth G. Mining 25 million tonnes of material from the moon and transplanting it to the Earth, would have a net effect of +25 million tonnes Earth G and -25 million tonnes of Moon G. Some would say that's fairly substantial!

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That's 0.000000000003 percent of the mass of the Moon and about 100 times less percent of the mass of the Earth. Not substantial at all in orbital mechanics standards.

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Congratulations on missing the point. I plucked 25 million tonnes out of thin air, but I could have easily said 25 quadrillion tonnes.

The point is, moving 'stuff' from one place on a Earth to another place on Earth and leaving the Moon intact, is not going to have the same effect as moving 'stuff' from the Moon onto Earth. Keep doing it and there comes a tipping point where the relative masses of Earth and Moon have changed enough to throw their orbits out.

It really isn't rocket science, no matter how much you try to make it so.

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Congratulations on missing the point. I plucked 25 million tonnes out of thin air, but I could have easily said 25 quadrillion tonnes.


When we can move 25 quadrillion tons through interplanetary space get back to me.

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When you get your head out your arse long enough to understand that the process of moving an as yet unknown quantity of material from the Moon to Earth will have a noticeable impact on their orbits in relation to each other, you might realise you suck VERY badly at trolling.

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When you get your head out your arse long enough to understand that the process of moving an as yet unknown quantity of material from the Moon to Earth will have a noticeable impact on their orbits in relation to each other, you might realise you suck VERY badly at trolling.


When you get your head out of yours enough to do engineering calculations, get back to us.

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That would be an admission that I am right then - glad that's sorted!

NEXT!

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That would be an admission that I am right then - glad that's sorted!


Nope, you're not right until you provide plausible numbers that support your argument. So far you have not done so.

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OK, so you are telling us that we could transplant 99.99% of the matter on the Moon to the Earth, and experience no change in relative gravitational force?

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OK, so you are telling us that we could transplant 99.99% of the matter on the Moon to the Earth, and experience no change in relative gravitational force?


No, I'm asking you to work out how we would go about that and whether it is something that is likely to occur before you worry about it as a plausible danger.

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Ah, so you are trying to change this particular conversation from the theoretical effects of doing something, into the likelihood of that action taking place!

That explains it... So to get back to the matter at hand, is there or is there not a point where the continued moving of matter from the Moon to the Earth will cause problems? Its a simple question that really only needs a one word answer.

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It's funny how people will argue about something like this.

Science has and will remain an evolving theory. It is our rough idea of how things work and is updated as soon as we break it.

Science looks at something and questions it. Doesn't belive in something until it has proof.

I've always found the theory that there was no moon landing fascinating. Some of the explanations are incredibly interesting.

For what it's worth I think mining the moon is a bad idea. I also think it's pretty obvious that should this happen, then a continued movement of mass from one planet to another will eventually effect their orbits and also their gravitational pull. All other considerations aside.

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It's funny how people will argue about something like this.

Science has and will remain an evolving theory. It is our rough idea of how things work and is updated as soon as we break it.


Yes, it evolves, but some things become established. One of them is orbital mechanics. While new information and new models may alter the results of the calculations by a few decimal places far down on the right, the basics of orbital mechanics will not be changed by any new model. The models that we use now have been shown by numerous experiments to give results that are very accurate. Any new model has to give results of the same accuracy or better or it will be falsified.

Science looks at something and questions it. Doesn't belive in something until it has proof.


Science questions ideas. It does not in general question multiply replicated measurements by different observers.

I've always found the theory that there was no moon landing fascinating. Some of the explanations are incredibly interesting.


If you like bad science fiction. Questioning the Moon landings has nothing to do with science, it has to do with paranoia and conspiracy-theory lunacy.

For what it's worth I think mining the moon is a bad idea. I also think it's pretty obvious that should this happen, then a continued movement of mass from one planet to another will eventually effect their orbits and also their gravitational pull. All other considerations aside.


Do you have calculations to back this up and show the magnitude of the effects? Or are you just being afraid because you're sure based on no evidence that the result will be a Very Bad Thing?

Suppose the entire mass of the Moon was transferred to Earth, what would happen to Earth's gravitational pull?

g = GM/r^2 v=4/3 pi r^3 From these and the mass and diameter of the Earth and the Moon you can estimate the gravitation when the two are combined. I won't bore you with the details (if you really want them pm me with an email address and I'll write them up in a PDF for you) but the bottom line is that the new gravitation is about .998 of the old one. Nobody is going to notice the change.

As for the effect on orbit, there will be no effect on the orbit around the Sun. The mass of the two bodies combined will be unchanged, they will just no longer be orbiting their own common center of mass. The major effect on Earth will be much lower tides (that's calculable) and somewhat different weather--that's the part that is not easily predictable.

Sorry but it's not nearly as dire as you make it out to be. And that assumes that the entire mass of the Moon will be transferred to Earth.

But why would anybody do that? The notion is mining the Moon, not spending vast amounts of money moving silicon dioxide from the Moon to the Earth that is no different from the silicon dioxide that is found everywhere on Earth in vast quantityt. What will be mined is substances that are rare on Earth (sand isn't). 99.9 percent of the Moon is stuff that is very commonplace on Earth (as in there are quantities of each of those substances on Earth that are greater than the entire mass of the Moon). There is no reason to mine it there and ship it to Earth. That leaves at most 0.1 percent of the Moon to be composed of materials that are "interesting" to miners.

This is why the argument that mining the moon is dangerous to Earth's orbit and the like is so ludicrous.

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<Q>Yes, it evolves, but some things become established. One of them is orbital mechanics. While new information and new models may alter the results of the calculations by a few decimal places far down on the right, the basics of orbital mechanics will not be changed by any new model. The models that we use now have been shown by numerous experiments to give results that are very accurate. Any new model has to give results of the same accuracy or better or it will be falsified. </Q

Whilst I don't entirely disagree with the above it is worth noting that over the history of science there have been a number of steps forward which have massively disproved theories that until that point had been fundamental building blocks upon which all other theories were based.

Recently (last year I think) the definition of life had to be updated, so there is absolutely no certainty that anything we think we know is 100% correct. Science is correct based upon what we know at this precise time.

<Q>Do you have calculations to back this up and show the magnitude of the effects? Or are you just being afraid because you're sure based on no evidence that the result will be a Very Bad Thing?

Suppose the entire mass of the Moon was transferred to Earth, what would happen to Earth's gravitational pull? </Q>

Well, firstly lets assume the entire mass of the moon was transferred to the Earth, leaving no moon. As you mention this would affect tidal patterns, climate and probably more that we are not to know about. I'm not really one to worry about things but it seems to me that should our moon dissapear theres probably aspects of our natural world that rely on it more than we are necessarily aware of at this point in time. Considering the removal of a single species of insect can be catastrophic to certain ecosystems it seems slightly naive to think that a shift in the moons behaviour wouldn't cause some unbalance somewhere.

<Q>.998 of the old one. Nobody is going to notice the change.</Q>

Not to throw your own argument back at you, but where is your proof that no one will notice the change. 0.002 of an alteration in our orbit seems like a lot to me and it has been suggested that the slightest change in our orbit would greatly alter our climate and atmosphere.

<Q>This is why the argument that mining the moon is dangerous to Earth's orbit and the like is so ludicrous. </Q>

But we're not arguing about whether it will happen, more about should it happen what the outcomes would be.

You're clearly very certain of your own opinions and considering we are talking about something that has not been tried this seems quite laughable. Your figures sure sound convincing, but until something has actually been put into practice your numbers are just a theory. Science is all about theories, but scientist accept that they are just theories based upon their understanding and until they actually have physical proof, something that at present we simply don't have, they do not consider them actual fact.

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<Q>Yes, it evolves, but some things become established. One of them is orbital mechanics. While new information and new models may alter the results of the calculations by a few decimal places far down on the right, the basics of orbital mechanics will not be changed by any new model. The models that we use now have been shown by numerous experiments to give results that are very accurate. Any new model has to give results of the same accuracy or better or it will be falsified. </Q

Whilst I don't entirely disagree with the above it is worth noting that over the history of science there have been a number of steps forward which have massively disproved theories that until that point had been fundamental building blocks upon which all other theories were based.


Give us one example of a "step forward" which "massively disproved theories" that have yielded results sufficiently accurate for engineering use and in the process changed the universe in such a manner that engineering calculations made using the previous model were no longer valid.

Understand--orbital mechanics works well enough for us to calculate trajectories to the outer planets and have payloads arrive within tens of meters of their intended position after journeys of billions of kilometers. That's hard data that is not susceptible to being "disproven".

Further, you can do the same calculations using Newtonian Mechanics or using General Relativity and the results come out the same to many decimal places.

Recently (last year I think) the definition of life had to be updated, so there is absolutely no certainty that anything we think we know is 100% correct. Science is correct based upon what we know at this precise time.


Biology is currently in a period of rapid change. When it can make predictions with the same degree of accuracy as that which allowed Galileo to enter Jupiter orbit then the situation is analogous to orbital mechanics. Further, that "update" is not much of one--some scientists for some reason were working with a narrow definition based on chemical composition, rather than the established tests of metabolism, homeostasis, growth, response to stimuli, reproduction, and adaptation and decided to update their own definition.

Not to throw your own argument back at you, but where is your proof that no one will notice the change. 0.002 of an alteration in our orbit seems like a lot to me and it has been suggested that the slightest change in our orbit would greatly alter our climate and atmosphere.


What makes you think that .002 difference in surface gravitation is going to have any effect at all on anything's orbit? The mass of the Earth-Moon system would have to be altered before their orbit around the Sun changed, and moving all the mass of the Moon onto the Earth does not alter the mass of that system. Yes, the Earth and the Moon would no longer orbit their own center of mass, which is located about 1700 kilometers below the surface of the Earth. So the Earth would cease to wobble slightly in its orbit. That is all.

But we're not arguing about whether it will happen, more about should it happen what the outcomes would be.


No, we are not. You are. The discussion was of mining the moon and it was asserted that this would result in changes in orbits with horrendous consequences. My sole interest was in demonstrating that that was not true. You can go on arguing your point if you want to but unless you can show me to be in error I am not interested in addressing it further.

Your figures sure sound convincing, but until something has actually been put into practice your numbers are just a theory.


By that logic every time someone designs a computer one should doubt that it will work until it is turned on because all those calculations are "just a theory".

Theory in science doesn't mean "untested opinion with nothing to back it up", it means "thoroughly tested mathematical model which has never been shown to be in error when tested many times by many different investigators all of whom were trying to achieve fame and fortune by disproving it".

Science is all about theories, but scientist accept that they are just theories based upon their understanding and until they actually have physical proof, something that at present we simply don't have, they do not consider them actual fact.


So it is your argument that orbital mechanics has not been tested? If you really believe that you either have something wrong with you or have been living under a rock for the past 50 years.

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<Holds Hands Up>

You're right, my knowledge of orbital mechanics is poor.

Really my aim has been to suggest that all science, even physics, is not always as firmly build as it is sometimes thought of.

I still think that some of what we are arguing/discussing would need to be proven as the theories haven't been proven in a physical sense.

But I've argued as much as I care to and without the relevant knowledge to continue I will simply bow out and concede.

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I still think that some of what we are arguing/discussing would need to be proven as the theories haven't been proven in a physical sense.


You do understand that this is basic Newtonian mechanics that has been around since 1687 do you not? And not even a particularly complicated application of it?

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I'm confused. When did this conversation switch from mining the moon, to transporting the entire moon to earth? You guys are funny.

Lethe

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100's of tons of space dust hit the Earth daily. The Moon as well.

What we have here is failure to communicate!

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Not necessarily. We exist at the bottom of a gravity well as far as the moon goes. All we'd have to do is give a lunar payload a little shove. And then go fetch it when it falls in the ocean. The $$ start to stack up when you have manned flights, but you don't need a manned flight to ship cargo.

Lethe

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Um, whatever mass we remove from mining on earth STAYS on earth. No loss of mass. If we mine on the moon and ship mass to the earth - loss of mass on the moon, increase of mass on earth. Unlikely, however, that we would transport enough to significantly change our gravitational set-up. But, just to throw a red herring into this discussion, when we displace mass by mining, we DO remove mass from a given structure. Think of remodeling your house. If you knock down a supporting wall, the whole structure becomes unstable and may shift or even collapse. When we remove massive deposits of fossil fuels and natural gas from beneath the surface of the planet ...well, I'm thinking eventually all that loss of supporting mass will add up to some interesting seismic activity. I'm just sayin'...

Lethe

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It's obvious that we didn't go back to the moon because of little rock spiders that infect people and make them do stupid things.


We did not go back because politicians are like IMDB users and would rather make snide remarks than improve the world.

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You say while contributing to the thread above!?

--
Insert signature here.

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Ah, jeez, why does it aways have to be spiders?

Lethe

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Well being the movie is called Apollo 18 - do you think maybe the tagline means since this particular mission..........?

Better to regret something you did, than something you didn't do!

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I can't believe how dumb people here are.. The moon landings were fake! Maybe some humans have been there but it is not known..

"It's All in the Game."
My Vote History: imdb.com/user/ur10932798/ratings

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I agree. It's obvious Americans never landed on the Moon.

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Lol, they are obviously joking as no-one is that foolish

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Here is that bothers me with the conspiracy theories.
One - we have Roswell, and every conspiracy theory said we got technology from those crashes and we did this and did that and advanced so fast from building size computers to the ones that can stand on your desk and that was done in only merely 30 years. ('47 Roswell -> '77 Commodore and Apple 2). Before that we had since the 20's (so another ~30 years before '47) only little advancement from relay to vacuum tubes - both building size and with very little improvement in computational power.
Two - we got '69 Moon landing. We didn't get to the moon because we were not technologically advanced, the entire footage is a hoax, shot in the studio blah blah, you know what this conspiracy theory is saying.

Now, to the conspiracy theories duded, you can't have it both ways. We either get the technology from Roswell and did the moon landing or we recovered a weather balloon at Roswell and didn't get to the moon in '69. Take your pick because you can't win both since they directly head to head contradict each other.

If I would to take my pick would be, by using reason logic, and thinking like a government - which is easiest to cover up, an incident that took over one week, involved a maximum of 50 peoples OR the spectacular NASA missions that took over 2 decades, involved more then 40,000 people? I say I would take Roswell as conspiracy theory and leave the '69 Moon landing to rest. But I am not a conspiracy troll, I leave that to you. But now I want the conspiracy theory dude to troll me, and find the weakness in my argument. Because I just beat you at your own game with your own weapons, ha ha ha.

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@tunasauce
12 men have walked on the moon.

************************************************
List their names and provide proof.

Yes, we have been to the moon once. The reason think we haven't is because NASA recorded a fake video of the moon landing as well. The original airing of the moon landing actually shows things on the moon as if someone else had already been there before us. Pieces of tin part, some kind of foil or paper wrappers, etc... When NASA saw this, they didn't show the original live broadcast of the landing. They showed a remake that was done on Earth. All the weird items on the moon weren't in it. The reason we didn't go back because NASA know something had visited the moon before us. This is why they send robot cars up there and to other planets instead.

http://www.examiner.com/article/neil-armstrong-dies-along-with-secrets -of-what-he-saw-on-moon

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