Buzz Aldrin: First Man (to Pee) on the Moon

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/07/090720-apollo-11-buzz-aldrin-pee.html

Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin: First Man (to Pee) on the Moon
Anne Minard
for National Geographic News
July 20, 2009

Buzz Aldrin may not have been the first man on the moon, but the Apollo 11 astronaut has another historic first under his belt, so to speak: first person to pee on the moon.

Marking the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing this month, the U.S. astronaut reflects on his moonwalk, his embrace of Twitter, his hopes for the future—and that hallowed lunar leak, accomplished on the Apollo 11 lander's ladder, into a special bag in his space suit.

"Everyone has their firsts on the moon, and that one hasn't been disputed by anybody," he said in the 2007 Apollo-program documentary In the Shadow of the Moon.

It's also undisputed that Aldrin was the second man to moonwalk—about 15 minutes after Neil Armstrong—though he's still a bit embarrassed about his fumbling attempt to reboard Apollo 11's Eagle lander.

"I jumped what I thought was going to be enough to get up to the bottom rung of the ladder, and I didn't jump hard enough the first time, so I had to go back and do it again," Aldrin told National Geographic News.

Of course it wasn't all bumbling and bathroom breaks.

Asked about his initial impressions of the moon, Aldrin rhapsodized over the "magnificent desolation" of the lunar surface and the "velvet luminosity" of the sky.

And in the book Moon Shot, Apollo astronauts Alan Shepard and Donald "Deke" Slayton write that Aldrin told them he was buoyant and full of goose pimples as he stepped onto the moon.

But don't push him too hard for deep thoughts.

Reflecting on decades of being asked "What was it like?", he said, "I guess after 40 years I still don't know what they're looking for or what they want to hear."

Just don't expect any romanticizing: "Ladies do that. Guys don't, especially if they're fighter pilots"—as Aldrin was for 21 years.

"I've never wanted to manufacture something after the fact. I still don't know if it was fantastic, far out, or what."

Despite his self-professed stoicism, Aldrin is indulging in the lighter side of his moon milestone—and embracing new technologies—to reach out to younger generations.

The astronaut said he pulled himself up from a post-Apollo 11 period of alcoholism and depression and decided he could share his experiences for a greater good.

"Do you continue to descend into an abyss? Or do you try to make a difference with what you know best?" he remembered thinking.

To Aldrin, making a difference includes getting his message out any way he can—gamely sitting down with fictional talk show host Ali G, rapping alongside Snoop Dogg, and working with science teachers through his nonprofit educational ShareSpace Foundation.

He's even been adapting to post-space age modes of communication.

"People communicate in Twittering ways," he said, referring to the micro-blogging Web site Twitter. "I've learned how to do that."

More than 111,000 people follow Aldrin's tweets, which most recently have been about the ongoing tour for his new memoir, Magnificent Desolation.

"Did a lot of interviews today including a website called Boingboing.net. I guess they're a gadget site. It's a new one to me. BUZZ," he wrote last week.

And just what is Aldrin's message?

Mostly, he said, he wants his Apollo 11 experiences to encourage Americans to shoot for the moon again, metaphorically speaking.

"America can take man to the moon, and America can take men to Mars—and beyond."

Moon astronauts urge Mars mission

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8158519.stm

Monday, 20 July 2009
Moon astronauts urge Mars mission
Neil Armstrong: 'The ultimate peaceful competition'

Two of the astronauts who took part in the first Moon landing 40 years ago have called for renewed efforts to send a manned mission to Mars.

At a rare public reunion of the Apollo 11 crew, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins said Mars instead of the Moon should be the focus of exploration.

Neil Armstrong, the first man on the Moon, said the race to get to the Moon had been the ultimate peaceful contest.

He said it was an "exceptional national investment" for the US and ex-USSR.

The trio spoke at an event at Washington DC's National Air and Space Museum to mark the 40th anniversary of their mission.

Mr Armstrong told the audience: "It was the ultimate peaceful competition: USA vs USSR.

"I'll not assert that it was a diversion which prevented a war, nevertheless it was a diversion.

"Eventually, it provided a mechanism for engendering co-operation between former adversaries. In that sense, among others, it was an exceptional national investment for both sides."

Fellow astronaut Mr Aldrin spoke of the inspiration provided by then-President John F Kennedy which led to the "betterment of America, and ultimately the ending of the Cold War".

"Apollo 11 is a symbol of what a great nation and a great people can do if we work hard, work together and have strong leaders with vision and determination," he said.

But he also pushed for a mission to Mars: "The best way to honour and remember all those who were part of the Apollo programme is to follow in our footsteps; to boldly go again on a new mission of exploration."

Mr Collins, who circled the Moon alone while Mr Armstrong and Mr Aldrin walked on it, said Mars was more interesting than the Moon.

"Sometimes I think I flew to the wrong place. Mars was always my favourite as a kid and it still is today."

He urged further exploration, saying: "I worry that the current emphasis on returning to the Moon will cause us to become ensnared in a technological briar patch needlessly delaying for decades the exploration of Mars - a much more worthwhile destination."

The US space agency's currently stated aim is to return astronauts to the Moon by 2020. But that vision is under review, along with the space vehicles that would get them there.

Nasa is due to retire its space shuttles next year and replace them with the Orion spacecraft, an Apollo-like capsule that would launch on a new rocket called Ares 1.

Another rocket, Ares V, would have the capability to launch heavy payloads - service and cargo modules - that would be needed to service Moon missions.

Apollo 11 hoax

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/scienceandtechnology/science/space/5851435/Apollo-11-hoax-one-in-four-people-do-not-believe-in-moon-landing.html

Apollo 11 hoax: one in four people do not believe in moon landing
A quarter of Britons believe the Apollo 11 mission moon landings in 1969 were a hoax.
17 Jul 2009

Eleven of the 1009 people surveyed thought Buzz Lightyear was the first person on the Moon.

The Toy Story film character was named alongside Louis Armstrong. Eight of those taking part thought the late jazz musician made the first moon walk.

Not quite three quarters correctly answered that Neil Armstrong took the first step onto the Moon.

Eleven per cent of people polled thought the Apollo programme was a recent as the 1980s, with just 68 per cent knowing that the first moon landing took place in 1969.

A total of 44 per cent considered the missions to be a waste of money.

The survey was conducted for E&T magazine, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Editor in chief Dickon Ross said: "The Apollo moon landing is mankind's most outstanding engineering event so it's deeply worrying that such a large number of people should think the first moon walk never happened and that the public's belief in the legitimacy of science and technology seems to be declining over time."

Conspiracy theorists have pointed to a number of flaws in the pictures and footage from the Apollo missions as proof that the moon landings were staged.

For instance, the US flag planted by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin was said to be waving in a breeze, which should not have been possible on the airless moon.

Nasa's response was that the flag waved a little when deployed due to residual momentum from contact with the astronauts, not because of windy weather.

Alleged light and shadow anomalies were the result of the highly reflective surface of the Moon and the wide-angle cameras used by the astronauts, said the space agency.

Another question mark over the lack of dust kicked up by the lunar module was explained by the fact that the craft's rocket exhaust fired out sideways rather than straight down.

Leading space scientist Professor John Zarnecki, from the Open University, said: "I think it would have been a far greater achievement to have mocked the whole thing up AND to have kept it quiet for four decades.

"If one in four Britons today don't believe the moon landings ever happened, then I'm afraid that says a lot about one in four Britons. And what it says isn't very complimentary."

He pointed out that moon rocks brought back to Earth by the Apollo astronauts were very similar to those returned by a series of unmanned Soviet probes.

Veteran astronomer Sir Patrick Moore said about those who believe the moon landings were a hoax: "If ignorance is bliss they must be very happy."

10 Reasons Why Moon Landing Was Awesome

http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/07/10-reasons-the-apollo-11-moon-landing-was-awesome/

10 Reasons Why Apollo 11 Moon Landing Was Awesome
By Curtis Silver July 21, 2009

Yesterday marked the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Forty years ago mission commander Neil A. Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin Eugene ‘Buzz’ Aldrin, Jr. walked on the moon while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited above. Today however, marks the 40th anniversary of the day people really reacted to what just happened. As with all major events in time, there is always a day of reflection. I’d like to honor that day of reflection with my top 10 thoughts about the Apollo 11 moon landing.

It was a comeback victory in the space race against the Soviets

I’d even say, we made the Soviets look like chumps. We won the space race by putting a man on the moon. Sure, the Soviets were there first, having bounced their Luna 2 spacecraft off the moon 10 years earlier, but we left our footprints there. The Cold War may have lasted another 15 years or so after that, but it gave us the confidence to make movies like Red Dawn. It also showed the world what could be achieved by democracy over communism. From my father, who was in the Navy at the time:

I was at sea when the landing occurred; I didn’t even know about it until we hit our next port of call, which was Barcelona. I can tell you that the Spanish people were very excited about the landing; they mostly thought it was a wonderful occurrence and congratulated us sailors for the event. They also thought we must be very proud to have beaten the Russians to the moon. At the time, Spain was under the control of the fascist dictatorship government of Francisco Franco.

Gave the conspiracy theorists something to talk about for the next century

Even though anyone with a high-powered telescope and laser system (don’t you have one?) can see the reflections off the equipment left on the moon, the conspiracy theorists still think the whole thing was staged, on the basis that we haven’t gone back. If we should have faked anything in the late ’60s, it should have been Vietnam.

It felt great to be an American

The ’60s were a tumultuous time in American history. Civil rights, Vietnam, Kennedy and the Cold War — all made for a stressful time and American values were put to the test. But when we landed on the moon, everyone in America put all that aside, if only for a couple days. As stated by my cousin KV:

I was at a Little League party, watching the moon landing after our last game of the season. There was a 7 Eleven across the street, so the mom got all of us Coke slurpees, which had just been invented recently. I sat there watching Neil Armstrong take the first steps on the moon while I took a taste of my first Coke slurpee. I remember thinking how great it is to be American.

Made Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin legends in their own time

That’s hard to achieve these day, with nothing happening as spectacular as walking on the moon. When you think space you think of Armstrong and Aldrin. When you look up at the moon you think about those images, no matter how old or young you are. Those images of them walking on the moon are an iconic piece of American history that every child will remember until the day when we’re all enslaved in the Matrix.

Proved that the moon was not made of cheese

There were a lot of excited scientists when we landed on the moon — they knew that it would lead to research projects and glorious spoonfuls of moon rocks. Since then, experiments in space and on objects from space — especially moon items, have been at the forefront of our exploration. After beating the Soviets (since that was the driving force for going there in the first place) the science has taken over and a lot has been discovered about our moon, science that is still relevant today.<

Kennedy was right

He was shot and killed while in office, and there is no greater legacy attributed to John F. Kennedy than his promise to put a man on the moon. Less than six years after his death, we did just that. And we brought them back safely, just like Kennedy promised.

First, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him back safely to the earth. No single space project in this period will be more impressive to mankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space; and none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish.

It turned science fiction into reality

For years, many great science fiction novels and the pages of Analog magazine theorized about what it was like on the moon. Adventures took place there, colonies were built and the moon was a place of fantasy. Not anymore. The day after we landed on the moon, science fiction writers around the globe not only celebrated the fact, but started looking for more far-fetched places for alien detective stories — like Mars. If we hadn’t landed on the moon, Total Recall may have never been as cool as it was.

Gave our kids something to aspire to

The Cold War was a bummer. The kids growing up in the 1960s were tired of hiding under their desks for nuclear bomb drills and were feeling depressed by society. Being told they could grow up to be president didn’t sound that great anymore after Kennedy’s assassination. Growing up to be Mickey Mantle was the next best option, but that only brought thoughts of liver damage. Then we set foot on the moon, and now you could grow up to be an astronaut. How fantastic is that? Can you imagine the wonder on a child’s face sitting in front of the television as Armstrong bounded along the moon’s surface?

It validated NASA’s existence

NASA was under a lot of pressure from the government and from the American public to do something spectacular. When Kennedy promised a moon landing, the scrutiny was even harsher. NASA had no choice but to land us on the moon as quickly as possible. When it did, it achieved at least 40 years of grants and funding; only now is it coming under scrutiny again.

We actually sent a spacecraft to the moon and landed on it

The Apollo 11 mission astronauts trained hard for countless hours for this mission. NASA spent millions of dollars on building a spacecraft with the specifications needed to land on the moon. They didn’t have a moon to test it on first — this was the test. Sure, they could simulate the landing, but nothing is better than the real thing. The science, the engineering, the planning and training that went into this project was the first of its kind. We landed men on the moon. Think of how amazing that actually is and the hundreds of people it took to do it. Forty years ago today, every single one of those people watched the moon landing again on the evening news and reflected on the part that they played in putting a man on the moon. This is a virtual toast to every single one of them. Let’s not have it be another 40 years before we are back there, building a mini-mall.

Apollo Sites Spotted by Lunar Scout

http://news.aol.com/article/apollo-landing-sites-spotted-by-lunar/577205

Apollo Sites Spotted by Lunar Scout
Space.com
7-17-9

(July 17) - For stubborn folks who still believe the Apollo astronauts never landed on the moon, NASA has new images — definitive proof — that clearly show the Apollo 11 lander that carried the first astronauts to the lunar surface 40 years ago.

The images were taken by NASA's first lunar scout in more than a decade, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. They show the Eagle lunar lander at Tranquility Base, where Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on July 20, 1969. They were snapped between July 11 and 15 of this month and released by NASA on Friday.

The image does not reveal whether the U.S. flag planted there is still standing or not.

The Apollo 11 landing site wasn't the only one that the LRO's camera system (dubbed LROC) photographed: It also snapped pictures of the landing sites of the other five Apollo landings. (The remaining site, for Apollo 12, is expected to be photographed in the coming weeks.) The lunar modules for all of these sites imaged are visible as small dots; their shadows can also be seen. A few more details can be seen in the image of the Apollo 14 landing site, including scientific instruments and astronaut footprints.

"The LROC team anxiously awaited each image," said LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson of Arizona State University. "We were very interested in getting our first peek at the lunar module descent stages just for the thrill -- and to see how well the cameras had come into focus. Indeed, the images are fantastic and so is the focus."

As LRO gradually descends to a lower orbit, the images will improve and provide closer looks at the lunar landing sites.

The images of these sites are expected to show scientists how the sites have changed since the astronauts trod across them, whether there are any new craters and how the leftover human artifacts have fared in the lunar environment.

About the size of a Mini Cooper car, the $504 million LRO probe, an orbiting satellite, launched toward the moon on June 18. The probe is expected to spend at least one year mapping the moon for future manned missions, as well as several more years conducting science surveys.

Some people have questioned whether NASA really went to the moon or if the whole thing was faked. No serious and level-headed historian, researcher or space industry analyst doubts the moon landings, however.