Tuesday, July 7, 2009

First Man on the Moon

As we approach the 40th anniversary of the first Apollo Moon landing, The Telegraph has this depressing bit of news for us:
Some people believe that Buzz Lightyear, the fictional cartoon character from the film Toy Story, was the first man on the moon.

In a survey, which reveals "deeply worrying" levels of ignorance about the Apollo space programme, which sent three men to the moon forty years ago this month, 11 out of 1009 people surveyed thought Buzz Lightyear was the first person to step onto the moon. A further 8 people thought it was Louis Armstrong, with less than three-quarters correctly answering that it was Neil Armstrong.

The survey, undertaken on behalf of E&T magazine, published by the Institution of Engineering and Technology, also revealed that over a quarter of all people do not believe the astronauts actually landed on the moon.
I feel quite priviledged to have had the opportunity to look at some of the moon rocks in thin section when they were on loan to OSU when I was an undergrad, and I can say with a fair degree of confidence there's no way they came from Earth. Nor do any meteorites have the bizarre combination of crystalline igneous rocks, brecciation, and glass.

This just reinforces my pessimistic side.

Sigh...

2 comments:

Lauren said...

Hello,

I have just discovered this amazing documentary called Moonwalk One-The Director’s Cut that was initially filmed in 1969. It is an amazing account of the Apollo 11 space mission in which man first walked on the moon! Not only does it capture the scientific accomplishments, but it also serves as an outstanding time capsule of society at the time and their reactions!

Forty years later, it turns out that the original director, Theo Kamecke, has the only pristine copy of the original 35mm film. Never before released to the public for home viewing, the film has been restored to a spectacular high-definition wide screen masterpiece with an all new soundtrack!

Make sure to get your copy in time for the 40th anniversary of man walking on the moon! I got my copy at www.amazon.com, and you can also orider it at ww.co.uk and www.moonwalk.com. This is a great film for students, teachers, enthusiasts, families, and more. No matter your interest, this film will not be a bore!

Best wishes,
Lauren

Dean Wormer said...

This is a sore point for me personally.

It amazes me that there is so much resistance to the exploration of nearby planets or the moon and that so many in our government continue to think small.

When I think about all the money wasted in Iraq which could've gone to another trip to the moon, or building bases on the moon for a trip to mars, my blood boils.

You were lucky to get to see those rocks up close.