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August 19, 2005
spurious assertion of the month award
To take my mind of the latest depressing Shuttle news, I followed a Google Ad to the Moon Landing Hoax page. Since "they faked the moon landing" is a running joke at the office, I figured it would be worth a chuckle. Unfortunately, the assertions were so rhetorical and so easily debunked that it was unsatisfying. (And the really compelling evidence? "Buy my movie and I'll show you." Feh.)
If you decide to watch the intro, here's a hint: think about speed and mass instead of distance. The Shuttle flies at 17,000 mph and carries tons more payload than Apollo did. Now spot the fallacy.
Comments
calcs assume entire rocket going to moon and back, ignoring idea of stages and very small ultimate payload
Posted by: noah at August 30, 2005 06:24 AMThe thing to notice is their overuse of distance as a reason why the Moon should be so hard to reach. They talk about how the Shuttle only goes 400 miles from the Earth, while the Moon is 68 squillion miles away!!1!
Unfortunately, they neglect to mention that in order to achieve orbit at all, the Shuttle has to go 17,000 miles an hour. In addition, the Shuttle carries a payload big enough to launch satellites into geosynchronous orbit, 42,000 miles away. That's 100 times farther out using a much smaller upper stage than Apollo had, which should stun the moon hoaxers.
What it comes down to is this: orbital mechanics isn't a straightforward thing, and it relies more on mass and velocity and careful calculation than it does on distance. That's why the Mars Direct plan only requires an Apollo-class launch vehicle to go all the way to Mars.
Posted by: Chris at August 30, 2005 07:10 AMBut aren't you at least tempted to buy the video for the sheer entertainment value? Money back gaurantee if you're not convinced the moon landings were faked!
Posted by: Bryan at September 13, 2005 08:36 AM
Um, ya go slower if yur more massive?
Posted by: deb at August 24, 2005 09:35 AM