Since Neil Armstrong took a giant leap for mankind in 1969, many questions have been raised about the Apollo 11 mission. The reticence of the Moon astronauts and Net sceptics have only served to heighten suspicions. Did NASA really succeed, or did it stage a studio trick in the deserts of Nevada to hoodwink the Soviet Union that it had won the race? If it was possible to land the lunar module with a computer which had as much power as a pocket calculator today, why haven’t we seen more missions given the advanced technology available? Jai Kumar Sharma presents the debate.
1.Temperature: When Neil Armstrong took his small step for man, it would have been around 130 degrees celsuis in the sunlit places and -40 degree in the shadows. Would the photo film which captured his giant leap have survived without snapping or melting? And wouldn’t the visor have cracked if they had been partly in the sun and partly in the shadows?
2. Landscape: The Moon landscape, as seen in the pictures, darkens towards infinity. This would happen on Earth. But how can it happen on the Moon which doesn’t boast of an atmosphere?
3. Flag: Most pictures and other filmed footage, which NASA has released, seem to show the American flag fluttering. How was this possible when there's no atmosphere or wind on the Moon?
4. Shadows: Although the only source of light was supposed to be the Sun, many Moon photos show shadows which are not parallel. This suggests a much closer light source.
Some photos show two light sources. In fact, all the photos look very much as though they were taken in the dark using very bright spotlights.
5. Stars: No stars are visible in the NASA pictures. Stars are not visible on Earth during daytime because sunlight is scattered by particles in the atmosphere. There is no atmosphere on the Moon, so why don’t we see the stars?
6. Sun Angle: The angle at which the Sun is seen vis-a-vis the horizon has come in for question. For instance, in this example from Apollo 11, the Sun was shown to be at 10 degrees above the horizon but the shadows depict 30 degrees or so.
7. Rocks: Does the Moon boast of no other kind of rock than those that are already available on Earth, or that which can be generated here? If it does, why hasn’t NASA produced them ?
8. Footprints: The Lunar dust is totally dry. Yet the footprints look much like footprints on Earth. The moisture in the soil holds it together. On the Moon, however, the dust would not cling together, and any footprints would surely be much less well-defined?
9. Dust: There is no dust on the rocks in the Moon pictures. Since there is no air on the Moon, shouldn’t there be just as much dust on the rocks as on the rest of the surface, since there is nothing to blow it away?
10. Visor: One of the Apollo 11 pictures shows the reflection of two astronauts in the visor of a third astronaut. Was there ever supposed to be more than two people on the Moon at the same time?
11. Under The Module: There is no crater or sign of disturbance under the Lunar Module. Wouldn’t the rockets have blown the dust and rocks away and produced a crater?
12. Gravity: There is six times less gravity on the Moon than on Earth. Amstrong & Co would have had to stamp six times harder while walking. Yet, no photo supports this.
