CNN reminded me - 35 years today since the moon walk.

[MikeG]

And it happened in the evening. I was 11 at the time.

Nixon talked to them on the phone.

Ted Kennedy was still wet from Chapaquiddick. Cause it happened that weekend.

[MrBenchley]

1. Just a reminder...

A liberal President, JFK, challenged us to go to the moon. We did. We planted the flag there and began exploring it.

The conservatives shut the Apollo program down. A conservative billionaire, Rupert Murdoch, has spent millions of dollars in the years since to convince you that the landing never happened.

[LastDemocratInSC]

2. Actually, he just sucked dollars from those who don't know what happened

I have followed the manned space program since the beginning, actually since before the beginning. I followed all the early flights of Mercury, Gemini and Apollo.

I saw Armstrong and Aldrin walk on the moon 35 years ago tonight - it was an amazing experience. I remember watching Armstrong put his foot down ... "I'm going to step off the LM now". I saw that happen. It was one of our nation's greatest moments.

There were 7 lunar landing attempts of which 6 were successful. Each was a dramatic triumph not only for the United States but for our planet.

Rupert Murdoch is an asshole who knows that suckers will watch commercials to see his porno news programs. Fuck him.

[MrBenchley]

5. Exactly so...

By the way...if John Kerry had said "Let's go to Mars" do you have any doubts that he would have budgeted it out, and that a major effort wouldn't be underway?

[DemBones DemBones]

3. How can you be sure it really happened?

Seriously, I've never read any of the arguments against it (and if Murdoch started all that. . .well, 'nuff said.)

But I used to laugh at "people who think the moon landing was fake and tv wrestling is real." After the past three and a half years, though, I have much less confidence in American government and journalism, and my doubts have extended back in time.

I watched the moon landing on television, was amazed by the photos of the earth from space, etc. I remember John Glenn speaking to us from space on the first American orbital flight -- they played it over our school's intercom system. Hell, I remember Sputnik and being suddenly behind the Russians. I remember paying attention to all the later American missions, like those with Abel and Baker. I never doubted it was all true, even though I knew the government lied sometimes.

But how can we know that any of those missions really happened? How would you refute the arguments of those who claim it was all staged on a Hollywood set?

[MrBenchley]

4. I suggest you look at a book called Bad Astronomy

which pretty much demolishes all that crap...

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. The same can be said about any event in the past

Someone recently mentioned here on DU about a historian who put together an article, in the Murdoch style, to prove the point that one could legitimately doubt that World War I took place. It was all staged. Oh sure, some battles took place, but the scope of those few skirmishes was magnified by propagandists and documentary movie directors at the time for political purposes.

As my first grade teacher said, we must use our heads for something more than just hatracks.

[DemBones DemBones]

9. History provides examples of governments

misleading their people (Hitler and the Reichstag fire is often cited) and of government employees misleading their superiors (Catherine the Great being deceived by the Potemkin villages.)

The more I learn, the more I question. As Lily Tomlin said, no matter how cynical I get, I can't seem to keep up.

I do trust that most scientists are pretty honest, though, so maybe I can get back to when I " believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon."

(Hey, Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Are you having fun?)

[LastDemocratInSC]

10. It's not a matter of belief - it's a matter of knowledge and fact

I'll answer any questions you might have about the Apollo missions to the moon in a decent and respectful way. I know that there are many today who doubt the truth of the landings but I think this is because so much time has passed since then. It has been 32 years since the last men walked there - that's approaching 2 generations of people who weren't living during that time, and that's significant to the acceptance of historical events.

What interests you about the flights? I'll do my best to answer.

[NewJeffCT]

6. well, back in the 60s

The United States of America was truly the world leaders in technology & science, and R&D. Thanks to the "Reagan Revolution" and the subsequent dumbing down of America, we no longer have nearly the edge we used to have.

[MrBenchley]

7. Very true...