By the time Apollo 17 flew, public interest in the space programme had waned and funding for future missions was pulled, but the film does make you wonder if there was in fact other foray to the moon that were never officially publicised. Lots of projects never made it off the drawing board and the soviet plans to land a man on the moon were hampered by the loss of several N1 launch vehicles, the destruction of one of which almost eradicated the entire launch base, killing hundreds in a devastating launch pad fire. The secrecy enshrouding the soviet programme only began to disperse many years later and details of projected russian missions became clear. A fabulous website devoted to the 'black' space programmes during the cold war is available here: http://www.deepcold.com/ Another site which purports to have information on earlier failed soviet space missions, which were tracked by amateur radio is the Lost Cosmonauts. The recordings of what are allegedly actual transmissions are quite chilling and distrurbing and the accounts of the desperate measures used by the russian agency to get a man in space first are little short of frightening.
The recent resurgence of interest in space flight and a return to the moon, plus the many conspiracy theories which abound about crashed ufos, artefacts on the moon and life on mars, does make me wonder if there is in fact any truth out there and the large proportion of humanity are actually being kept in the dark about government activties...
I am completely, totally, utterly sceptical regarding conspiracy theories. But I am told I have a closed mind ... except by those who say I have no mind at all.
ReplyDeleteYes, governments do keep things in the dark ... but they are mundane things such as misuse of power, misappropriation of funds, etc. Not crashed aliens.
I like the idea of such things purely as fiction which sends a chill down the spine (I'd probably enjoy Apollo 18) .... but I have no desire at all for them to be real.
But the question which does fascinate me is WHY so many do believe things like this. Even educated people. That would make a good story in itself, don't you think?
And before I forget - great photo, Maverick!
Nice piccy and write-up Wote. I've seen that Little LEM and astronauts before I think. They came in a bag with a header card and made by Blue Shield. Somewhere I have a piccy. They were on Ebay about 5 years ago.
ReplyDeleteAs for conspiracies Toadster, I reckon it's human nature to want a bigger explanation that points the way to maybe half-answering those two big questions: where did we come from and where are we going? Who knows! Even dolphins love to look in the mirror.
Apollo 18 will be viewed by yours truly on the big scgeen this [orange] Wednesday. Verdict pending. Houston we have a ticket.
But why would aliens (or whatever) tell us where we came from (which we already know anyway) and where are we going (which we ought to decide for ourselves)?
ReplyDeleteIt has to be more than that, surely?
I suspect it is more to do with the way the brain deals with language and reality, and yes, maybe there is a need for "something more". I too feel the latter, but it doesn't lead me to accepting conspiracy theories. I am nit unimaginative, so what else is going on that makes some need conspiracy theories and others not?
Interesting links- though I have no way of telling whether the accounts of Russian space disasters are genuine. It does seem quite possible.
ReplyDeletethe russian space projects are cooroborated from other sources, but whether the actual missions sent up were piloted isnt clear. Gagarin almost didnt make it when the motor section failed to separate from his descent capsule, sending Vostok spinning uncontrollably, but the mission was heralded as a massive propoganda victory. its a similar case with the launch pad fire of Apollo one, official sources suggest death by smoke inhalation but with oxygen lines catching fire and snaking around the cabin like welding torches..
ReplyDelete