re: Apollo 11: July 20, 1969 - Forty-Nine Years Ago, perhaps Mankind's Greatest Journey

quote:

---

As far as manned space travel, best i can tell a robot/probe can return me a lot more data, safely, than a whole crew of people. I'm not sure what there is to currently gain by sending people further and further away, aside from bragging rights.

---

Very unpopular opinion on here but is 100% true. There is very little reason to send people into space to do space exploration anymore (certainly without advances in propulsion technology to make it cheaper). Unmanned gives a much larger scientific bang for your buck. Computers and robotics have advanced to the point that they can do the things humans used to need to do and they don’t require life support and all of the weight that entails.

quote:

---

These were the real brains behind the space program—the astronauts were just there for TV. Hollywood told me so.

---

I think the bigger story that needs to be told is how Minnie went from cooking and cleaning for folks in Jackson, Mississippi to working for NASA.

I am guessing the shite pie incident didn't come up in her background check.

quote:

---

Every single "problem" that the conspiracy folks have identified can be so easily explained, if one has an open mind. The "evidence" you speak of is so easily debunked. Its hard to believe you people really exist.

---

And they do exist, in large numbers. There seems to be two types of modern humans, analytical and non-analytical. And they seem to be about equal in numbers.

The former take in relevant information and process it in a logical way, coming to rational conclusions. With the latter group, the information that is taken in for processing is not limited to that which is directly related to an event.

They seem as receptive to illogical data as they are to observable information. Counterintuitively, they often override scientific data with dark, political or religious data that doesn't have any empirical support, just mostly hearsay.

I've often wondered about how this strange modern human trait evolved with such a broad application. My first thought is that our primate ancestors must have been a paranoid species that saw a predator behind every tree and tall grass clump.

Being paranoid doesn't mean that something isn't out to get you but it can certainly have a disincentivizing effect on exploration and adventure. The strong paranoia we see in so many modern humans appears to be a leftover from our days on the lower rungs of the food chain ladder.

quote:

---

I've often wondered about how this strange modern human trait evolved with such a broad application. My first thought is that our primate ancestors must have been a paranoid species that saw a predator behind every tree and tall grass clump.

Being paranoid doesn't mean that something isn't out to get you but it can certainly have a disincentivizing effect on exploration and adventure. The strong paranoia we see in so many modern humans appears to be a leftover from our days on the lower rungs of the food chain ladder.

---

This is a really interesting take on their flawed, incorrect, hard-headed thinking. Thank you for posting it so I can broaden my mind and learn a new concept.
See, hoaxers.. an open mind is a good thing.


Kentucker, in contrast to your evolution explanation, which I genuinely do find intriguing...

in my OP, I used a concept called "Cultural Vandalism" which I find a more appropriate explanation. It is not my own, but a borrowed concept. A small percentage of the population just is wrong-headed:

- if the Mona Lisa was unguarded, it wouldn't be long before it was splashed with paint and ruined
- if the Declaration of Independence was unprotected, it would soon be shredded, literally, by a vandal.
- Medal of Honor recipient M. Murphy's Memorial Destroyed

It is, unfortunately, what it is.

You might enjoy the recent Space Race season of this podcast:

American History Tellers

quote:

---

Bethpage NY

---

1969 State of the Art, via Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation, in Bethpage, Long Island, New York:

I am fascinated with the Apollo space missions. If anyone likes to read about this stuff, A man on the moon and Apollo 8 are two of the best books I have ever read.

My favorite aspect is while these astronauts were remarkably talented and super geniuses, they were all crazy as shite too. Absolutely fearless.

Moon landing by far

quote:

---

Finally...Hard for me to believe we communicated from the moon when I can't get cell phone signal near Memorial Stadium.

---

Can't help it if your phone sucks.


Earth–Moon–Earth communication (EME), also known as moon bounce, is a radio communications technique that relies on the propagation of radio waves from an Earth-based transmitter directed via reflection from the surface of the Moon back to an Earth-based receiver.

EME Comms

quote:

---

“Perhaps mankind’s greatest journey”

Perhaps??

---

I think the only thing that might rival it would be Apollo 13's successful return.