So. Is NASA fake?
In my estimation: no.
The government, well . . . .
;-)
This post is my response to 
1. Do you think that we ever landed on the moon?
Yes.
Even in the late 60s and early 70s, amateur (and professional) astronomers had decent enough telescopes to follow their progress from Earth.
You can still see the stuff we left behind with any halfway decent telescope.
And, for those who weren't around at the time, a number of professional observatories around the world, including Mt. Wilson and Griffith Park observatories in Los Angeles, California, held public viewings during the moon launches, including inviting in classes of schoolchildren.
There were a lot of eyewitnesses.
From a different perspective, there is a YouTube video that shows the initial press interview with the first three astronauts upon their return from space, which purports to "prove" that the moon landings were faked.
Supposedly, the astronauts were "shifty and evasive" during the interviews, because they were lying about it having even taken place.
But that's not what I saw.
What I saw was three men, tired from their ordeal and not particularly thrilled at having to be interviewed, with the additional stress that they had to choose their words very carefully, as the entire space program was (and remained for decades) strictly classified.
So yeah, they were sometimes evasive, as there was so much they were not allowed to say, which, if breached, could end their careers, or much worse.
But, when Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were asked about stepping on the moon for the first time, and they spoke of looking back at Earth from the capsule, there was awe and reverence in their voices and manners that I do not believe was faked.
2. Do you think that the International Space Station is real?
Yes.
I've personally watched it cross the skies overhead, both with a telescope, and with my unaided eyes.
Ditto when Skylab was up there.
3. Did SpaceX launch a car into space?
Most likely yes.
I haven't really followed this story, but it could be easily disproven if untrue, and I sincerely doubt that Musk would risk that.
I'm just sorry it wasn't a Delorean. ;-)
4. Is the Earth flat?
No.
My mom used to make jokes about it, and the curvature of Earth is clearly evident even from a boat out at sea, much less at 35,000 feet altitude in a jet.
As a science major, I've never taken the theory seriously, because there is no credible science to back it up.
Additionally, if there really is a 1,000 foot tall (roughly 300 meters) ice wall at the edge of the flat earth, where are the ancient legends from civilizations in the Southern hemisphere, and/or those civilizations that traveled there?
There should be loads of them, from the tips of the southern continents to South Sea island nations to ancient mariners and more recent aviators, but I've yet to come across any, despite pointedly looking for them. At length.
The only ice wall legends are recent. Major red flag.
The ancient legends (and laughably inaccurate, though often gorgeous, and highly artistic maps) that do reference the edge of the Earth, also refer to fears of falling off the edge, which is clearly not even remotely possible in the face of a 1,000 foot tall ice wall.
And, so far, the "sources" I've been sent that supposedly "prove" the theory are conjecture at best, and abysmally bad (or nonexistent) science at worst.
And, quite frankly, have consisted almost entirely of YouTube videos. Which is sort of akin to using Wikipedia as a cited source in a scientific paper: in short, not credible.
To say that the theory lacks credulity is an understatement. I personally consider it bogus.
5.a. Have the Chinese really landed a probe on the dark side of the moon?
(And yeah, I know
I'm inclined to think yes.
Despite our not being able to "see" the dark side of the moon, there are enough high resolution telescopes pointed at the moon at any given time, some of which we know record video in real time, not to mention all the satellites able to see and record movements in China, that it would be easily and quickly disproven if false.
And that's not even counting NASA or military surveillance.
b. Will the Chinese be able to achieve their stated directive of growing crops on the moon?
Probably, though to what degree, and how "normally" the crops will grow, is an open-ended question.
We know that, in the absence of gravity, plant roots grow in every direction, and water and plant nutrients float, requiring methods of encapsulating them so the roots can benefit from said water and nutrients.
The moon has gravity, albeit roughly 1/6 of that on Earth's surface, which should reduce the above issues, though not eliminate them entirely.
c. So why the dark side of the moon, especially to grow crops, which require ample light to grow?
Perhaps to reduce the risk of too much harmful UV radiation, in favor of more controllable artificial light, which is potentially a real benefit.
But why else might they choose the dark side of the moon? The better to work in darkness, aka in secret, aka less likely to be easily observed and observable.
There is good reason why the Chinese have long been considered inscrutable by Western nations.
But, if they are considering manning their moon stake any time soon, they might want to check out "Apollo 18," which calls itself "The real reason we never went back to the moon."
Evidently, it's a cinematic marriage of "Alien" with "The Blair Witch Project," and according to this review from SETI, it might be fun. ;-)
https://www.seti.org/seti-institute/project/details/apollo-18-moon-livelier-you-think
I personally have loved the idea of space travel since I was a kid, and remember once being fascinated when my mom told me that a Russian satellite (one of the later Sputniks) was flying high over our heads at that very moment.
I was maybe four or five at the time. Yes, I am that old.
My sisters and I, like most American schoolchildren, were well aware of President Kennedy's intention that we put men on the moon by the end of the decade, Florida's Cape Canaveral was renamed Cape Kennedy in his honor, and we were excited by the prospects.
Later, when the Apollo program started up in earnest, I was crushed and devastated when the Apollo 1 capsule caught fire during a routine test, quickly spiraling out of control with the nearly pure oxygen atmosphere inside the capsule, killing all three astronauts on board.
It was a national tragedy.
In the mid-1990s, following a trip to Kennedy Space Center with my then-husband, I was invited to a series of events by NASA, including a speech given by then-NASA administrator Daniel Goldin.
It was a damned good speech, my husband and stepkids were quite impressed that I'd been invited (he went with me; they lived out of state), and all attendees were given a hefty goodie bag, with a massive amount of data that I promptly went home and read, some of which I translated into artworks in my art and framing studio.
One if the things I had not known until then is that NASA, though NASA has the smallest budget of any government agencies, it alone generates several times its annual budget in revenue for the American economy through technology transfer.
As of that time, for every $1 dollar spent on NASA in the U.S. budget, $7 dollars entered the United States economy. This is still true, though the actual figure may now be different.
So if our government actually cared about balancing the budget, they's be allocating more money to NASA's budget, not less.
Do you like your memory foam mattress? Thank NASA.
They are also responsible for innovations as wide-ranging as freeze dried foods, aural thermometers, aircraft de-icing systems, cochlear implants, mylar "space blankets," grooved pavements to reduce accidents in inclement weather, and much, much more.
My former spouse and I also went to see several shuttle launches from the Cape, as up close and personal as possible, and watched even more from his condo in Seminole, and from the bridge near the condo after it was built.
I even wrote a poem which mentioned watching shuttle launches from our bridge over Lake Seminole years ago:
The Hourglass Lake
I see them o'er the hourglass lake
From dawn to evening late
My noble feathered neighbors
Are the osprey and his mate
For near our home there is a bridge
That they have claimed as theirs
A vantage point from which to spy
Both singly and in pairs
A light pole gave my sighting first
A railing sighting two
But to watch them fly patrolling
Is what I most like to do
For in truth there is not just one pair
But maybe two or three
And I feel blessed to have them here
As neighbors close to me
Not long ago we had no bridge
No access to this view
And mangroves thick and tangled tight
Prevented passage too
Although we feared the coming change
And the coming dreadful noise
Once finished we first saw the sight
Of neighborhoods in poise
A gathering place for man and bird
Has brought us quiet cheer
And shuttle launches from the Cape
Are best when viewed from here
No noise disturbs our reverie
Nor our unobstructed view
For reflected in both lake and sky
Is the best Mankind can do
The thousands come together
To make possible this trip
Gives me hope for our small planet
Centered on one tiny ship
Oblivious to all above
Near motionless he swims
An alligator rises, breathes,
And silent sinks again
The boaters see them seldom
For they sink at sudden sounds
But when it again grows quiet
Arise again their knobby mounds
And although the lake seems undisturbed
No ripples on the surface
He just below it waits for prey
Deliberate in his purpose
And though we think him base and mean
Not worthy of our love
In truth he eats the same fish
As the osprey high above
So whom then shall we emulate
The osprey or the gator
Will we pledge to take the high road
Or procrastinate ‘till later
For the osprey and the gator
And their neighbors great and small
Are dependent upon people
To protect the Earth for all
Now as I walk upon our bridge
I see the ones I love
The alligators far below
The ospreys high above
And standing o'er the hourglass lake
Comes the message bright and clear
That I at last am learning
I am blessed to be right here
1 Feb99
I am grateful, more than I can say, for the U.S. Space Program, for NASA and for the inspiration it has provided for me, for my friends and family, and God knows for generations of science fact and fiction writers and counting.
It was this inspiration, in large part, which led directly to the poem I posted above, written about the countless times I stood on our little bridge, observing the lake and her inhabitants, observing the ospreys and bald eagles, and watching launches from the Cape as they rose reflected in the lake's surface.
Keep in mind that Seminole, Florida, is three hours by car from Cape Canaveral, where the launches actually took place. It is indeed a small world, after all.
So yes, I'm an avowed space cadet, and happy to be one.
Care to join me?
I am dedicating this post to #gratitudelog, to those posting using this tag, and to further this project, half the liquid proceeds earned from this post will be transferred to the author of the top post(s) chosen using this tag.
The photo above was taken by me on a 2009 trip to Lake Seminole Park, then a ten minute drive from my home, though when I wrote the poem it was more like a ten minute walk or bike ride to our closest entrance.
I love that park, and recommend it highly to anyone visiting the Tampa Bay area, specifically Pinellas County, Florida. Beautiful place, well maintained, with great walking and bike paths, and a true slice of West Central Florida at its best.
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