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Ian A. Duncan
A lunar module on display at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island, N.Y., could have been used for an Apollo 18 mission if it hadn't been canceled. (Learn more from the museum website and Flyian.net.)
The secret moon mission depicted in the movie "Apollo 18" is a totally bogus Hollywood invention — but if NASA ever wanted to redo the Apollo program, the Cradle of Aviation Museum has just the thing: the lunar lander that would have flown during Apollo 18.
"We like to say that it's fully loaded to go to the moon if they want to use it," quipped Andrew Parton, executive director of the Long Island museum.
The lunar module, designated LM-13, is just a small part of the hardware that was left behind when the Apollo moon program was canceled earlier than originally scheduled due to budgetary constraints. The last manned moon mission, Apollo 17, went to the Taurus-Littrow valley in December 1972. The Hollywood version of Apollo 18 was supposedly flown to investigate a spooky, "Blair Witchy" mystery on the moon — but the actual Apollo 18, 19 and 20 moonshots were aimed at widening lunar exploration and scoping out sites for future moon bases. (This report goes into what would have happened if the Apollo program were extended.)
After the first moon landing in 1969, Washington began pulling back on NASA's Apollo ambitions, having concluded that the space race was won. By the end of 1970, Apollo 18 was scrapped — and so was millions of dollars worth of Apollo hardware, including the Cradle of Aviation Museum's lunar lander.
Some of the leftover Apollo spaceships and Saturn V rocket stages were converted for use on the Skylab space station project in 1973 and the historic Apollo-Soyuz linkup in 1975. Other pieces were parceled out to museums, including NASA's Johnson Space Center and Kennedy Space Center, as well as the Smithsonian in Washington, the Franklin Institute in Philadelpha and the Cradle of Aviation Museum. For an exhaustive list of what happened to NASA's hardware, check out "A Field Guide to American Spacecraft."
The LM-13 lander was an unfinished shell when it came to the Long Island museum, Parton said. "We had our volunteer restoration crew, many of whom worked on the program at Grumman, work on it," he told me.
The lunar module has already had a turn in the Hollywood spotlight, as a prop for the 1998 HBO miniseries "From the Earth to the Moon." Today it's set up as an exhibit with a mannequin in a spacesuit, making as if it's about to step on the lunar surface for Apollo 18. Parton says "a fair amount of folks from NASA" come up to see the display, and he's expecting traffic to increase after the movie makes its debut.
"They'll see the movie, and then probably come out to see the exhibit," he said.
From scrap yard to backyard
In addition to the big pieces, lots of little pieces from the tail end of the Apollo program were sold off as surplus in the 1970s. Some of them weren't so little: Dale W. Cox Jr., a retired naval officer and a semifinalist for NASA's Mercury space program, happened to be driving by a scrap yard in California in 1970 when he noticed an array of titanium tanks and pipes sitting out for display.
"I learned that Apollo 18 had been canceled, and that all the titanium work in progress was being scrapped," Cox, now 90, told me today. "And there it was, so I just bought the whole thing for 10 cents a pound."
Cox's wife, Patricia, is an artist — and it wasn't long before she and another artist, Jae Carmichael, embellished the shimmery hardware with artistic touches and put the assemblages on display. "It would have been pretty dull if she hadn't put all the pieces together," Dale Cox said. "She transformed them into space junk as an art form."
Cox tried putting one of the tanks, measuring 15 feet high and weighing about 95 pounds, up for sale on eBay with an asking price of $104,000. "I got one bid at $7,500, which I rejected," he said. That offer still would have made Cox a healthy profit, assuming he paid $9.50 for the metal in 1970. But instead, he shipped the tank and other space hardware up to his son in the Seattle area, Dale Cox III.
Alan Boyle / msnbc.com
Half of a titanium tank that was once destined to go inside a lunar module now sits beside a 600-year-old yew tree in the front yard of Dale Cox III's house in the Seattle area. See more titanium artwork.
The younger Cox showed me around the displays in his backyard this week. Two lunar module fuel tanks look as if they're ready to load up, while another tank is still in pieces. When Cox banged on the 15-footer, which may have been built for the Saturn V rocket, it bonged like a Tibetan bell.
"Titanium never changes color, and it doesn't corrode," Dale Cox III told me. "It's been outside since my dad bought it, and it's basically never changed."
Murky mysteries in history
Were all those tanks destined for Apollo 18? The Coxes like to think so, but there's really no way to say definitively where particular components might have gone if the moon program were extended. "The most reliable way to say it would be to say that the hardware was for a canceled mission, but that final assignments weren't made," said Robert Pearlman, editor of the CollectSpace website for space history and collectibles.
He noted that lots of space hardware was being shifted around during the 1970s, for a variety of missions that may or may not have happened. The first stage of a Saturn V rocket that was at one time destined for Apollo 18 serves as a typical case: Testing on the rocket stage was completed in 1971. Then it was put in storage. Then it was pulled out of storage as a backup for the Skylab first stage. Then it was put back in storage. Then, in 1977, it was moved to Johnson Space Center to become an inert part of its rocket display.
"Its assignment was for Apollo 18, but its testing was completed after 18 was already canceled," Pearlman observed. "So by the time it was ready for a mission, there was no moon mission to fly."
Even before it was canceled, the plans for Apollo 18 were similarly murky. Most accounts say it was destined to explore the moon's Copernicus Crater, but Tycho Crater and the lunar farside were also mentioned as potential (and potentially riskier) destinations. Pearlman owns a 1970 globe of the moon that shows Apollo 18 going to Tycho, near the landing site of the Surveyor 7 probe.
By most accounts, Apollo 12 command module pilot Dick Gordon would have been the commander of Apollo 18, with Vance Brand and Harrison Schmitt serving as crewmates. But in the waning days of the moon program, Schmitt's assignment was switched to Apollo 17, which made him the only professional scientist to set foot on the moon. Joe Engle, who was bumped from Apollo 17, might have flown on Apollo 18 — but who knows?
"The Apollo 18 crew, whoever they were supposed to be, never got far enough to name a spacecraft or design a mission patch," Pearlman said. Sure, you might see some Apollo 18 patches floating around, but Pearlman said "those patches are complete fabrications, they're alternate histories that have no relation to actual fact."
Gordon retired from NASA in 1972, even before Apollo was finished. Brand, meanwhile, became the command module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz mission (which is sometimes referred to as Apollo 18) and went on to fly three space shuttle missions. Engle helped test the space shuttle and flew on two orbital missions.
Future fiction and fact
Aside from the fact that there are scary monsters in the "Apollo 18" movie, how close does Hollywood come to the Apollo reality? That's hard to judge at this point, because the studio hasn't made the film available for advance screenings. But based on the trailer, Pearlman is intrigued.
Official NASA records say that 1972's Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the moon, but newly uncovered footage of a secret Defense Department flight may explain why we haven't gone back. Watch the trailer from "Apollo 18."
"The look of the lunar module and the spacesuits and the other equipment seems to be surprisingly accurate for this type of film, more accurate than for bigger-budget films like 'Transformers,'" he told me.
That verisimilitude may be due to NASA's collaboration on the production. Now that the space shuttle program is over, the space agency is trying harder to stay engaged with the public and the media world. Its recently announced partnerships with Tor-Forge Books on sci-fi novels and with the National Institute of Aerospace on the "Innovation Now" radio program serve as prime examples. When it comes to "Apollo 18," however, NASA may be having second thoughts. The Los Angeles Times reported today that NASA has begun to back away from its association with the movie.
Strangely enough, we're heading into a month when real-life moon missions are taking on more prominence: A week from today, NASA is due to launch its twin Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft toward the moon to study its gravity field. The $496 million GRAIL mission is due to last several months.
Also next week, the science team for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is scheduled to unveil new high-resolution images of Apollo landing sites. The pictures won't reveal that there are Hollywood monsters on the moon, but they will be useful to wave in the faces of those who still question whether the Apollo moon landings really happened.
The moon has even come back into the discussions of potential destinations for international deep-space voyages, after a period during which NASA turned its back on going back to the moon. We may be hearing more about the debate over future space exploration in the weeks to come. Maybe someday, we'll be able to follow in Apollo's footsteps for real.
Are you planning to see "Apollo 18"? I'd love to hear what you thought of the movie, or other fictional moon flicks such as "Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon," "Fly Me to the Moon" or plain old "Moon." Share your mini-reviews in the comment space below.
More on Apollo 18 in fiction and fact:
- PhotoBlog: Apollo hardware transformed into art
- Could NASA launch a secret moon mission?
- What if NASA hadn't canceled the Apollo program?
- Astronotes: The truth about the lost moon missions
Thanks to Ian A. Duncan for sharing his picture of the lunar module at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.
For a fictionalized treatment of the U.S. space program, check out the 1982 novel "Space" by James Michener, which includes its own version of an Apollo 18 mission. I'm officially designating "Space" as the latest selection for the Cosmic Log Used Book Club, which highlights books with cosmic themes that you can find at your favorite library or used-book outlet. Check out this archive for nine years' worth of CLUB Club selections.
If you're looking for a brand-new book to read, look into "Selecting the Mercury Seven: The Search for America's First Astronauts" by Colin Burgess. The book tells the story behind the selection process for the Mercury 7, and it turns out that Dale Cox Jr. is the book's principal character. "Dale Cox has led a truly amazing life, and it is fully covered in 'Selecting the Mercury Seven,'" Burgess says.
Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or adding me to your Google+ circle. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for other worlds.
Leave a Comment:
I thought "Moon" was a very good film. One thing I noticed about it that struck me as paying attention to the way things really work on the moon is that the plumes of dirt thrown out by the harvesters arced out in a perfect fan shape. On earth these are effected by wind, higher gravity and being in atmosphere, but none of that applies on the moon, and the film makers/FX creators got it right. Though crawling into the module that returns the Helium 3 to Earth, with just a few supplies in a bag and no life support system(!) might have made for an interesting trip.
No one can be for certain if Apollo 18 happened or did not happen the same thing with the Russian launch to the Moon. Back then launches could be covered up by merely saying that they were the chem trails of a jet liner traveling across the sky. Because of the curvature of the Earth some routes that a plane takes makes it look like it was a rocket launched.
Proof One - You'll notice in the second image that it looks like a rocket has been launched due to the angle that the picture was taken at.
Proof Two - You'll notice in most of the images the vapor trail seems to go straight up into the sky like a rocket has been launched but is due to the formula at the bottom of the article page. So who is too say that Apollo 18 did not occur where the opposite reason for the contrails for the launch was given as merely a plane flying overhead.
You can't "hide" a Saturn V launch. Jet liners don't leave a half mile long flame trail that can be seen 100 miles away. Having seen to many rocket launches to count, it's pretty easy to distinguish a contrail trail from a rocket trail. Rocket trails tend to take on a corkscrew appearance because high altitude winds move in different directions. If the trail is relatively straight, it's a jet.
There were 200,000 people working at NASA when Apollo 18 would have launched. Itr would be very hard to keep it a secret. Now what the Department of Defense is doing is another story. DoD budget is $26 billion compared to NASA's $18 billion.
RJMcBean
Apollo 18 is SciFi, But
It's amazing what they can keep secret. The Manhattan project involved over 80 thousand people & it didn't leak out. The SR71 Blackbird flew for 20 plus years before it became known with thousands of people involved.
During the Apollo program there were multiple launch sites that could be used in different States. Missiles were launched frequently from all. It wouldn't take much effort to launch an unannounced Flight & pass it off as a routine commercial or military Satellite or even a heavy lift Nuclear capable missile test launch which were quite frequent at the time.
Some of the amazing projects they allow the public to be aware of & it's progress or failures during development are diversions. We know their developing something & they give us something to divert our attention from what their really doing. There are many black projects that even our president isn't privy to nor our congressman & Senators. These people come & go with every election & if their informed of some of these things it's only on a need to know.
When the Stealth Bombers Etc... became known to the public & went into service you can bet there are other more highly advanced projects ready or nearly ready to follow when needed. Once your rivals are aware of what you have & what it can do, they will start working on technology to circumvent it. You always have plan B waiting in the wings that their totally unaware of while already working on the next advancement. Plan C. Maybe even Plan D
Here's a little story for ya. I had an uncle who served in the Airforce, Retired after 25 years. Served in combat in Korea & non-combat in Nam. Stationed all over the world during that 25 years.
We were having a beer at a club & he was reminiscing about what he'd seen, where he'd been, getting to know the people & being invited to there homes for meals. He liked trying there native cuisine & learning their customs, Things we would never eat. Some of it's nasty to the American pallet.
He got quite for a minute, Then Said damdist thing... When he was stationed in Texas, there was 30 days he was on special duty. They would load him & others up & drive for about an hour & a half then pick someone up & drop one of them of. Out in the middle of nowhere with rations & a Radio. No roads except a worn path from dropping & picking them up. No fence, no buildings nothing. They would stand guard for eight hours & be switched. Their orders were to send anyone who stumbled into the vicinity back the way they came. Other then that they were told you don't know nothing, You didn't see nothing & Don't get nosy.
During that 30 days he watched 2 aircraft come in low as if landing but because of the terrain you couldn't see anything & he didn't hear a crash or anything so he assumed they landed. The second time he said his curiosity got the better of him so he walked up to the top of a ridge. What he saw was a low flat valley. Rock & Sand. Nothing else. Buildings, fence, guard house nothing.
He also had know Idea were this was at, as they were transported in a canvas covered vehicle, but his best guess from the general direction & time to get there, it was somewhere near the Texas - New Mexico state border.
All the government would really have to do to cover something like this up is deny it and come up with a half way plausible cover story. The average person would believe it without question and anyone else who tried to say otherwise would be labeled a crazy conspiracy theorist and no one would believe them anyway. As for the people involved, a government issued non-disclosure agreement with a fine, lawsuit, jail time and ties to the Espionage act is enough to keep 99.9% of the project workers quiet. Especially if said project workers are military.
I am not sure what NASA's motivation would be to launch a secret moon mission though. Even if they found "something" that they didn't want the public to know about, it isn't like anyone besides NASA would be able to go to the moon and investigate for themselves...
OmegaZ,
There's no dispute on how much the government can keep secret. Ironic that you should mention the Manhattan Project, as both my parents were part of that project. They both worked in administrative positions and only knew that it as a massive government project somehow related to the war effort. It was forbidden to talk about or even speculate what they were working on. They had no clue it was nuclear related until the newspaper reported the bombing of Hiroshima. That's how the government keeps secrets, as with your uncle's experience, they compartmentalize duties so that only the very few at the top know the whole picture.
But getting back to the mental exercise of a secret Saturn V launch, yes there are other sites that can launch smaller, and specifically more portable launch vehicles, but none that could handle a Saturn V. Even if they could, where are they going to assemble it? The only infrastructure we have that's capable is the VAB at KSC. And it's a major task to move the thing the short distance from the VAB to the gantry. That's what makes the idea of a "secret" launch so unrealistic. But the clincher is, why would they even try to hide the launch in the first place. It would be far, far easier to simply obscure the mission. KSC launches "secret" satellites all the time. They even publish when the launch is going to occur and it's covered on local radio. They simply tell the public that the mission is classified and everyone accepts that.
Just wondering if the same conspiracy theorist who'll seize on this and say that there really was an Apollo 18, are the same people who deny that we ever really landed on the moon.
I get a little uneasy when folks start trying to equate science fiction with science fact (I love both). However, I will say that, IMHO, governments and government bodies lie to "protect". I believe NASA is interested in finding and disseminating the truth but I alsoknow they are an arm of the government and there is a lot more I don't know vs what I do know. "Apollo 18" is strictly Hollywood and should be considered in that light alone. Don't dishonor the space program or the men and women that particpate and sacrifice by lending any credence to a movie outside of the entertainment value.
"It's amazing what they can keep secret. The Manhattan project involved over 80 thousand people & it didn't leak out. The SR71 Blackbird flew for 20 plus years before it became known with thousands of people involved."
And none of them involved launching a BFR that everyone already knew to exist, from one of only two places it could be launched (Pad 39 and 39a). You're accustomed to Shuttle launches,at best. When a Saturn took off, everyone knew it.
I will also say that you can't hide a Saturn launch. When it did, people as far north as New York could witness it on a clear day, to say nothing of the surrounding 500 miles. It's not a hobby rocket.
Mitchell
If I recall correctly it was once said that the firing of a Saturn V first stage is the second loudest man-made noise, surpassed only by an atomic bomb detonation.
The logistics of handling and launching one of those monsters limited them to only KSC. As was already mentioned, don't hide it, classify it.
And the Russians had at least one mole working in Los Alamos during the Manhattan project.
Another subject for conspiracy theorists to wrap their warped heads around. Endless hours "proving" that thousands of people sent a rocket to the moon without the world finding out. What fun!
Elvis knew the truth and was about to tell the world. They silenced him so he woudn't talk.
Apollo 18, a true story, it really happened. Elvis told me before he was murdered. He knew a lot of stuff. He knew the name of the JFK assassin on the grassy knoll. He knew the real facts behinds Marilyn Monroe's death and he knew who really killed Bobby Kennedy and how they did it and why.
But Apollo 18 was the big secret and the reason he was killed before he could tell the world.
Be afraid, be very afraid. Why do you think NASA is so reluctant to go back to the moon? Why aren't the Russians going to the moon? Something is waiting for them up there and they know it.
Apollo 18. Fact.
Oh yeah, and Rush Limbaughs never lies, Sarah Palin is a genius and Rick Perry IS the Messiah.
WOW this is news? I love how MSNBC and how hard they look for stories that keep their "journalists" busy.
Where are the stories on Maxine Waters, Andre Carson or King Samir Shabbaz? Haven't seen much on those stories. Hell you have a radical racist teaching children HOW TO KILL WHITEY in Shabbaz (with video of said teaching events, children in the front row). Andre Carson and Maxine Waters both playing the race card, with Andre throwing around more violent rhetoric and Maxine telling banks that they (the CBC) will push to tax them out of existance...
BUT HEY IF AN IMAGINARY SPACE PROJECT IS SOMETHING THEY CONSIDER REAL JOURNALISM WHO AM I TO COMPLAIN?
Matthew: Don't forget about Obama running guns across the border to drug cartels, which then uses those same guns to get Americans killed.
How is it that Valerie Plame warranted a special prosecutor during the Bush administration, even though the source of the leak was known to be a Democrat, and yet running a gun smuggling ring to drug cartels and getting Americans killed doesn't??
This administration really is contemptible.
Here's the dedicated page about Maxine Waters:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38537532/?q=Maxine%20Waters
Here's a story about Andre Carson:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44347095/ns/local_news-indianapolis_in/t/andre-carson-responds-tea-party-controversy/
I see that there's some buzz about King Samir Shabazz on Free Republic and other sites, I suppose there'll be stories on this, too. But that's not the sort of thing I write about. Imaginary (and real) space projects are more up my alley. Sorry to disappoint.
Actually, this is getting a bit off topic ... please feel free to chime in on First Read if you wish, but I think I'll be trash-canning any further comments on this score.
As promised, I've trash-canned a few additional comments on this thread. Sorry to those commenters, but this isn't the place to chew over Obama, Bush, bin Laden, etc. Unless al-Qaida has a moon program.
Ah, you will find the news about Obama, on the politics pages this is a hollywood / science fun story, jeez.
al-Qaida... IN... SPAAAAAACE!!!!!!
They probably saw a bootleg copy of this movie, think it is real, and are planning to go to the moon and kidnap some of these creatures to use in a biological attack on the United States. Iran's space program is a cover for secret al-Qaida missions to the moon. (it is as good a conspiracy theory as any other...)
As for the movie, I went and saw it last night. It wasn't a bad movie. If you like the Blair Witch\Cloverfield\Paranormal activity\Quarantine style of movies then you will defiantly enjoy Apollo 18. If you don't like that kind of movie you will hate it and want to kill your self. I personally liked the movie for what it was but I don't think it is going to break any box office records or win any academy awards. And I can understand why a lot of people are not going to like it.
@dwighthuth
Apollo 18 did not happen. While it may be possible to pass off a rocket launch as a plane trail if you're looking at it from far away, anyone in the area of Florida around Cape Canaveral could tell you that it's pretty impossible to miss a rocket as big as the Saturn V going up. You don't only see the trail from around there, you hear the roar, see the ROCKET and see the flame. It would be kind of hard to cover that one up.
What in heavens name ever convinced any of you that the moon even exists?
If we're going to question....let's question.
Frankly, unless you've flown around the world and did so with some instruments in hand, you would have a difficult time proving the world was not flat.
Hell...we'll believe anything. Just suggest it.
All I have to say is @Matthew:
No, this is not news. This is a blog, concerning all things related to astronomy, space, and cosmology. If you want to read those stories, head to the appropriate MSNBC section, or use the links kindly provided by the author of this "news article."
I loooooovvvvvvvveeeeeeeeeee space.
The Apollo 18's "real" LM-13, now supposedly standing on it's own at the Cradle of Aviation Museum, could not have supported its weight against earth's gravity. It's structure was designed for the moon's 1/6 earth's gravity and would have collapsed, crushing its spindly legs trying to stand on earth. Maybe it did go to the moon! :)
By the same token spiders should be unable to walk without using crutches.
I know that the LEM was a true space vehicle--meaning it could not withstand flight in earth's atmosphere. But I doubt that it was so fragile that it would have collapsed under its own weight on earth. If it was unable to support it's own weight, then it would have been virtually impossible for it to have survived any sort of handling whle it was on earth--including transporting it to the launch pad, and securely installing it in the spacecraft for transport, much less the traumatic forces it would have experienced during takeoff.
I admit that I don't know for sure, but I would certainly need much more evidence to convince me that this statement is true.
Think about it. Why design the lunar module's landing legs to be 6 times stronger than necessary when cost per pound to launch to the moon and and then descend to the surface of the moon is so high? NASA didn't. The LM cant stand on it's own legs on earth. The LM's frame was secured to the Saturn for the stress of launch, with it's legs folded in and under.
OK, as a museum piece, with no astronauts, fuel, oxidizer, engines, rover, supplies, other gear, and oh ya, moon rocks on board, maybe it could stand on earth, barely. But not loaded, configured for lunar landing.
Ken, the legs aren't solely required to support the LM's weight on the Moon. They are also required to withstand landing on the Moon too. Even a very modest 1ft/sec touchdown would add a significant amount of stress to the legs and I'm willing to bet they designed it to withstand a much harsher landing that would far exceed the necessary strength needed to support the LM on Earth.
Mitchell
Mitchell, if I understand you right, on a craft such as a Harrier jump jet, that it's landing gear would be able to support 5 more Harriers stacked on top of the first one? Another way to look at it. Could the LM support 5 more LM's on top of the first on the moon? I think the LM's honey comb shocks would be bottomed out and the LM engine nozzle crushed.
Absolutely ridiculous.Â
"Back then launches could be covered up..."
"Proof one" "Proof two"
What is you concept of North America in the 1970s? Please, get therapy.
Fom the article:
"...due to budgetary constraints."
"...if the Apollo program were extended."
"...NASA and the White House began pulling back on their Apollo ambitions,..."
The Apollo Program was cancelled by Congressional majority. They claimed they wanted to spend the money to "Create jobs"--sound familiar? The result was that of eveyone employed by the Apollo Program losing their jobs.
There was no question of extending the program, it was a matter of it having been cut short.
Good point, I've tweaked the language that you pointed out a little bit. When I'm talking about Apollo extension, I'm talking about the Apollo Applications Program.
Wanna make real horror-movies?
Then get y'ass to Mars !!
No special effects necessary.
Just drive on over to Endurance Crater, near Burns Cliff, not far from The Opportunity rover's landing-site, and hang around a while.
Sooner or later, you'll find what you're looking for.
Don't forget to pack a glock !
I plan to go see "Apollo 18" because I love just about anything space related. While I am very confident evil aliens aren't hiding on the Moon waiting for us to return I do look forward to seeing just how well the creators of this film did with the visuals and set pieces. I couldn't believe that Transformers 3 didn't have enough money in their budget to hire a space historian (like say me) who would have pointed out that the Assent Stage would not still be attached to the Descent Stage of any LM found on the Moon. That sight just took me out of any semblance of suspended reality I had for that film. "Apollo 18" looks like they got those details right which will allow me to relax and enjoy the creature feature aspect of the plot. It is also cool that they find a Soviet lunar lander in this story. Who knows how Project Apollo would have played out if the Russians had actually made it to the Moon. Maybe we wouldn't have been so quick to put the bought, built and ready to fly hardware in storage to be sold off or placed in museums after Apollo 17, Skylab & Apollo-Soyuz. It will be interesting to see the reviews of this movie after Cosmic Log readers have seen in at their local cinema.
I hate to be nit-picky but "assent" means a yes answer. The word you want is "ascent".
Reminds me of one of the early "Futurama" episodes, where Fry and Leela went to the moon to deliver a shipment of crane-game stuffed animals to "Lunar Disney". Fry insisted on going to the 11 landing site; the ascent stage of the lander was there, and there was a plaque in it that read, "Placed here by the Historical Sticklers Society".
I don't care if it didn't happen I'm going to see the movie anyway.
Same here.
Here's a link to a pretty interesting take on this story to all who wre interested in this subject and movie.
After reading this story again Apollo 18 may have happened with the help of the Department of Defense.
www.space.com/12794-nasa-secret-apollo-18-moon-mission-plausibility.htm
If the link doesn't show up just go to Space dot com and search Apollo 18. It's the story entitled "Apollo 18:Could NASA Launch a Secret Moon Mission".
Right, Space.com is one of our valued partners, and I link to their story on our site:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44359677/ns/technology_and_science-science/
There's no way an Apollo launch could have been done secretly from the U.S. ... The rockets are just too big. Maybe if the Pentagon had a secret base on Dr. Evil's island ...
Be careful Mr Boyle. The Pentagon Does have a secret base on Dr Evil's Island. Apollo 18 was used to exchange an earth child with an alien one from Teaflop Prime. Meanwhile the real earthchilds birth certificate was changed from Kenyan to....
Well there's a lot of things the goverment does that we don't about and may never know. Maybe we were told they were sending up a satellite instead. Most likely not but I wouldn't put anything past the goverment.
the keepers of the secrets are getting old and at 1 point or another some think the old threats no longer work
If the movie is a hit, the filmmakers already have two built-in sequels--to rescue the Apollo 18 crew, re-engage or dispatch vengeance upon, the hideously violent yet brilliantly clever moon aliens, etc--via the subsequent Apollo 19 and 20 missions which also "never happened."
Test.
Pass!! :)
I've just come back from watching Apollo 18. I love anything to do with the Apollo space program - As a 10 year old, watching Apollo 11 moonwalk live forged an liflelong enthusiasm for this most amazing achievement. I loved Apollo 13 the movie, all the documentaries talking about Apollo. So, having watched the trailer for Apollo 18 recently, I went to watch it tonight on the big screen. You can guess what I'm going to say. I think it was the most boring, unengaging dross I've seen in a long time. The slightly affected "filmed as it happened" style of Cloverfield and Blair Witch, plus its claim to be made from secret footage taken from Apollo 18, the inconsistent storyline and the poorly executed suggestions of alien bugs roaming around the moon, all made the experience something I would rather forget. Save yourself the price of movie tickets and the overinflated cost of popcorn and go out for a meal in a restaurant instead and wait for this movie to come to the tv network sooner than you think. A real thumbs down from someone who is usually really enthusiastic about space movies, fact or fiction. Trust me, you'll be disappointed.
Well that's disappointing. I was looking foward to seeing this movie. The reviews on Yahoo weren't good either. I guess this is why it wasn't an advanced screening for the critics.
Just ask Richard Hoagland-- there is an ancient ruin of a glass city on the moon! These clever aliens are probably just hiding in the basement...
The Lunar Lander was something from the future. I am sure that in the backs of peoples minds all over the world, when they see that thing, you just got to wonder. There will never be something like that designed that speaks of a time in history. A time like the wonderful ships that sailed the oceans on earth to new lands. And then there was the rover...
Even aliens would take notice.
...take notice of an ape hybrid species that actually ended up with a mind.
On what planet was an ape hybrid species with a mind discovered? Because based on my experience with my fellow ape hybrids, it surely wasn't on this planet.
NO WAY just too many loose lips, eyes, telescopes floating around. Even the USAF super secret X-37's orbit is secret no more. The Saturn 5 main engines called F-1 were so powerful that they registered on seimosgraphs 1500 miles away! Now if you believe everything that the Weekly World News prints then an overhead lamp reflecting off a window was actually made by UFO aliens!