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[Aqizzar]

Surely all of you have seen the excellent docudrama of Apollo 13?  Recalculating the course in-flight was the crux of the recovery, and they nearly blew at several points along the way.  Every gram of mass, every gram of fuel left and fuel expended, the slightest variation in angle and velocity, all has to be accounted for.  And the obvious point to remember, that you only get one chance to screw it up.

[Googolplexed]

Surely all of you have seen the excellent docudrama of Apollo 13?  Recalculating the course in-flight was the crux of the recovery, and they nearly blew at several points along the way.  Every gram of mass, every gram of fuel left and fuel expended, the slightest variation in angle and velocity, all has to be accounted for.  And the obvious point to remember, that you only get one chance to screw it up.

Yeah.
Actually IMO, I've been looking at this from a more theoretical standpoint, where you generally don't have to worry about that.
That being said though, I'm going to go through the old Apollo computer emulator, see to what extent it actually did do all these calculations

In other news, an argument in a topic ends with someone actually standing down and admitting the other contenders are right *gasp*

[Il Palazzo]

As for why people believe the landing was a hoax...  I've always been of the opinion that if we really did land on the moon, it means that the world/universe is much bigger than these folks can handle.

Some of the most vocal hoaxers that I've personally met have never been far beyond the city limits of their home town.  They have trouble grasping the idea that there's a whole world full of people out there.  And they're genuinely freaked out by the idea that there's all those billions of light-years worth of space around us.  I think it is easier for them just to think of the moon/sun/stars and lights in the sky.

I'd disagree on that. Of course, it all depends on what sort of people one meets, but the moon hoax proponents I know, seem to be also general conspiracy theorists - they find it more plausible to assume that the public is manipulated by some hidden forces behind the scenes.
Once this point of view is taken, it's just a matter of looking at everything and spotting details that could support their theories.
And the Moon landings lend themselves quite easilly to such a scrutiny, as there is very little easily accessible data on what was really going on, both from the scientific and organisational side.

If one doesn't know the science at work - which can't be really intuited from our everyday lives in this case - how can he judge if what he sees on those videos is realistically possible?
If one doesn't know what techniques were used in between the pictures/videos being taken, and the publication/broadcasting, how can he judge the source of artifacts he spots?

[Euld]

The flag is on the light side of the moon, right?  Why can't we just use a telescope to find the flag on the moon and put this silly conspiracy theory to rest? :/

[Hungry]

I'd be easier to just find the lander legs since those got left behind as well...then look around for the flag and footprints.

[Aqizzar]

Yeah, you can see plenty of the junk we left on the Moon with a good telescope.  I've confronted hoax-ists about this.  One guy said they were pictures drawn onto the Moon.  Another guy said they were all planted there by unmanned rockets, because no technology exists then or now to protect humans from the Van Allen Belt radiation.  I retorted that sending robots to the Moon to act like humans and plant flags, while staging the whole landing in a studio, and then keeping all of NASA silent for forty years would probably be harder than just sending men to the Moon.  They didn't like that answer.

[DJ]

I'm still amazed that not only did they land the capsule perfectly, they launched from the surface of the moon and managed to plot a tragectory that brought them back almost effortlessly, all with a pretty primitive set up.

I'd wager that sir Isaac Newton could've calculated the trajectories with just ink, quill, paper and a crapload of time. Computers just reduce the time required.

[Hungry]

Didnt isaac newton determine the curvature of the earth with extreme accuracy? or was that someone else back then.

[dragnar]

Didnt isaac newton determine the curvature of the earth with extreme accuracy? or was that someone else back then.

That was a a guy in Greece with nothing but a well and a protractor. He was only a few thousand meters off. Twas quite awesome.

Most conspiracy theories are stupidly easy to poke holes in, it's just that anyone who believes them are clearly ignoring logic anyway.

[kuro_suna]

I'm still amazed that not only did they land the capsule perfectly, they launched from the surface of the moon and managed to plot a tragectory that brought them back almost effortlessly, all with a pretty primitive set up.

I'd wager that sir Isaac Newton could've calculated the trajectories with just ink, quill, paper and a crapload of time. Computers just reduce the time required.

Isn't it only a high school level of physics to calculate the movement of a object in space with no air molecules to screw up the calculations.

[Criptfeind]

What does it matter if it was a fake or not?

[Il Palazzo]

I'm still amazed that not only did they land the capsule perfectly, they launched from the surface of the moon and managed to plot a tragectory that brought them back almost effortlessly, all with a pretty primitive set up.

I'd wager that sir Isaac Newton could've calculated the trajectories with just ink, quill, paper and a crapload of time. Computers just reduce the time required.

Isn't it only a high school level of physics to calculate the movement of a object in space with no air molecules to screw up the calculations.

Hmmm, do they teach calculus in high schools where you live?
Gravitational forces from two objects, varying with position on the trajectory; mass getting reduced each moment the engines burn; non-static surface of the target; braking in the atmosphere - good luck with all that and most likely more.

[Fossaman]

Anybody seen the Mythbusters episode about the moon landing hoax? They went through and actually did all the camera tricks that hoax proponents claim were used to make it look like the moon. It was pretty cool, especially since they decided the conspiracy nuts were wrong.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

Due to being THE DEADLEIST SON OF A BITCH IN SPACE, Sir Issac Newton could indeed have calculated the required Earth-Moon tragectory with tools that have no business calculating required Earth-Moon tragectory. Also, I think we should consider these two factors:

A. Bay 12 is troll free, unlike other forums.

B. Bay 12 is moon landing hoaxer free, unlike other forums.

Coincidence? I think not!

[Criptfeind]

Hmmm, do they teach calculus in high schools where you live?

Where do you live? It may not get very advanced but of course they teach calculus in high school.