Stop me if you've heard this one before...

Do I recall correctly that Buzz Aldrin never shot any still pix of Neil Armstrong while they were on the moon because Buzz forgot or was distracted by the mission or it hadn't occurred to him to do such a thing or for reasons of ego, etc?

This made me think how likely that could have been had the whole thing been a studio hoax. Shots of Armstrong on the moon would be one of the very top objectives for the hoax brass and there is no way extensively trained handlers, exhaustively checking for the slightest discrepency that might give them all away, wouldn't have been motioning charade-style, off-camera, for Aldrin to "take... a... darn... picture!"

And now I'm contemplating the situation where after billions of dollars spent in support of a hoax, one thing, such as dropped car keys on the fake moonscape, gives it all away. "Ahh, nuts... Oh, well. Good try everybody. But I'm sure the world will have a good laugh & understand..."

RBG

There are very few photos of Armstrong on the Moon because there was only one Hasselblad camera, and Armstrong had it just about the whole time. This is the only good still image of Neil on the Moon.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

The reason there aren't many pictures of Armstrong on the moon is because it was in fact Armstrong who had the camera most of the time.

From ALSJ

AS11-40-5894
110:34:13 This underexposed picture of the Ascent Stage shows Neil at the MESA (lower left corner). The fact that Neil is in this picture was first noticed by Apollo historian Andrew Chaikin.


EDIT:
Hit reply and then started to look for the image, missed ToSeek's reply.

Well, you folks may be perfectly right about there being only one camera, but I did have this faint recollection about reading that there were two.

But where to start reading to find such a thing? So I was pretty pleased with myself to find it in the first book I opened:

NASA's first flight director & former Director of the LBJ Space Center, Chris Kraft says on page 324 of his 2001 book "Flight": "They both had fine Hasselblad 70mm cameras attached to their chests, but Aldrin took no pictures of Neil Armstong."

Innocent mistake? Or is this the fine edge of the wedge that cracks this whole conspiracy thing wide open?

:wink:

RBG

There were two Hasselblad cameras on the moon. But only one could be taken outside. The other one stayed in the LM. Contrary to the book, Armstrong and Aldrin shared a camera during the EVA.

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"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams
Clavius Moon Base

info from this website. apparently the Hasselblad El data camera is the one carried on the suit. this subject was discussed before, maybe there is info on those other links.

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Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes? -- Groucho Marx

Yeah... and the truth is that the BA is really J-Lo!!

Have you ever seen the two of them photographed together??
Is this just a fantastically unlikely coincidence or the fine edge of
the wedge that cracks this whole sordid conspiracy thing wide open!! [-(

I think this speaks for itself… 8)
Outa here!!

There is no space book without a glitch, even if it is written by an insider. It would be more suspicious if all the stories told would agree 100% in everything.

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"Flying in space is risky business, but just staying on this planet is risky business too." - John Young, astronaut

He isn't on many still photos, yet he is constantly on the videotape and the 16mm camera.

Is there something special about still photography?

I heard that Buzz Aldrin deliberately did not take any pictures of Armstrong, out of spite becuase Armstrong pulled rank as to who was going to be first to step on the moon.

Anyone else hear that one ? :-?

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Unlikely - Buzz is too professional to let such things interfere with the mission.

Remember, the camera was to be used mostly as a photographic record of the science of the mission, not simply to take "tourist pictures". The fact that Armstrong had the camera most of the time is why there are so few pictures of him on the moon.

Also, IIRC, Neil was better at using the camera than Buzz, therefore its logical that Neil had the camera most of the time.

Sticks wrote : "Anyone else hear that one ?"

no ,


but it does not surprise me - after all almost every other silly accusation has been lobbed at the astronauts , so the falacy that they acted like petulant children and refused to take pictures was bound to crop up sooner or later

only some one with a HB mindset would actually beleive this , and be able to ignore the facts the astronauts were profesionals who came through the military and were selected for discipline , psychological stability etc

exactly the traits no HB sees when they look in the mirror , maybe thats why they cannot fathom when they manifest in other :-)

YRS - APE

I heard that Buzz Aldrin deliberately did not take any pictures of Armstrong, out of spite becuase Armstrong pulled rank as to who was going to be first to step on the moon.

First, Armstrong didn't pull rank. Second, the photo plan was trained on for months. Third, Aldrin's photo tasks never included "tourist" photos. Fourth, they have their visors down in every 70mm shot.

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"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams
Clavius Moon Base

I dimly remember a photo taken of Buzz, where you can see the reflection of Armstrong in the helmet.

Any clues where that one is?

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Fame, glory adventure, a cyber warrior craves not these things.

That would be AS11-40-5903, possibly the most famous picture of an astronaut on the Moon ever taken.

Of course, reflections of the other astronaut in the visors of the astronaut in the picture are not uncommon, given how reflective the visors were, and their spherical shape.

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"The very powerful and the very stupid have one thing in common: They don't alter their views to fit the facts, they alter the facts to fit their views." The Doctor, Doctor Who: The Face of Evil.

I wonder what will be the first words spoken on the surface of mars.

"This is a small step for me, as a proud minority woman, but for the greater multicultural civilization that I represent, it is a giant leap."

actually, you probably can't say "step" or "giant leap" because it constitutes discrimination against the disabled.

:wink:

Addressed above but it the answer is also fairly obvious in the photographic records from the various missions. Contrast this picture (as11-40-5903) of Buzz with this picture (AS12-46-6786) of Pete Conrad taken by Al Bean.

No camera on Buzz's chest but clearly visible on Pete's. I could find many more 70mm's from other missions like the one of Conrad, but you won't find any of Buzz or Neil Armstrong wearing a camera.

I know I've seen one of Aldrin's visor reflection enlarged and normalized to show Armstrong, but darn it if I can't find it now. Should be at ALSJ.

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/images11.html

__________________
"Flying in space is risky business, but just staying on this planet is risky business too." - John Young, astronaut

i love that picture! i had a huge poster of it in my room when i was a kid... having seen a lot of the transmissions live. man, those were exciting evenings.

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Who are you going to believe, me or your own eyes? -- Groucho Marx

I think only one camera was used by Neil & Buzz on the moon based on the following found in John N. Wilford's "We Reach The Moon" transcripts:

Aldrin: "Neil, if you'd take the camera, I'll work on the SEQ base. Try to get some closer pictures of that rock."

But it also shows, for a short time anyway, Buzz did have a camera.

RBG