Hello all.

I have a co-worker that seems to think not only was the Apollo Moon landing faked, ALL the moon landings were faked.

His reasoning seems to hinge on this theory which he had heard. It's similar to the Van Allen belt argument, but with a different twist. He claims that Earth's atmosphere filters out a lot of the radiation out there. He also claims that the unfiltered radiation out there would require 8 ft. of lead to protect humans from harm (gamma radiation?) and that there's no way anyone could have survived being on the moon in a shuttle with walls so thin, or in a space suit like that.

He's an open-minded fellow and he's otherwise very intelligent. What should I tell him?

So he refutes not just all moon landings, but ALL space travel, sattelite communication, etc? What, exactly, are those bright things racing across the sky at night?

In terms of the radiation, I'd ask to explain more about this mystery radiation to you. What kind of radiation is it? See if he understands the difference between types of radiation. Does he know that a thin layer of tin foil will stop most particle radiation (which is what the Van Allen belts are) If this isn't what it is, where does it come from? If he says the sun, point out that we have precise information on the radiation the sun puts out (see soho).

Edited to add link: Definitely point him at JayUtah's excellent site, clavius.org, in particular this page.

Well, his claims were specifically towards moon travel. He also claimed that satellite work/repairs were within this magical filter. He's perfectly willing to admit that we've gone to space, put up satellites, etc. Just not actually put a person on the moon or anywhere close to it.

I will send him to JayUtah's site though.

Well, then it's not the atmosphere that's filtering out the radiation. In which case, I'd be very curious what, exactly, he thinks is doing the filtering.

It really just sounds like he's confused about radiation in general. At the top of that page is a link to an excellent primer on the nature of radiation. Understanding the science behind it allows you to see how to accurately shield against it.

Thanks for the link to the primer (can't believe I missed it ops.

If I were to guess, he's probably thinking about Earth's magnetic field repelling Alpha & Beta particles, which could explain how satellite work is 'safer' than a trip to the moon. But he's also probably aware that certain types of radiation require a crap load of shielding, like Gamma-rays (are they a particle?), though he may not be aware that Alpha and Betas were already taken into account.

So, I've emailed JayUtah's site to him, but I'm anticipating a question from him. I figure any question that I can come up with, he'll come up with as well and I should prepare an answer for him.

How do we know that levels of X-Ray and Gamma radiation out there aren't much higher than in typical satellite orbits? And on that note, how do we know that the Astronauts wouldn't have been exposed to dangerous levels of X-Ray and Gamma radiation, given how long they were out there for)?

Thanks for answering all my questions so far.

No, gamma rays are electromagnetic radiation (just like visible light, but with a higher energy level.) While it is true that high energy EM radiation does require heavier shielding, the flux of such radiation in space between Earth & Moon is low - well below any short term level of biological harm. Orbiting telescopes such as the old ROSAT & Compton and the new Chandra Space telescope, even when they pick up a strong X-Ray/Gamma Ray source, have to be able to deal with comparatively low photon counts.

Balloon experiments were conducted decades ago to try to measure EM radiation levels at the edge of space. Once they started sending satellites up, EM flux level experiments were some of the earliest conducted.

It is important to remember that although the Earth's atmosphere attenuates the EM radiation from space, the Van Allen belts do not! Therefore, satellites in low Earth orbit (ie below the Van Allen belts) are perfectly capable of accurately measuring EM flux in deeper space.

Regardless of this of course - the first living creatures to travel to the moon and back were Russian turtles! The Soviets were well aware that EM radiation in space was not an issue.

The greater danger is the longer the astronauts are in space, the more likely a large solar flare will be ejected in their direction. This is particle radiation - not EM - but the flux of high energy particles could be devastating. This is one of the major stumbling blocks at the moment for any mission to Mars. The Apollo astronauts were only exposed for a couple of weeks at a time, so the risk was comparatively low (although not zero).

From memory, the greatest average exposure to radiation occurred on the Apollo 14 flight with around 11 mSv (I am sure someone will correct me here - I am going off memory, which is increasingly hazardous as the Olympics-induced sleep depivation takes its toll! ). That figure is around 1/100th of a fatal dose and about 1/5th of the annual occupation radiation exposure permitted by OH&S here in Australia.

Just on an earlier note: all of the moon landings were part of the Apollo Project. The Space Shuttle has never gone to the moon - it is actually incapable of doing so, because it was never designed to. Only 12 people have ever walked on the moon, the last in 1972. This is very sad.

__________________
"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." - Douglas Adams

Yeah, and Two of those Guys, are no longer Amoung the Living.

R.I.P. Stuart Roosa and Rear Admiral Alan Shepard

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If you Ignore YOUR Rights, they Will go away.

Er... Pete Conrad, anyone?

Well, as said above, EM radiation is the same in earth orbit as in deeper space. Not only can we simply infer this, but we measure it directly, constantly.

The SOHO spacecraft is in orbit around the L1 point between the Earth and sun, well outside of the earth's magnetic influence. It measures the radiation coming off of the sun in real time.

As far as validating that other ships can function outside of the magnetic field, we don't need to stop at the moon, we should mention Voyager, Pioneer, MESSENGER, Gallieo, Cassini, the many comet/asteroid chasers, as well as an entire fleet of Mars-bound spacecraft.

EM radiation of the type required 6' of lead shielding would certainly have fried these dozens of craft, and faking these missions would require everyone who's ever sent a deep space probe or had an instrument on one to be in on it (Russia, US, Europe, Japan, Canada, I think even Brazil).

So, basically, which is more likely? A massive, multi-national conspiracy involving literally millions of people, over decades of time on dozens of missions has covered up the fact that deep space craft are not viable due to radiation that no one can see or measure, without a single slip in their story, or maybe, just maybe, they all work fine?

(not to mention the fact that all these countries continue to spend money on deep space research)

Don't forget Jim Irwin who died in 1991. Also, Stu Roosa was a CMP so he wasn't among the 12 who walked on the Moon.

These Web pages provide a list of most spacecraft that have ventured into cislunar and interplanetary space. As you can see there are a lot of them, including many that predate the Apollo landings. Most of these carried instrumentation for measuring the space environment.

http://www.braeunig.us/space/lunar.htm
http://www.braeunig.us/space/planet.htm

That's a very nice compilation, Bob. =D>

__________________
"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." - Douglas Adams

I think the Z-man was referring to Apollo 14 crew, not moon walkers.

Several Apollo astronauts both moon walkers and CMPs have passed away. Though only 2 have died from cancer.
John (Jack) Swigert passed awy in 1982
Alan Shepard died in 1998 from leukemia.

Most of the deceased apollo 7-17 astronauts have died from heart attacks.
Deke Slayton died in 1993 from a brain tumour despite not having flown through the van allen belts. Its difficult to attribute any of these deaths to space flight related hazards,including radiation for 2 reasons:
1. Some there seems no link between where an astronaut flew and their subsequent health problems.
2.Most of these men lived into their 70s by which time they may have had such health problems regardless of their careers.

Pete was killed in a motorcycle accident, not from any suspected radiation exposure from his time in space.

The way I prefer to remember Pete Conrad.

Yes I think you're right. AGN Fuel had mentioned in his post that only 12 men walked on the Moon, which I thought ZaphodBeeblebrox was talking about, but I now see s/he was refering only to AGN's comments about Apollo 14. Sorry about that Z-man. ops:

I posted a complete list here in response to someone's question.

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Eh, No Problem ...

I have always found it odd though, that of the 9 Missions, that have Flown Outside the Protection offered by The Van Allen Belts, the One with the Most Current Fatalities, was Also the One, with The Highest Radiation Count.

No one really knows, if there's a Connection, but, it Can't have Been Healthy!

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If you Ignore YOUR Rights, they Will go away.