Goofy Mars Conspiracies Part 1
The Wild Conspiracy Theory That NASA Is Faking Its Mars Rover Missions In Canada, Mashable
“Apparently, a lot of people are convinced that NASA’s Mars missions are a big hoax, and that the space agency’s rovers are actually sending back photos from an island in Canada. Obviously NASA says this is complete nonsense. The conspiracy theory has been making the rounds for at least two years, with YouTube videos and blog posts on fringe websites arguing that NASA is faking the images on Devon Island.”
Keith’s note: I have been to Devon Island 3 times – twice for a month at a time. That’s me posing with a Mars “rover” on Devon Island. His name was Quimmiq. Sorry conspiracy loons, no faked Mars rover pics.
It used to be that ‘they’ (the idiots) wouldn’t let us have the Apollo missions. But now – it’s worse than you can possibly imagine. The march of the Conspiracy Sheep Idiots wont ‘let’ us have the ISS, the Mars Rovers, nor even China’s manned and unmanned space missions?! I’ve been warning about these fools for years – but on more than one space site, I’ve been told: ignore them, don’t worry about them, or: shut up – no one cares.
But we SHOULD care – we have to. Real science and historical facts are under attack, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year. We are only a few short years away from the common, person on the street belief being that ALL space travel and exploration is photoshop and computer generated imagery. I wish I was joking – I am not.
I was told once by a complete imbecile that the two Space Shuttle launches I was present at in 19th May, 1996 and July 8th, 2011 were not real and did not actually happen. I was told that my claim that I was at the Press Site at KSC – along with anybody else there (thousands) was bogus and that I was either ‘in on it’ – or paid to say I was. So – I traveled thousands of kilometers from my home in New Zealand, on my own dime to take part in a conspiracy… Right, Mr I-Know-The-Truth-Guy – whatever you say, dude…
I met a former Space Shuttle Commander a few months back and had a good conversation with him. But he got angry when I told him these people exist – angry at ME because he thought I was making up the existence of these fools. The idea that such people could exist was too abhorrent for him to accept.
Space Fans, Geeks, Followers; however you want to class yourselves – be a bit afraid; it’s coming into your life soon and you wont be able to ignore it. Matt Pavletich, Auckland, New Zealand.
Now don’t you know that that pole on the top of the launch tower at KSC pad 39A is really a big neuralyzer run by the Men In Black? lol 🙂
Come on Keith. Tell that truth. That is Pathfinder in the box behind you isn’t it? Actually, it looks small. Sojourner?
Gotta be Sojourner…. Despite his husky physique, that would probably make Quimmiq a rover retriever. (“Rye ruv you Reith!”)
OK OK so I wore a rover costume – once.
A big part of the problem to my mind is that we have not been to the moon in my lifetime, and I’m 37. The ISS is great, but there’s no denying we took a step back after Apollo, and every year that goes by, more and more people are born that have not seen a man beyond LEO, and at some point, it becomes almost rational to ask the question, “why aren’t we doing it now if we did it so long ago, is something funny going on here?”
And some of those questions could be hard to answer. I once told a graduate student (in planetary science) how much more powerful his smartphone is, compared to the one they used on the Apollo landers. He asked, not unreasonably, “How could they have landed on the Moon with just that?” He didn’t mean he had doubts that they had done so. But it’s not an irrational question and it gets harder to answer as the years go on.
>gets harder to answer as the years go on.
you don’t need much computing power to go to the Moon, just need something big enough to the Moon. Everyone loves to talk about gadgets or capsules (or big rockets like SLS or Falcon Heavy). Nobody talks about transfer stages and landers.
But then there are technologies common these days that didn’t exist 40 years ago so going back to the Moon is much easier. Obviously something to deliver large mass to the Moon will take some work, but unlike Apollo where things like a microcomputer had to be designed from scratch. Few months ago I played around with a angular rate gyro sensor, though a work item, but this MEMS device is only $400 each. Put three of them together for a INS platform? Back then alignment platforms were big bucks.
Take it to the next level and send 3D printing machines to the Moon to start building stuff instead of current paradigm of taking ***everything*** from the deepest gravity well in the inner solar system (minus the sun).
I expect more conspiracy theories as what was done in the 20th century with things so primitive it’s hard to understand how it was done at all. Think of many cannot understand those that built the pyramids, navigate the oceans without GPS or LORAN, etc. they had to get help from the space aliens (“Chariots of the Gods” found a huge receptive audience).
This is a bit tangential, but I was with you until you mentioned 3D printing. It isn’t quite as magical as some people think. Someone on the Moon could not simply shovel regolith into a 3D printer and expect anything to come out the other end. He’d need to refine the regolith into things like iron or aluminum, then powder it into the stock the 3D printer needs. That’s quite a bit of infrastructure.
I think 3D printing of parts in space is valuable. But I see it as a source of flexibility. Instead of shipping a stockroom full of every replacement part you might possibly need, up that big gravity well you mentioned, you have an alternative. Ship up the 3D printers and the input materials, in the necessary forms. Then print up the needed parts, and only the needed parts, as they are required. That’s a much more efficient use of mass transported from Earth.
Show him your K+E slipstick…
And even appealing to human nature doesn’t seem to work. I think the best argument against these conspiracy theories is the number of scientists who would have to know about it. I know quite a few planetary scientists; it’s inconceivable that hundreds or thousands of us could collectively keep a big secret for over a decade. A couple dozen, keeping little secrets for a month is pushing it.
I’m also a fan of RCH – utterly convincing, utterly a fool, completely entertaining. He was also the ‘Science Reporter” for the old Art Bell show (another lovable lunatic) – a guy whose main claim to fame is his oft-mentioned association with Walter Cronkite back in the 70s.
He’s got just enough real science spin on things to make him sound, to those with no scientific education or interest, like he is really on target.