One way or another, NASA will not tell the whole world about contacts with an extraterrestrial civilization. This can cause unforeseen consequences: is it possible, like this overnight, to break the worldview that has been established in the human mind for centuries. It is no coincidence that British hacker Harry McKinnon, who hacked the Pentagon and NASA networks in 2002 in order to lift the veil of secrecy, faces up to 60 years in prison. In one of his interviews, he claims that he found on the servers of the space agency a lot of indisputable evidence of hiding the facts of existence from the public.
Some do not know that the Americans landed on the moon not once, but six times. The first was Apollo 11. On July 20, 1969, N. Armstrong and E. Aldrin landed on the moon, and on July 21, a human foot set foot on the surface of the moon for the first time. They stayed there for 21.5 hours, 2.5 of them walking outside the lunar module cabin. This is the same landing about which there is so much controversy - whether it actually happened or not.
Then there was Apollo 12. On November 19, 1969, C. Konrad and A. Bean walked outside the cabin for about 8 hours, moving away from it by 500 meters. In total, they spent 37.5 hours on the moon. Astronauts miraculously saved their lives Apollo 13, they never managed to walk on the satellite of the earth. Already on approach to the moon, their oxygen tank exploded. To conserve energy, everything on the ship was turned off except for life support systems. The astronauts took refuge in the module, which was intended for landing. Thousands of kilometers from the earth, they hovered in a dark cold ship. Their bodies were exhausted to the limit, but the heroes did not lose heart, they passed all the tests, flew to the Earth and landed safely.
Apollos -14, -15, -16 and -17 successfully completed the mission assigned to them, and the pilots of these ships visited. Harrison Schmitt, a 37-year-old doctor of geology from Harvard University, was included in the last expedition as an astronaut. This flight was not only the last, but also a record in terms of its performance. The astronauts were on the Moon for 75 hours, drove 38.7 kilometers in an electric car at speeds up to 18 km/h, and took 117 kg of lunar soil with them. In total, their flight lasted 12 days 14 hours.
Note the conditions under which the lunar program was implemented. Tough competition between the USSR and the USA. The battle that was fought between the two powers for victory in the minds of all mankind. The space battle was only part of this so-called cold war. The first successes of our country in space put the United States in the role of catching up. Understanding the importance of victory in the lunar race, the American government took a “horse step”, spared neither money nor people. $ 26 billion was invested in flights to the moon - 10 times more than in. Astronauts Grissom, White and Chaffee died during the first Apollo test.
After the flight of Apollo 11, public interest in the American space program fell sharply. The population of the country began to send complaints to television about the cancellation of their favorite programs due to the broadcast of flights. The show is almost over. The USSR implemented its program to launch artificial satellites of the moon, deliver moon rovers to its surface, which was much cheaper and much safer, since the death of people was excluded. But the results were no less sensational.
Therefore, although at one time it was announced about Apollos -18, -19, -20 ..., I had to wrap up on the seventeenth. After all, the main goal was achieved: the Americans proved their superiority to everyone, and further flights made no sense.
George W. Bush promised during his term that American citizens would be back on the moon by 2020, moreover, landing on Mars! Perhaps such statements were due to the fact that the aliens finally gave the go-ahead for new visits, or maybe with the successful development of the space program of China, the new rival of the United States in the struggle for world domination. One way or another, the crisis ruined this idea, and in the draft budget submitted by Obama for consideration by Congress for fiscal year there is no lunar program.
So what served the real reason Stopping human missions to the moon? Aliens? Everything is easier. After the political ambitions of the superpower subsided, it became clear that it was not advisable to invest huge amounts of money in astronaut flights to the Earth's satellite. The idea of landing a man on the moon, as an ideological pill for raising patriotic feelings, has exhausted itself. Conducted sociological research showed that half of the American population does not see the point in further funding the program. Yes, and NASA was not eager to continue flying. Any unforeseen turn of events or sacrifices could have the exact opposite of a triumphant effect.
Experts argue that if we compare the scientific contribution made by the Apollo program with the costs of it, then it looks very modest. Therefore, I think that my friend is very mistaken, and aliens have nothing to do with it.
In July 1969 he commanded the crew spaceship Apollo 11 main task which was the first ever landing on the moon. On July 20, he became the first person to walk on the surface of the moon. Stepping on the surface of the moon, Armstrong uttered the historic phrase - "It's one small step for man, but a giant leap for all mankind." Neil Armstrong and his partner Buzz Aldrin spent two and a half hours on the surface of the moon.
Edwin Aldrin
On July 21, 1969 GMT, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the second person to set foot on another celestial body, taking a kilometer walk on the surface of the Moon. This was his fourth spacewalk, breaking his own previous world record. Prior to the flight of the Apollo 14 mission, Aldrin also held the lead in total EVA time. The leadership in the number of exits lasted even longer, until the Apollo 15 mission. According to numerous legends, Aldrin always wanted to be the first to set foot on the moon. Many [who?] claim that initially he was promised the first step, but because of the layout of the astronauts in the module, he still had to stop at Neil Armstrong - according to staffing he sat closer to the exit. According to other versions of the same story, Armstrong got this right because of his incredible modesty. There is an opinion that NASA was interested that the first person to set foot on the surface of the moon would be a civilian. One way or another, Aldrin received his share of fame: officially, the first words on the surface were the words of Armstrong - “Houston, this is the base in the Sea of Tranquility. The eagle has landed. However, just before that, Buzz said "The touch is light... well, the engine is off."
Charles Conrad
Bin Alan
The second expedition to the moon started on November 14, 1969, Bin Alan was the pilot of the lunar module and became the fourth person to set foot on the surface of the Earth's satellite after his commander Konrad on November 19. They spent 31 hours and 31 minutes on the lunar surface and left the lunar module twice to collect soil samples, install scientific equipment and take pictures. They also dismantled some fragments of the Surveyor-3 unmanned vehicle that had landed near the landing site three years earlier and brought them to Earth to study the properties of materials after a long stay on the Moon. Live terrestrial microorganisms were found on the details, but skeptics objected that they were brought after the return, and the question remained open. For this flight, Bean was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal in 1970.
Alan Shepard
At the age of 47, by then the oldest NASA astronaut, Alan Shepard performed his second space flight as commander of Apollo 14, which was the third successful American expedition to the moon (January 31 - February 9, 1971).
Edgar Dean Mitchell
Edgar Dean Mitchell (Eng. Edgar Dean Mitchell; born September 17, 1930, Hereford, Texas) is a US astronaut. Mitchell was on the Apollo 14 expedition, the third manned landing on the moon. The total duration of the stay of the lunar module on the surface of the moon is 33 hours 24 minutes. He is the sixth person to walk on the moon.
David Scott
David Randolph Scott (Eng. David Randolph Scott; born June 6, 1932, San Antonio, Texas) is a NASA astronaut, was one of the third group of astronauts named by NASA in October 1963, and commander of the Apollo 15 spacecraft. He is one of 12 people who have walked on the moon. In total, he made 5 exits into the airless space, thereby setting a world record that lasted 13 years. In 1971, he placed on the surface of the Moon the composition "The Fallen Astronaut", which has remained the only art installation on the Moon ever since.
James Irwin
Irwin made his flight into space as a pilot of the Apollo 15 lunar module. Participated in the fourth landing of people on the moon. The total duration of the stay of the lunar module on the surface of the Moon is 66 hours 55 minutes. He was the eighth person to walk on the moon, and the first to die among those who set foot on the lunar surface. In 1971, Irwin was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal. After the expedition to the Moon, on October 27, 1971, at the spaceport in Houston, in front of 50,000 Baptists, he announced that on the Moon he “constantly felt a connection with God, felt his presence much stronger than it was on Earth”, became a preacher and founded the High Flight mission. ”(Another version of the translation is“ Soar in the air ”), which he led with his wife Mary.
John Young
On the fourth flight, April 16–27, 1972, John Young served as commander of Apollo 16. This was the fifth mission of the Apollo program to land on the surface of the moon. On April 20, 1972, John Young stepped onto the surface of the Moon (for this flight, Young received his second Distinguished Service Medal). He became the second (after Lovell) man of the three who flew to the moon twice, but at the same time the first who successfully landed on it during the second flight.
Charles Duke
In April 1966, Charles Duke became one of 19 people selected for NASA's fifth group of astronauts. In 1969 he worked in the Apollo 10 flight support team. During the Apollo 11 expedition, Duke served as the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) operator.
He was on the Apollo 16 expedition, the fifth manned landing on the moon. The total duration of the stay of the lunar module on the surface of the moon is 71 hours 2 minutes.
Harrison Schmitt
He was a member of the Apollo 17 expedition, the sixth landing of men on the moon. The total duration of the lunar module stay on the lunar surface is 75 hours 1 min. In 1973, Schmitt was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal.
Eugene Cernan
Eugene Cernan is currently the last man standing on the surface of the moon (December 14, 1972). The last words spoken by the man on the moon are Cernan's: "Bob, says Jean, I'm on the surface, and taking the last step of a man from the surface [of the Moon], returning home to return someday - but, we believe, in not very far future - I would just like to [say] what I think will go down in history. That America's challenge today determined the future destinies of mankind. And, leaving the Moon in the [region] Taurus-Littrow, we leave the same way as we came and, with God help, we will return - with peace and hope for all mankind. Good luck to the Apollo 17 crew." 08:14:00 UTC, December 14, 1972.
On the surface of the moon he inscribed the initials of his daughter.
MOSCOW, July 20 - RIA Novosti. Famed cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who personally prepared for participation in the Soviet lunar exploration program, denied years of rumors that American astronauts were not on the Moon, and the footage broadcast on television around the world was allegedly edited in Hollywood.
He spoke about this in an interview with RIA Novosti on the eve of the 40th anniversary of the first landing in the history of mankind of US astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin on the surface of an Earth satellite, celebrated on July 20.
So were or weren't the Americans on the moon?
“Only absolutely ignorant people can seriously believe that the Americans were not on the moon. And, unfortunately, this whole ridiculous epic about the allegedly fabricated footage in Hollywood began precisely with the Americans themselves. By the way, the first person who began to distribute these rumors, was imprisoned for slander," Aleksey Leonov noted in this regard.
Where did the rumors come from?
It all started with the fact that when, at the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the famous American film director Stanley Kubrick, who created his brilliant film Odyssey 2001 based on the book of science fiction writer Arthur Clark, journalists who met with Kubrick's wife asked to talk about her husband's work on the film in Hollywood studios.And she honestly said that there are only two real lunar modules on Earth - one in a museum where no filming has ever been done, and it’s even forbidden to walk with a camera, and the other is in Hollywood, where, to develop the logic of what is happening on the screen and additional filming of the landing of the Americans on the moon was made," the Soviet cosmonaut specified.
Why was studio photography used?
Alexei Leonov explained that in order for the viewer to be able to see the development of what is happening on the movie screen from beginning to end, elements of additional filming are used in any movie.
“It was impossible, for example, to film the real opening of the hatch of the descent ship on the Moon by Neil Armstrong - there was simply no one to film it from the surface! For the same reason, it was impossible to film Armstrong’s descent to the Moon along the ladder from the ship. Kubrick in Hollywood studios to develop the logic of what is happening, and laid the foundation for numerous gossip that the entire landing was allegedly simulated on the set, "explained Alexei Leonov.
Where Truth Begins and Editing Ends
“Real shooting began when Armstrong, who first set foot on the moon, got a little used to it, installed a highly directional antenna through which the broadcast to Earth was carried out. its movement on the surface of the moon," the astronaut specified.
Why did the American flag fly in the airless space of the moon?
“They argue that the American flag was flying on the moon, but it shouldn’t be. The flag really shouldn’t be flying - the fabric was used with a rather rigid reinforced mesh, the cloth was twisted into a tube and tucked into a case. The astronauts took with them a nest, which they first inserted into the lunar soil, and then they stuck the flagpole into it, and only then they took off the cover. reinforced mesh created the impression that the flag is rippling, as if in the wind," Alexei Leonov explained the "phenomenon".
"To talk about the fact that the entire film was filmed on Earth is simply ridiculous and ridiculous. In the USA, there were all necessary systems who tracked the launch of the launch vehicle, acceleration, correction of the flight orbit, flyby of the Moon by the descent capsule and its landing," the famous Soviet cosmonaut concluded.
What did the "lunar race" lead to two space superpowers
“In my opinion, this is the best competition in space that mankind has ever carried out. The “moon race” between the USSR and the USA is the achievement of the highest peaks of science and technology,” Alexei Leonov believes.
According to him, after the flight of Yuri Gagarin, US President Kennedy, speaking in Congress, said that the Americans simply thought too late about what triumph could be achieved by launching a man into space, and therefore the Russians triumphantly became the first. Kennedy's message was clear: within ten years, put a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth.
"It was a very true step of the great politician - he united and rallied the American nation to achieve this goal. Huge funds for those times were also involved - 25 billion dollars, today, this is, perhaps, all fifty billion. The program included a flyby of the moon, then the flight of Tom Stafford to the hovering point and selection of a site for landing on Apollo 10. The dispatch of Apollo 11 already provided for immediate landing Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the moon. At the same time, Michael Collins remained in orbit and waited for the return of his comrades," said Alexei Leonov.
18 Apollo-type ships were made to prepare for landing on the moon - the whole program was implemented perfectly, except for Apollo 13 - from the engineering point of view, nothing special happened there, it just failed, or rather, one of the fuel cells exploded , the energy weakened, and therefore it was decided not to land on the surface, but to fly around the Moon and return to Earth.
Alexei Leonov noted that only the first flight around the moon by Frank Bormann, then the landing of Armstrong and Aldrin on the moon and the story of Apollo 13 remained in the memory of the Americans. These accomplishments have brought the American nation together and made every individual empathize, walk with fingers crossed, and pray for their heroes. The last flight of the Apollo series was also extremely interesting: American astronauts no longer just walked on the Moon, but traveled on its surface in a special lunar car, making interesting photographs.
In fact, it was the peak of the Cold War, and in this situation, after the success of Yuri Gagarin, the Americans simply had to win the "moon race". The USSR then had its own lunar program, and we also implemented it. By 1968, it had already existed for two years, and even the crews of our cosmonauts were formed for a flight to the Moon.
On censorship of the achievements of mankind
"Launches of the Americans as part of lunar program were broadcast on television, and only two countries in the world - the USSR and communist China - did not broadcast these historical footage to their peoples. I thought then, and now I think - in vain, we simply robbed our people, flying to the moon is the property and achievement of all mankind. The Americans watched Gagarin's launch, Leonov's spacewalk - why couldn't the Soviet people see it?!", laments Alexei Leonov.
According to him, a limited group of Soviet space specialists watched these launches through a closed channel.
“We had military unit 32103 on Komsomolsky Prospekt, which provided space broadcasting, since there was no TsUP in Korolev then. The Americans set up a television antenna on the surface of the moon, and everything they did there was transmitted through a television camera to Earth, several repetitions of these television broadcasts were also made.When Armstrong stood on the surface of the moon, and everyone in the USA clapped, we are here in the USSR , Soviet cosmonauts, also crossed their fingers for good luck, and sincerely wished the guys success, "recalls the Soviet cosmonaut.
How was the implementation of the Soviet lunar program
"In 1962, a decree was issued, signed personally by Nikita Khrushchev, on the creation of a spacecraft for flying around the moon and using the Proton launch vehicle with an upper stage for this launch. In 1964, Khrushchev signed a program for the USSR to fly around , and in 1968 - landing on the moon and returning to Earth. And in 1966 there was already a decision on the formation of lunar crews - a group was immediately recruited for landing on the moon, "Alexey Leonov recalled.
The first stage of the flyby of the Earth satellite was to be carried out with the help of the launch of the L-1 lunar module by the Proton launch vehicle, and the second stage - landing and returning back - on the giant and most powerful N-1 rocket, equipped with thirty engines with a total thrust of 4.5 thousand tons with the weight of the rocket itself about 2 thousand tons. However, even after four test launches, this super-heavy rocket did not fly normally, so it had to be abandoned in the end.
Korolev and Glushko: the antipathy of two geniuses
"There were other options, for example, using a 600-ton engine developed by the brilliant designer Valentin Glushko, but Sergei Korolev refused it, since he worked on highly toxic heptyl. Although, in my opinion, this was not the reason - just two leaders , Korolev and Glushko - could not and did not want to work together. Their relationship had its own problems of a purely personal nature: Sergei Korolev, for example, knew that Valentin Glushko had once written a denunciation against him, as a result of which he was sentenced to ten years When Korolyov was released, he found out about this, but Glushko did not know that he knew about it, "said Alexei Leonov.
A small step for a man, but a giant leap for all mankind
NASA's Apollo 11 spacecraft on July 20, 1969, with a crew of three astronauts: Commander Neil Armstrong, Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Aldrin, and Command Module Pilot Michael Collins, became the first to reach the Moon in the USSR-US space race. The Americans did not pursue research tasks in this expedition, its goal was simple: to land on the Earth's satellite and return successfully.
The ship consisted of a lunar module and a command module that remained in orbit during the mission. Thus, of the three astronauts, only two went to the moon: Armstrong and Aldrin. They had to land on the moon, collect samples of the lunar soil, take pictures on the Earth satellite and install several instruments. However, the main ideological component of the trip was still the hoisting of the American flag on the moon and the holding of a video communication session with the Earth.
The launch of the ship was watched by US President Richard Nixon and German rocket scientist Hermann Oberth. A total of about a million people watched the launch at the cosmodrome and mounted observation platforms, and more than a billion people watched the television broadcast, according to the Americans, around the world.
Apollo 11 launched to the moon on July 16, 1969 at 1332 GMT and entered lunar orbit 76 hours later. The command and lunar modules were undocked about 100 hours after launch. Despite the fact that NASA planned to land on the lunar surface in automatic mode, Armstrong, as the expedition commander, decided to land the lunar module in a semi-automatic mode.
The lunar module landed on the Sea of Tranquility on July 20 at 20:17:42 GMT. Armstrong descended to the lunar surface on July 21, 1969 at 02:56:20 GMT. Everyone knows the phrase that he uttered when he stepped on the moon: "This is one small step for a person, but a giant leap for all mankind."
Aldrin also landed on the moon 15 minutes later. Astronauts collected required amount materials, placed devices and installed a television camera. After that, they planted an American flag in the field of view of the camera and held a communication session with President Nixon. The astronauts left a commemorative plaque on the moon with the words: "Here, people from planet Earth first set foot on the moon. July 1969 new era. We come in peace on behalf of all Humanity."
Aldrin was on the moon for about an hour and a half, Armstrong for two hours and ten minutes. At the 125th hour of the mission and the 22nd hour of stay on the Moon, the lunar module was launched from the surface of the Earth's satellite. The crew splashed down on the blue planet about 195 hours after the start of the mission, soon the astronauts were picked up by the aircraft carrier that came to the rescue.
I have repeatedly had to write on this topic. And just as many times I had to listen to angry replies from some space flight specialists. But to my request to give convincing arguments for the hypothesis put forward, the answer was always the same - this cannot be because ... it cannot be! And that's it! Therefore, my personal conviction that the famous American flights to the moon are a grandiose hoax, only strengthened. And today I am completely convinced of these suspicions of mine, which are based on this...
The flight of Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961 into space marked the beginning of the space age in the history of the development of human civilization. In the course of the growing cold war and ideological confrontation between Soviet Union and the United States, it was a very serious breakthrough in Soviet science.
The Americans could not come to terms with such a grandiose success of their ideological adversary, and a month after the launch of Yuri Gagarin, then US President Jack Kennedy announced that in the near future the Americans would begin work on landing a man on the moon. Congress allocated $50 billion for this work, and the lunar program called Apollo was launched.
And this work ended with a grandiose scam, the scale of which is yet to be assessed by future generations...
It is officially believed that nine lunar expeditions took place between 1969 and 1972. Six of them allegedly ended with the landing of twelve American astronauts on the surface of the Earth's satellite. However, the most famous of them is the first expedition with the participation of astronauts Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins. These people made a documentary about their flight, which, in fact, gave rise to doubts about the reliability of the American lunar expeditions.
Journalist-researcher Yuri Mukhin wrote about this in detail in his books and articles. In his conclusions, Mukhin relied not only on his own observations, but also on the conclusions made before him by other researchers, primarily from the West, where doubts about these lunar flights have long existed.
So, according to former rocket engineer Bill Kazing, who participated in the development of many US rocket programs, all "lunar flights" took place in the Nevada desert, at one of the secret military bases. It was there, points out Kazing, that at one time Soviet spy satellites recorded huge hangars. It was here that the filming of the lunar blockbuster was carried out ...
Flying in a dream or in reality?
Mukhin drew attention primarily to the duration of " documentary film". It lasts 75 minutes, but the actual lunar shooting takes no more than 25 minutes. Agree, this is not much if, according to legend, the astronauts were on the Moon ... almost 22 hours!
The first punctures of the filmmakers under code name"Flights to the Moon" are striking from the very beginning, when the flight itself is told. The footage shows blue light pouring through the windows of the Apollo spacecraft. But in open space there is no atmosphere capable of giving light different color shades: space is as black as a coal pit. Hence the conclusion suggests itself - the shooting of the "space flight" was made in the airspace of the Earth. Most likely in the cargo compartment of a supersonic aircraft that entered the high altitude in a deep peak to create the effect of weightlessness. The moment of transition of the astronauts from the spacecraft itself to the module that delivered them to the Moon is also puzzling (the ship itself remained in lunar orbit).
First, this the most complicated operation on the undocking of the module (during the flight to the Moon) and its docking (during the return of the astronauts) did not find the slightest reflection in the film. Secondly, there are serious doubts that two astronauts, dressed in heavy bulky spacesuits, could even penetrate the module. At one time, the American researcher Jim Collier drew attention to this. He made a special visit to the museum of the American Agency for space research NASA, where the same lunar Apollo is exhibited.
Collier found that the tunnel to get into the module was too narrow even for one person. Meanwhile, the film shows how the astronauts freely ... fly through this tunnel. Not only that, they open the hatch of the module... in the wrong direction, as provided for by the design of the ship! It turns out that the structure presented in the film under the guise of "Apollo" has nothing to do with the ship itself!
Walk in the fresh air
Finally, the astronauts landed on the moon. The TV camera recorded this moment in such a way that not a single pebble, sand, or a single speck of dust flew out from under the lowered module. And this is on the Moon, where gravity is six times less than on Earth, where the slightest push should cause a real dust storm! But the oddities didn't end there.
Here the astronauts went for a walk and decided to install an American banner on the lunar surface. This flag suddenly ... began to develop in the wind of the absolutely airless space of the earth's satellite! The astronaut was even forced to pull down the banner. But as soon as he moved away from him, he again trembled merrily.
The traces left by the astronauts are also surprising. They are very clear and embossed, as if made in wet ground. This circumstance is difficult to explain again from the point of view of the complete absence of oxygen and its compounds on the Moon. In the lunar dry vacuum, the traces should be the same as in the most waterless desert - hardly noticeable, with crumbling edges (by the way, these are the traces that were already left by the Soviet moon rovers).
Yes, and the astronauts moved somehow very hard. Their total weight with spacesuits was almost 150 kilograms. Given the smaller force of lunar gravity, on the Moon they should have weighed no more than 27 kilograms, which would make them extremely mobile. Instead, the astronauts, as Mukhin notes, “They stomp their feet heavily when running, barely move their legs, socks are rowing along the surface all the time.” This inconsistency can be explained by only one thing - the shooting was carried out on Earth, where the spacesuit really strongly constrained the movements of the participants in the shooting ...
Photo panoramas of the Moon look no less amazing. By the way, this applies not only to the first expedition, but also to the video materials of other “lunar flights”. Everywhere there is no panorama starry sky, although the astronauts were supposed to be surrounded by the shining light of distant worlds - after all, the dense layers of the atmosphere do not interfere with the brightest sparkle of stars on the Moon. But instead of stars on the black background of the “moon sky”, only some rather large light glare is seen, more like projectors of movie theaters.
Other signs indicate the presence of such spotlights. For example, astronauts and objects standing on the "lunar surface" cast many weak shadows, and these shadows have different directions. This simply cannot be! After all, there is no other source of light on the Moon than the Sun, so the shadows would have to fall in one direction. But from the point of view of the terrestrial cinema set, when the lighting accompaniment is set by the director and cameraman from different angles, this “unusual” phenomenon becomes quite understandable…
Extra Witnesses
Strange from a normal point of view, events continued after the end of the "lunar expeditions".
According to the American side, the astronauts brought with them 400 kilograms of samples of lunar rocks. But apart from the Americans themselves, no one really saw these breeds. At one time, when the Soviet automatic station "Luna-16" delivered the same soil, our side, as is customary in the scientific world, sent individual samples of it to various research centers around the world. The Americans, apparently, did not. In any case, Soviet scientists received nothing from the USA.
For some reason, the soil "extracted" by the astronauts was placed in some kind of top-secret storage, from where it disappeared without a trace in 1979. So guess after that - either the “lunar samples” were stolen by KGB agents, or aliens did it, or there was never any soil at all ...
No less surprising is the fate of the astronauts themselves. Here is what became known about the most famous of them.
Edwin Aldrin retired from the US Air Force in 1972. Thereafter long years suffered from alcoholism and depression. More or less, his life improved only in recent times when he married for the third time. Now he writes fantasy novels.
Neil Armstrong retired from the Air Force even earlier, in 1971. At one time he taught at Ohio State University, then he also started selling computers there. Until his death in 2012, he lived very closed, categorically refusing to meet with journalists ...
Agree, some atypical fate of American heroes, the first people who landed on the moon: in theory, they were supposed to become the personification of a prosperous America, always be in sight and "cut" multimillion-dollar income from their discovery. And here we see generally unfortunate people who, in fact, were thrown out of service in the prime of life, about 40 years old, and for the rest of their lives they vegetated somewhere in the wilderness, trying once again not to fall into the focus of public attention. Things have come to the point that today even few American schoolchildren know the names of these "heroes".
One gets the feeling that the American leadership is doing its best to consign to oblivion the "lunar epic" from its recent history. And these feelings only intensify when you hear the answers of NASA leaders to the question of why they did not develop their lunar success and did not make visits to the moon permanent. They say that the lunar project turned out to be too expensive - $ 5 billion a year - and therefore it had to be curtailed. But experts laugh at such arguments. With a US federal budget of 1446 billion dollars, this is just a minuscule! Only the war in Iraq costs thirty times more than all the lunar programs.
Most likely, the point is that the United States simply never had any real lunar programs ...
Stanley Kubrick's Secret Movie
The history of space exploration is the history of fierce competition between the Soviet Union and the United States. From the very beginning of the space race, the Russians began to overtake the Americans. We were the first to launch artificial satellite Earth, the first brought man into outer space. The American leadership was furious and demanded that their pundits do everything to get ahead of the Russians at least in some way.
And so, on July 16, 1969, the Apollo spacecraft with astronauts Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins launched to the moon. But due to technical reasons, the flight failed, and the ship blabbed for eight days in near-Earth orbit, after which it landed in pacific ocean. During the flight, the heads of NASA, apparently, decided to use the prepared fallback. And when the astronauts landed, they were quickly transported to a secret military base in Nevada, where a film set had already been prepared for the production of the film "Moon Landing". And given that the blockbuster A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick was filmed in Hollywood at the same time, NASA directors were provided with all the necessary special effects. Perhaps Kubrick himself took part in this action.
Apparently, the rest of the “flights to the moon” followed the same pattern. Well, then the astronaut actors were treated like unnecessary witnesses - they were fired, driven into the most remote corners of America and ordered not to open their mouths until the very end of their lives ...
It is curious that in the 70s the Americans removed Feature Film called "Capricorn-1". According to the plot of the film, mafiosi from NASA, in order not to lose funding for their programs, staged a flight to Mars, exactly repeating the scenario of the lunar epic. And so that the astronauts would not blabbed later, they staged a catastrophe “upon returning to Earth” ...
It is possible that the authors of "Capricorn" knew something about the ins and outs of NASA's space scams, only in their cinematic version they increased the drama of the events taking place. So the real lunatic astronauts against this background are still very lucky: at least they were left alive.
Vladimir Maksimov, especially for the "Ambassadorial order"
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July 3, 1969, Baikonur Cosmodrome. In the foreground is the Soviet lunar rocket N-1 (product No. 5L). In the background is a fitting rocket for testing ground launch systems (note that there is no emergency rescue system on the fitting rocket).
The closure of the Soviet manned program of flights to the moon occurred in June 1974, at the same time the entire cosmonaut detachment was disbanded. AT next month rockets ready for launch were cut into pieces. The destruction of the technological backlog led to a 15-year lag in the development of astronautics. What is to blame? Why did they stop trying to get to the moon?
It is often said that the industry of the USSR could not create a spacecraft for flying to the Moon, that there was no appropriate technological base. They also say that it was simply impossible to compete with the United States. But the main reason for the failure of the project, which cost 4 billion rubles at 1974 prices. rub., was the inability of various departments to agree among themselves and the personal aspirations of some leaders.
The US started the lunar program with the sole purpose of surpassing the USSR after the Russians launched the world's first satellite, took pictures of the far side of the moon, and launched the first man into space. Landing a man on the moon was last chance. To achieve this goal, the best representatives of science were gathered, orders were given to the most suitable corporations in the absence of competition. The USSR usually followed this path.
The Soviet lunar program was just a response to the United States. The Moon itself was not of interest to the leaders of OKB-1 Korolev. But the United States challenged and the USSR accepted it. The N-1 missile project was a continuation of the existing project, which was developed as a delivery vehicle hydrogen bomb and the launch into orbit of large-sized complexes, many times larger than the later Soyuz, Salyut and Mir.
The implementation of the lunar program was not economically feasible. But the Central Committee of the CPSU did not refuse it. According to the Decree of the Government, issued in 1960, it was planned to create a new rocket system for launching into orbit a heavy spacecraft weighing up to 60-80 tons, to create new rocket engines, control systems and space radio communications. In 1964, a new goal was set - a manned flight to the moon and landing on its surface before the Americans.
The L-1 lunar project became the cause of a fierce struggle between the design bureaus of Korolev and Chelomey. The existing Proton launch vehicle could theoretically make a manned flight around the Moon, but the memories of the participants in the events indicate that Korolev refused to put astronauts on a poisonous rocket. The fact is that heptyl served as fuel for the Proton, and nitric acid served as an oxidizer. In Kazakhstan, many poisonings were recorded among local residents who used the first stages of the Protons in their household. Official information claimed that the use of the Proton was abandoned due to too high overloads that the astronauts could not withstand.
A difficult test for the project was the conflict between Korolev and Glushko, as a result of which the latter abandoned the development of an engine for a rocket. The work was transferred to the Kuznetsov design bureau.
It was planned that two astronauts would participate in the lunar project, and only one would descend to the surface of the moon, while the second was supposed to remain in orbit. A.A. was supposed to be the first person to walk on the moon. Leonov, Yu.A. was supposed to act as an understudy. Gagarin. The N-1 launch vehicle was designed to deliver the Soyuz spacecraft with a manned lunar module into the lunar orbit.
So why didn't it happen? One of the reasons was austerity. Four H-1 launches were unsuccessful due to the first stage for which no testbed was built. Since all the first stage engines were tested separately, it was impossible to determine the cause of the stage failure.
When it became known that the Americans were about to go to the moon, Leonov was eager to fly, but they did not let him in, which saved his life. H-1 launched on February 21, 1969 without a crew, six months before the launch of Apollo 11. The rocket exploded shortly after the start of the flight. The second attempt was made on July 3, 1969. The rocket exploded right on the launch pad, almost completely destroying the launch complex. Even then it became clear that we would not be the first to get to the moon.
Korolev and Gagarin pass away. These two deaths were tantamount to the death of Russian astronautics. And it's not that there were no other talented designers and trained cosmonauts. Korolev and Gagarin were well received in the Kremlin, their opinion was listened to. Korolev not only argued with anyone, regardless of rank, he knew how to present his project in such a way that the military advocated the need for its implementation. The first satellite was a beacon for ballistic missiles. He also convinced the military that the construction of a base on the moon would allow the whole world to be held at gunpoint. He kept silent about the practically unbearable cost of the project for the country. The military seized on the idea. In addition, the N-1 rocket could launch stations weighing over 100 tons into orbit, such as the Zvezda station, which was conceived for military purposes.
Korolev knew how to use the needs and desires of the military for his own purposes, knocking out funds for the implementation of his projects. For Korolev himself, the flight to the Moon was only the first step towards a flight to Mars.
The change of leadership in the design office did not bring anything good. Funding decreased significantly, the test bench was not built. The launch complex was restored, but the next attempts to launch the rocket were not successful due to the same reason for the failure of the first stage. And the Americans have already accepted congratulations on the successful landing on the moon. The Soviet lunar program was curtailed, Mars was also forgotten.
However, another attempt was made. The hopes of the domestic cosmonautics were associated with the Energia rocket. The tests were successful. But the rocket was buried under the collapsed roof of the assembly and test building at Baikonur. This put the final end to Russia's plans. The United States has become a leader in space exploration. There is no point in trying to compete with them by spending hundreds of billions on flights.
Russia's leadership in space is a thing of the past due to the curtailment of the lunar program and a change in leadership in astronautics. Today's undisputed leader is the United States. But if the country's leadership had not forgotten Tsiolkovsky's words that he who conquered space would own the world, the situation could have turned out differently.
Who can become the leader tomorrow? Most likely China. Its space program is quite fantastic, the moon landing project should be completed with the construction of a lunar base by 2021. Many do not believe in the feasibility of this project, but China has already proved that it is capable of very unexpected things, at least the super-fast growth of its economy speaks of this.
