Moon Landing Denial: Out of This World

Yesterday was Moon Day, the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 14 moon landing. As someone that has always been intently interested in space, I took some time to research the event through various resources. As with any humanity-changing event, the detractors have taken it upon themselves to naysay the US exploration of the moon and proposed some rather elaborate conspiracy theories. Don’t get me wrong. I love a good conspiracy theory. The Di Vinci Code had me looking at the Pope with a raised eyebrow. These are the same types of people that believe the attacks on 9/11 were orchestrated by the government, AIDS is a man-made disease, and Scientologists & Jews run Hollywood. Its these types of shaky premises that make a good story, but offer little foundation.

Moon Day has help tame some of the rumors started by the moon landing deniers with new photos showing the original moon lander and the astronaut footprints on the surface of the moon. While this evidence certainly won’t convince a denier of the scientific truth, its a validation to those of us that want the evidence. The new satellite images come to us as a result of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, which launched on 18 June. LRO’s mission is to photograph the moon to scout for future mission sites. So far, LRO has located five of the six Apollo missions that landed on the moon’s surface. read more

The Captain Planet Movie that Never Happened

Children of the 90’s know about ecology. The push for more science-aware programming such as Beakman’s World and Bill Nye the Science Guy brought the sciences alive for the 5-12 crowd. One of the biggest series of the earlier part of the decade was Captain Planet and the Planeteers.

Captain Planet was the brainchild of cable-mogul Ted Turner. The show aired globally on various affiliates and on TBS and Cartoon Network in the US. It combined action and adventure with a strong ecological message. I’m not sure if it was the lame puns or the green mullet, but the show has left its impression on pop culture. Love or hate it, Captain Planet brought concepts such as recycling and ecological ethics to the mainstream.

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