There’s an old apocryphal story about a NASA astronaut at a cocktail party. There’s an arrogant guy droning on about how wealthy he is, dropping stories about flying his private plane, “how peaceful it is up there,” and offering to take women up in it sometime.
The astronaut mic drops the guy, “that reminds me of the time I was… walking on the moon. Looking out at the earth really puts in perspective how we’re all on the planet together and how small our divisions seem, and how much we can accomplish as I stood on ground where no one had ever stood before. Oh, I’m sorry, I interrupted. What were you saying?”
If nothing else, walking on the moon is the ultimate cocktail party mic drop but it’s understandable that some don’t believe it actually happened. After all, without atmosphere how could the flag they planted on the moon be waving in the wind? And what about “the lack of stars in any of the photos, the Van Allen radiation belts that would have killed the astronauts with lethal doses of cosmic radiation”…?
Buzz Aldrin went to the moon on Apollo 11 and as if they didn’t make him one of the coolest people on the planet already he punched a moon landing denier in the face. And there’s video so this there’s no denying.
Aldrin and an associate starting to cross the street while being followed by a film crew. A man in a dark sports coat carrying a Bible quickly steps in front of Aldrin and repeatedly asks, “Why don’t you swear on the Bible, that you walked on the moon.”
Aldrin heads back to the sidewalk and says to a hotel bellman, “Tell him to get outta here or we’ll call the police.”
The cell phone video, which appears to be from 2002, continues to follow the man as the bellman attempts to keep him from approaching Aldrin, who was by then standing a few feet away by the building’s entrance.
The heckler kept going, and called Aldrin a coward and a liar. And then this happened.
Of course Aldrin lost it last year at a Delta ticket counter, too, after missing a flight at LAX.
Lol! Shut his ass up too!!!
The heckler’s immediate reaction was not to check on himself, but to make sure the camera caught the punch. What was a Newtonian law of physics? For every action there is an equal, but opposite reaction. Who knew Newton was talking about societal laws, as well?
Mr. Aldrin doesn’t have to prove anything. And confronting an elder like that is wrong and unbiblical!
However, the question is valid. A lot of people have wondered all these years why the US or any other nation has not gone back?? Isn’t the technology better and safer than 50 years ago?
A lot of things in the 1960’s are sealed, even the JFK assassination.
too bad he stopped with just one punch. would have been nice to pound that idiot into the ground. flat earth, creation, and faked moon landings. what is wrong with these people?
Why didn’t Buzz Aldrin just swear on the Bible to call the heckler’s bluff?
Do you really think Mr. Aldrin “lost it” by punching him? It seems to be a disciplinary strike/ action to me.
I agree with Alex’s second paragraph above. Also, I have heard the deniers say that NASA has somehow “lost” or “destroyed” the blueprints, technological instructions, etc. of the Apollo spaceships. Also, I wonder why the 12 men who walked on the moon did not become active on the lecture circuit, speaking to university science departments, museums, etc.! Instead, AFAIK they all have gone home to live like average Joes. Come on, they can’t ALL be shy!
I would like to see NASA or European Space Agency or whomever go back to the moon to look for the equipment, flags, etc. of the Apollo missions. However, the hard-core deniers would probably accuse those astronauts of planting things, being “in cahoots,” or bribed or threatened.
Answers to the deniers’ objections may be found here:
https://www.history.com/news/moon-landing-fake-conspiracy-theories
“Also, I wonder why the 12 men who walked on the moon did not become active on the lecture circuit, speaking to university science departments, museums, etc.! Instead, AFAIK they all have gone home to live like average Joes. Come on, they can’t ALL be shy!”
Are you kidding me? Seriously?
The moon astronauts have done thousands and thousands and thousands of speeches and presentations worldwide to all kinds of groups over the past 50 years. I’ve seen dozens of them. The shuttle astronauts have done the same. It’s part of their job.
At this point they’re all in their 80s or 90s or dead, so give them a break.
Cell phones in 2002 were certainly not taking video of this quality.
@V1BomberVB, I had the pleasure and honor of working with Neil Armstrong when he served on the board of the company I worked for. Its hard to believe these days but there are or at least were people who accomplish great things who don’t need to brag or demand ego stroking. Armstrong didn’t go big time on the lecture circuit but did share a lot about his career with students in his aeronautics class at University of Cincinnati. He wasn’t super rich but did very well financially. I can’t picture Armstrong punching anybody no matter how angry he was.
I loved that video…..if someone got in my face yelling the earth is flat, or Donald Trump is God, I would probably try to beat some sense into them too……if it isn’t a saying we ought to make it one “you can’t fix stupid, so just smack it in the face.”
“Also, I wonder why the 12 men who walked on the moon did not become active on the lecture circuit, speaking to university science departments, museums, etc.! Instead, AFAIK they all have gone home to live like average Joes. Come on, they can’t ALL be shy!”
Besides with @Setting the Record Straight said, Michael Collins (the guy that was orbitting the moon while Aldrin and Armstrong was on the moon) was the director of the Air and Space Museum and a vice-president (or something like that) of the entire Smithsonian. Not exactly an average Joe.
And Aldrin has been “constantly” present in the past 50 years, and was just with Pence in Florida for the 50th anniversary festivities. In the 70s and 80s most of these astronauts were a constant presence. Then, alas, they started getting old and withdrew from public life.
“have heard the deniers say that NASA has somehow “lost” or “destroyed” the blueprints, technological instructions, etc. of the Apollo spaceships.”
That’s not true at all.
But the Saturn V (which was the real breakthrough in the Apollo program) is a completeley useless machine except for going to the moon. Don’t quote me on this (the figures might not be exacly these), but something like 90% of all the hundreds of launches into space only required 10% of Saturn V power, and the rest (excluding the Apollo missions themselves) required 15% or something like that. No need to keep building a machine that no one has any use for.
“A lot of people have wondered all these years why the US or any other nation has not gone back?”
@Alex You do know that China has a rover on the moon right now?
OK, I’ll feed the troll, B1BomberVB . . .
“Also, I wonder why the 12 men who walked on the moon did not become active on the lecture circuit, speaking to university science departments, museums, etc.!”
You can meet Michael Collins at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh this week. In 2017, 8 Apollo program veterans came. I’m not going to waste any more of my time finding other recent examples.
@Johosofat, No, they definitely were not. You can clearly hear someone say something like, “Don’t be shy about recording, put the camera on your shoulder,” followed by the camera’s perspective changing to a higher POV. It was obviously shot with a full-size video camera.
Also, generally, yes, they’ve definitely done LOTS of speeches and presentations. Buzz Aldrin has written at least one book–I have an autographed copy–about his life and trip to the moon. I have heard several shuttle astronauts and ISS crew speak in public. Every one of those included photos from their mission. I’ve even seen a shuttle launch from NASA property at the Cape, with a retired Shuttle Commander adding commentary to the PA and radio announcements.
@B1BomberVB, Hadn’t noticed the comment about manuals, etc. “missing” until @Rui N quoted it. Umm… That’s very obviously false. An extremely quick google search returns MANY examples of diagrams and manuals from the Apollo program, including https://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/apollo-to-the-moon/online/apollo-11/about-the-spacecraft.cfm
and
https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-LMdocs.html (click back to https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/main.html for the main page about the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal to find many more similar pages)
I’m very sorry I missed or didn’t hear about all the activities you all report above. I was 7 years old when Apollo 11 mission, so I should have heard about all this as a young man in the 80s. I stand corrected and am embarrassed that I had to make what turned out to be an idiotic post to learn the truth from y’all! 🙁
At least now I’m more ready if a moon-denier starts an argument/ debate.
I met Alan Shepard in the 1980s at Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, UT. He was filming something for PBS, I think, and had to shoot multiple times the phrase 65 million years ago. He was very kind and it was amazing to meet someone that had been on the moon. I have a picture somewhere, it was an amazing day for a teenager!
Brian Regan has a bit about cocktail party one-uppers and walking on the moon: