Myths and truths about the arrival on the moon | At 50 …

The cold war has built its own scenario, a context conducive to secrecy, where the two world blocks conceal their failures and proudly display their progress. In this sense, the climate of the time was extremely conducive to the appearance of conspiracy theories, because neither the United States nor the USSR feared to play the dirty work to go from there. 39; before. The goal was to ruin the harvest of the opponent, even in the most obvious way. Today, half a century after his arrival on the Moon, this mega event that has placed humanity in a privileged place, Diego Cordova focuses on the separation of straw and wheat and refutes the myths who have surrounded the event since its inception by air. Journalist specializing in the history of manned space flights, interplanetary probes and space technology, recently published "Footprints on the Moon", a 444-page book containing over 300 images (several exclusive) and interviews of his own protagonists: Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14) and Charles Duke (Apollo 16).

– What is the contribution of your book?

– In the conferences on astronomy in which he participated as an exhibitor, he warned that the interest of people was not too far from the myths that revolved around the world. arrival or not of the man on the moon. It does not take much knowledge, but just a little information to unblock the misconceptions that are still circulating. I am not trying to convince unbelievers or advocates of conspiracy theories, but to provide tools for a more complex understanding of the event.

– How are mistakes flowing?

–Just observe the properties of the lunar rocks that were brought in the different Apollo missions to check the veracity of the arrival. Those who disclose conspiracies are distinguished by their ability to speak very well. We present a scientific test and quickly demonstrate the virtue of changing the focus and filtering the discussion on other pathways. They do not admit the weight of the evidence and, before the rocks, for example, adopt a position of the type: "USA and the USSR were in the same situation, they exchanged figurines. , nobody lost and NASA is the only source of information. "

– And what do you answer?

– That, although the missions corresponded to the field of action of NASA, the rocks circulated in scientific spaces independent of the space agency and were badyzed in countries that were not even not politically aligned with the United States. In total, six missions landed in different regions and were extracted from materials allowing us to study the origins of the satellite. In fact, the vast majority of the data we have at the scientific level has been obtained through these manned missions. The difference between lunar rocks and those that may be on Earth is that the former have been exposed to billions of years of radiation, which has altered their mineral and chemical composition. The situation is very different from ours because the geography of our planet was protected by its atmosphere.

– What about images? It is very common the argument of unbelieving groups who are wary of the pictures taken during the missions …

–What makes them noisy is that in many photos, the space is observed as a black cloak rid of constellations. They badume that since the stars would be the most difficult to simulate, they chose to remove them from NASA and place a dark background. The reality is that if you look at photographs of manned journeys of the '60s and' 70s, you may realize that there are no background stars as the shutter of the Camera opens a few tenths of a second, nothing more. As a result, the brightest and closest objects – such as combinations of astronauts, the surface of the moon or the ship – reflect the light with a much greater intensity and fade the brightness of the stars, at the same time. like other secondary objects.

– I understand, a question of optics. Now, what explanation is there for those who do not believe to arrive on the moon because they see the flag flying?

– It seems like it floats, but it's really tense; stretched by astronauts. To unfold, the fabric is composed of a horizontal rod and a perpendicular that generates that feeling of volume. When Aldrin took her in his arms, she broke the diagonal and produced this illusion of false flame. Other missions liked this postcard and deliberately broke the rod.

– What are the other points of discussion?

– There are many but they are eliminated as they are reasoned. Worldwide, it is estimated that only 6% of the population do not believe that humans have reached the moon. This is a small percentage which, without a doubt, is mobilized by a feeling clearly opposed to the Yankees; the main engine that leads them to not believe everything that comes from there. Even the good.