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Product Name: The Cold War: At The Edge of Space

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Lets go back to our race with the Russians. So Russia sent the first man into space, then we sent a manned X-15 into space, then we sent Sheppard and then Glenn into earth orbit. This was called the Mercury project. However, some people question whether Glenn actually went up on top a rocket or if that was also faked. You see, the rocket used was not that reliable. Either way, we were embarking on the very early stages of touching the edges of space and at that time, 1961, John Kennedy shocked the world when he boldly announced that the US would put a man on the moon before the end of the 1960's decade. It was a bold statement, because in 1961 we had hardly even begun sending up rockets. We had no idea how to go to the moon and what it all entailed. Think about it. Kennedy's statement that America would put a man on the moon was not based on scientific research. It was not the conclusion of an extensive feasibility study by a panel of leading scientist as to what was or was not actually feasible because at that time we had barely just developed a rocket that could carry a few hundred pound pay load several thousand miles. We had no idea how to go all the way to the moon and back. There was, however, a simplistic idea that all you had to do was build a big enough rocket and blast it off and it would fly all the way there. But, Kennedy's bold declaration was made entirely on the basis of political and military objectives. It was Cold War rhetoric. At the time Russia was clearly ahead of us in missile power and in ability to lift off large loads. We were looking more and more like the second-rate country in the world. We had to do something to confirm our role as technological leader of the world. Since we had touched space for the first time, it seemed to some that the moon was now within our grasp. But, was it? It didn't matter, on the world scene where political power and economic power and military might rules, the US had become seen as a second rate power, runner up to the first-rate technological achievements of Russia. By boldly announcing to the world that the US would have a man on the moon by the end of the decade was sheer chivalry. It made the world take notice of the US again as possibly being really first-rate and Russia second. Just the psychology of it was powerful and effective. The next public phase was the Gemini project. Blasting 2 men in a capsule atop a rocket and getting them to orbit. At the same time we and the Russians were sending many satellites into space for spying and weather and telecommunications. Gemini used a much more powerful rocket, the Atlas Centaur. Russia was also sending 2 man crews, and Russia was again the first to claim they made a space-walk while in orbit around the earth. That was around 1964 (?), while I was in the 8th grade. After this the US claimed we had made a space walk. All of this was exciting to any 12-13 year old boy at the time. I used to watch it on TV whenever I knew something was on. But, my friend Rob, he used to tell me that it was all faked. I had to listen, after all, his father was secretly working on the projects. I recall Rob showing me actual 8x10 photographs (his father gave him) showing the US and the Russian space walks and how they were both made in large water tanks, painted to appear as being in space. The space suits were under water suits and on TV when they showed live videos of it they moved slowly. I will explain the slow movements latter, but, their moving slowly was due to the water, not due to being weightless in space. If you notice the space walks of today that are taken from the Space Shuttle the movements are quick (this will all be explained later in this article). In the photos he showed me you could actually see bubbles in the Russian photos and small hair thin lines in the US photos. Rob told me that no men were in the Gemini capsules being launched. They were empty. When their flights were completed the men were put in these capsules and flown up way high using spy planes, then dropped from about 6-8 miles up to splash down in the Pacific. It was always odd, the US would splash down in the Pacific, and always 'out of range' of site from the decks of the boats. Helicopters would have to go out and search for them and bring them to the ships. While, in Russia, the men and capsules would land on earth, often to within feet of hitting their targeted landing zones. Why could the Russians land on land and do so with pin point accuracy, while the US had to splash down in the ocean and would be miles off target? The answer: Because the Russian landings were never attended by the press watching live. They were filmed and after everything looked just right, the film was released. The US had press on board the ships, so the recovery had to be out of site so they could cover things up if need be. Why would the US and Russia be faking their (so-called) excursions into space and earth orbit? Because, the motto they live by is, "All is fair in love and war", and this was war. The cold war. The world alliances were at stake. Military arms sales were at stake. We are talking major big time importance. We had to be the best, we had to at least keep up. It was all out important. By hook or by crook, we could not be out done by the communist Russians. The whole time the Russians were always 1 or 2 steps ahead of us. They were the first in space, the first to send up 2 men, the first to do a space walk, the first to do a docking in space, the first to send an unmanned probe to the moon, the first to have a manned space station, they held the record for having a man in space the longest, they were the first to claim to have broken the Van Allen belts (which I will describe more further on), the first to send an unmanned probe to the moon, the first to send a robot to the moon and have it come back to earth. Etc., etc. (Yes, Russia supposedly brought back moon dust and moon rocks "before" the US did). They were the first all the way along, right up to and until the US beat them to the most important punch when we claimed to be the first to send men to the moon. They were the first all the way - until the very last minute, when we beat them out on the most important mission. Then, once we put men on the moon, oddly, the Russian's never - ever - sent a manned mission to the moon. Why? Up to that point they had led us in everything, they fully had the where-abouts to do so. They had spent so much time, effort and money and were ahead of us all the way, even though we seemingly beat them to the punch, at least, why didn't they spend the last few dollars and also send at least one manned mission? That doesn't make all that much sense. Imagine the world-wide prestige had they been the second to send a manned mission, especially if it had been within months of our first mission. They may not have got all the glory, but they would have clearly saved face by being a close second. Why didn't they? More About the Moore's - My Experiences With Them Confirmed To Me That The Moon Landing Was Faked Well, with Rob Moore as my next door neighbor I looked at the space program with a different vision. When Apollo came along I would watch it with skepticism and would think, 'all right, they could be faking this part, and that would be easy to be faked, and this is obviously faked'. Nothing I saw on TV made me doubt it was actually being faked. I saw no overwhelming evidence that it was for real. It was also an interesting time with Rob's father. He had always appeared to be a recluse, never talking with anyone, just saying, 'hi', then walking away. But, the one thing he spent time on the most at home was his one favorite hobby, radio controlled model airplanes. That is all he ever did at home. He sat in his garage - workshop building his model airplanes. I recall one day, it must have been some time in the mid to late 60's, while Apollo mission was getting underway, Rob asked me if I would like to go with he and his dad and watch him fly his radio controlled airplanes. Wow, yeah, that sounded like fun. His father was getting in the car and called Rob to go, and I went to get in the car with him. Bob never said much to me, but he had always been friendly. Suddenly he snapped and said, "Hey, you can't come with us. Rob, you know I can't take anyone, I have made special arrangements just to take you. No one else can come. That is that." Rob said that I was his best friend and begged and pleaded to let me come. I told them, 'Hey it's all right, if your father doesn't want me to go, I understand', and started walking away feeling sort of hurt. Then Bob called me and told me to come, but he warned me NOT to talk to any of his friends. Strange - but Bob was strange. I'm not sure where we went. It was about an hours drive. It was a public park and there were about 15 - 20 other members there flying their planes. It wasn't a 'normal' radio control airplane club, however. When we walked up, several men approached Bob and said, 'you told us that you were only bringing your oldest son, the straight A student". Pointing at me they would add, "Who is that?, you know the rules, Bob, no one else is allowed". This same questioning went on from a number of the members. Wow, some elite and touchy radio control airplane club. I could tell Bob Moore was feeling the heat. I heard comments referring to me as a 'civilian'. While they were flying their planes, they also spoke about other things, like their work, which I grasped to be the space program. I was teenager at the time, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out. These guys all worked together, and they obviously all worked on the space program. Now I knew why Bob was all 'touchy' about me coming. All these guys were Bob's equals (all had high security clearance) and all worked on the same part of the space project. And Bob, he was a totally different person out there on the field. I had never seen him act like this before. He was socializing. He didn't just say hi to these guys then walk away. He laughed and joked with them and held long friendly conversations. Bob, all of a sudden, looked and acted 'normal'. I figured out that these were the only people he was allowed to 'socialize' with. The whole purpose of them forming their own private radio controlled airplane club was so they could come together and socialize in civilian life, outside of their work on the space program. Bob was 'free' to talk here, among members of the same group. At home he was not 'free' to talk. He was highly restricted in what he could say. Even with his own wife and children, he hardly said very much. But, among his classified equals he was 'himself', relaxed and talkative. And I also understood that these were no ordinary bunch of guys out there flying their air planes. Maybe there were other models like this in the mid 1960's, but these guys had radio controlled jets, and yup, even a remote controlled X-15 rocket plane (using mixtures of CO2 cartridges and some with controlled valves and 2 gas mixtures). These were not store bought remote controls. They designed everything themselves, including the transmitters and receivers. They taxied the planes and took off and landed them all using their remote controls. Like I said, there were lots of other groups doing this at the time, but I also could see, the technology they had and were using was definitely not average run of the mill stuff. These guys and their planes were definitely a 'different' group. 1969 finally rolled around (the year Rob and I graduated from HS). It was the first (so-called) Lunar landing. Rob and I used to joke about it all being faked. Neither of us believed it was really happening. We would look at different events and say, "Hey, even I can figure out how to fake this part or that'. My friend, Rob, was bound for UCLA as a straight A honor student, and I was headed for the unknown. I planned to major in electronics at a smaller community college, but really, I was not intent on mundane knowledge. I was, at that time, well started in my quest for spiritual enlightenment. I attended college, but my real studies were the libraries where I would try to find God, and my reason for being here. When school started Rob gave an open invitation for me to visit him at UCLA, sometimes, on breaks, or latter after I dropped out of college, I would go there for a week at a time. Especially after I discovered the Research library at UCLA. I spent day after day in there, searching for God. They had many Vedic books, and books about Jesus I never saw anywhere else. Bottom line is that I enjoyed going up there, not just to see my old friend Rob, but for the learning experience. I would even sit in on his physics classes. We discussed physics (although he would have to speak English with me, he spoke Latin and techno physics babble half the time). We would talk about God and religion, the philosophies of life, why we are here. But, it was this time that he also began to openly talk with me about his father and his high level secret work on the space program. I was, for many years, one of Rob's closest friends. I knew him since we were both 9 years old. Rob was his father's closest son, so he confided in him, and since I was Rob's friend, he began to confide to me the same secrets his father revealed to him. It was probably around 1970 that he showed me color charts and posters and printed reports that his father had given him. On the top it clearly stated the documents were classified, can't recall the exact wording. Bob Moore really liked his son Rob. You see, after the first lunar landing or so, Bob Moore and his wife got a divorce. I stayed in touch with Rob's mother from time to time (she lived next door), and to hear it from her, she was the one who asked for the divorce. She claimed her husband had become a 'zombie'. In order to keep from 'leaking' out any sensitive information he stopped having 'normal' conversations with even his own wife and children. It got to the point that he would only say 'hi' to his own wife and kids. I found out that she actually did not know anything at all about what sort of work he did. He had 3 sons and 1 daughter, Rob, my friend, was the oldest. But, Rob was different. Bob had no longer anything to do with his family, except Rob. Why Rob? Because Rob was a genius. He had straight A's in HS. This guy would rather discuss quantum physics or deep philosophy then any other thing imaginable (even girls or music) - (oh, except he was also a Superman comic book maniac and his other hero in life was John Lennon). He was a book worm. He couldn't just read Latin, he could speak it fluently. Bob Moore was proud of this son. And he was training him to enter his elite world of those who possessed high security clearance working on projects of national security interests. Rob would talk about his father a lot with me. We both knew him. But I had never seen him for some time since he had moved out after the divorce. While visiting Rob at UCLA one day, I was just leaving to return home and Rob asked me if I could give him a ride over to his father's place. No problem. (Rob may have been a genius and he may have become a nuclear physicist, but he never learned one thing, how to drive a car). Rob told me that it would be an opportunity for me to meet his father again. Actually, by this time Rob had told me a lot, a lot more than I think he even realized. I was fully aware at the time that his father was intimately connected with the space program, and that he worked on it from 'the other side', from the secret side of the project. Anyway, Rob asked me to give him a ride, so no problem. I cannot recall the exact location, and this was around 1972, but it was somewhere not too far from UCLA - in the Brentwood - Westwood area, near Santa Monica Blvd. We arrived at the apartment. It wasn't the top of the world luxury, but I do recall it wasn't shabby. It was definitely upper class accommodations. A world better than the middle class neighborhood I grew up in and Bob used to live. We knocked at the door. Bob answered. It was 'strange' Bob again. He saw Rob and said, "Oh Robby, your early..... Who?? Is This Jim?" (Jim, that's me). He asked us in, but, without saying anything to me, he sternly told Rob, "Robby, we have to talk", and took him into the kitchen. The kitchen had a swinging door on it, but, at the loudness Bob was speaking, he may as well been standing next to me, I could hear every syllable loud and clear. Bob was yelling at his son, "Robby, you know you are NOT to bring ANY ONE with you when you come here. NO ONE. And especially not ANYONE who knows me from 'BEFORE'". This went on for a solid minute. Rob would say, "But, Jim is my best friend." His father drilled it in again, that no one from "before" was to know where he is or WHO he is. NO ONE. He told Rob that he had committed a very serious mistake, the "nation's security" was at risk. Rob then said something to the effect that I was different than others, he even said I may be of help to 'the project'. The anger and concern in Bob's voice was serious. At that point, at least with Bob, I felt I should take a 'play it dumb' attitude. When the yelling was over and they walked back into the living room, I looked around the apartment and smiled and then started some small talk. I asked how he had been. He tried to act cordial, and asked how I was. Then, sort of trying to snoop a little, I asked a simple question, "So, what sort of work do you do now?" I was looking around at the luxurious furnishing in the apartment, he certainly was living more well off then ever before. Bob looked surprised. He looked around, then stammered a bit. "I, ah, well, you remember, I ah, I used to play the trumpet (no, I didn't know)". He told me that when Johnny Carson was in Hollywood he played for Mitch Henderson on the Tonight Show. (Really???). I said, "Wow, he isn't in Hollywood that often, do you play for them in New York too?" He said, "Ah, no, ah, just here, just a few weeks several times a year." I guess he realized that didn't sound substantial enough work to justify the pad he was living in, so he started stammering and said that he tried to keep him self busy with odds jobs here and there. Then he told me that actually he was 'retired' and his 'company' was taking good care of him. Yeah, well, someone was sure taking good care of him. Anyway, another curious side-note is that about a year or so latter when I was visiting my parents I went next door to speak with Rob's mom (Bob's ex-wife). While I was talking to her I asked if Bob was still living in Westwood (or Brentwood, somewhere there). She said, "That lazy bum. No way. He's as broke as they come. Before we divorced he lost his job and everything. He lives in some small run down hole in Baldwin Park (Baldwin Park is the lowest income area of So. California, at least at the time)." She said she didn't even know if he was there anymore, he never calls her and she doesn't care to call him. She wasn't even sure if the worthless bum was still alive. I felt it best not to even tell her that just a year or so earlier I had visited him along with Rob is a nice plush apartment near UCLA, that his 'company' (uncle Sam) was taking very good care of him. I felt it was better not create too many waves. Since I am on the topic, I might as well finish up this part about my friend Rob. In 1973 I joined the Hare Krishna Movement and around 74 or so Rob had left UCLA to go work for Hughes Missile division as a nuclear physicists. I knew that much, but I didn't know how to reach him. I was thinking why not get ahold of him one more time. I really wanted to talk about the space program with him again. So, I drove over to Hughes Missile division (not far from our temple which was near Culver City). I went into the reception area, as far as you can go with out a security pass, and asked about Rob Moore. After some time, after explaining he was a nuclear physists, the receptionists acknowledged that he did work there. I asked to see him or page him. No, that was not allowed. I asked for his home phone #. No, that could not be given. I left, but I didn't give up. About a month latter I called the same Missile Division and told the receptionist that I was working on 'a project' along with Rob Moore and that I had his home phone number but had mis-placed it and needed to reach him right away, that it was important. She didn't ask anything more, and gave me his home phone number. It had now been at least 2 years or so since I had seen him. I called the number and his 'wife' answered. The rascal got himself married, although it sounded more like his mother then a wife. I asked to talk to Rob, and I got the fifth degree interrogation. When I told her we were old friends and had been best friends for years, she told me Rob wasn't there and didn't live there anymore. She was terse and she demanded to know how I got their phone number. She was demanding a bit too much, so I finished up and hung up the phone. I tried back that evening and Rob answered. He told me his wife told him that I had called (strange, she told me he didn't live there anymore - a real 'protective' wife). Rob was surprised how I had found him. He explained that he was working on highly sensitive and classified work that was of high national security. I figured that much, and that made me more wanting to talk with him. I asked to see him again, so we could talk. No way. Remember, I was the one living in the Hare Krishna temple, which was labeled a subversive 'cult' at the time, but I was free to call, talk and go where I pleased. I had a car available and asked to drive over and see him, or offered to go pick him up. Here, he was a civilian working at a company that does work for the defense department, but he was 'not allowed' to talk with old friends, he wasn't allowed to talk with anyone who didn't work on the same project and who shared the same high security clearance. He kept using those words, that he 'wasn't allowed' to do this or that. Rob then explained his situation in more detail. He told me that he worked on a team and that everyone in that team was of the same high security rated clearance. He said that to protect the secrecy of their work they were allowed to associate or speak ONLY with members of the same clearance, and only with members who worked on the same projects. (This was exactly the same as with his father while he worked on the space program). Rob told me that he had to cut off all ties with his past 'life'. That is how he talked about it, his "past life", or previous life. He said he no longer was allowed to speak with even his own mother or brothers or sister, and had not done so for several years and cannot ever do so for the rest of his life. No one, not even me, who used to be his best friend. He even told me that it may even be likely that other staff members may be listening in on our phone conversation. I asked if the lady who answered my previous call was his wife? Yes, and he explained that it was an 'arranged' marriage. Actually, in Krishna Consciousness it is recommended that the best marriages are arranged marriages, like in India. But, this guy was a Nuclear Physicist working for a major company on military projects. 'They' arranged his marriage? I didn't ask and he didn't explain exactly who 'They' were. Anyway he explained that when he agreed to join the group that he requested one of the conditions be he wanted to marry. So, they 'fixed him up' with one of the few women who also worked on the project and had the same security clearance. The thing was, she was 15 years older then him. He was, at the time, around 25 and she was 40. I told him that was sort of odd, and Rob said it was, and he didn't expect it to last, but, it was the only woman whom 'They' had available for him to marry. It was either her or no one. I'll tell you, this was a very strange phone call. I mean, what exactly was going on? Rob wasn't allowed to talk to old friends, he wasn't allowed to do this or that. Almost sounded like he was in jail or something. And 'They' arranged for him to marry (and an older lady at that). He said that this was the new system, that the only people anyone who is part of their group is allowed to even speak with are members of the same group. Not just same group, but they also have to be working on the same project. They could only marry another person who also works on the same project. It was decided that way it would be easier to keep the projects they were working on secret. There would be less of a chance of any one member from accidentally leaking out their secrets. (As Rob's father had sort of done with Rob, and Rob had sort of done with me in the past). But, I insisted that we meet and talk again. This time Rob mentioned that his own wife may 'report' on him if he wasn't careful, it simply wasn't allowed. Then he told me it was also dangerous for him to do so. We had to hang up, he told me his wife was coming in the room. I didn't even try to call him until at least 5 years latter. I found the number in my wallet and thought, hey, let me give it a try and just see what happens. I was surprised, Rob answered the phone. He was having a real hard time with his marriage, with life is what it sounded. He was now in his mid 30's and his wife was over 50. He told me he wanted 'out', but, said it didn't look like that would happen. I mean, really, it sort of sounded like Rob was under some sort of house arrest or something and his wife was more like a live-in guard or something. I mean that is speculation, but, it just sounded odd. I insisted that we meet again in person. It was still NO. But, this time I asked him about his father. I asked if he still saw his father. "My dad?" "Yeah, do you still see him?" "Yeah, I still see him". "Does he still live up near UCLA?" "Yeah". "How is he doing?" "Fine" "Is he still involved with JPL and the space program?" At that point Rob said that he had to hang up, someone might be listening, it was too dangerous for us to speak anymore. Before we hung up he asked if I remembered what happened to "John". John? I had no idea who he meant. He told me it was someone we both knew. Then he said that John was with his brother one day and some guy just walked up to him and shot him through the heart. No one knew who killed him, his brother was in too much shock to remember much. He told me to never call back again, it was too dangerous for me and for him. After he hung up I realized we did have a common friend named John. But, we never called him by that name. We called him Pepe (he was half Apache). I never found out what happened to Pepe. He sort of just disappeared. But, obviously, I got the hint about what might happen to me if I kept calling him. Whoever this John was he must have found out too much. I don't know if you caught the importance of my question to him about his father or not. Remember, he told me that he was not allowed to associate with Any One outside of those who had the same security clearance and who did not work on the same projects. But, when I asked if he still associated with his father, yes, he did. Obviously they now had the same security clearance. I had assumed that since Rob was a nuclear physicist and he worked with Huges Missile Division that he must be designing nuclear warheads, but now I wonder if maybe he is also working on the space program. Anyway, whether or not he and his father worked on the same projects, they both had equal security clearance and were 'allowed' to socialize with one another still. Enough about Rob for now, I just wanted to complete the story about him as it was partially relevant to the moon project, at least for me as he was my source of information during that time. Previously I was mentioning that in the early 70's one day Rob showed me some color drawings and reports. What they detailed was the 'actual' space program (no mention of Mercury, Gemini or Apollo). There were detailed drawings of a reusable winged space-shuttle. I can't recall if the name 'Space Shuttle' was there, but they were drawings of the craft. And it depicted a fleet of 10-20 such shuttles building 'space stations'. The shuttles were to fly up every few days into low space earth orbit. There they would construct the first space-station. What that space station was is real important, and I will explain that latter on. You see, Rob explained a lot to me. He explained that we had never gone to the moon planet. Not only that, but we had never exceeded about 25,000 miles. Now Rob was a physicists in training himself (for his master's degree in physics, in 1971, he designed a nuclear bomb). I think it was one of Einstein's theories regarding space travel that once a craft reached a speed of a little over 24,000 miles an hour and aimed in the proper trajectory, it would be able to escape the earth's gravitational pull and then 'freely glide', through space at that speed with no need of any further power. To get to the moon, however, the gravity of earth would slow down a craft, but at 24,000 miles per hour it took a long time, after the craft reached over 2/3rd way the gravity of the moon would get stronger and the craft would speed up, being pulled toward the moon. That is the 'theory' about how they were able to travel to the moon. Well, Rob told me the whole 'public' space program is based on that theory, but, that theory did not prove to be entirely true. What he told me, and what I read detailed in the confidential NASA report, was that, well, first of all, rockets only have a finite amount of fuel. So, even if a rocket or space craft can reach or exceed 24,000 miles an hour, it will soon run out of fuel if you don't turn off the rockets. The last stage rocket that (supposedly) sent the Apollo craft out of earth orbit had only enough fuel for about a 6 sec blast. But, even when the crafts reached that speed and they flew further out into deep space, according to my friend, Rob, they would slow down, due to earth's pull, much quicker than theorized. As long as the craft remained in a orbit, it could, for the most part, maintain it's speed, but when crafts tired to go further out, they ran into a belt of resistance which slowed them down or forced them into orbit (at the higher altitude). The Van Allen Radiation Belts. Did We Or Didn't We Pass Through Them Yet? What would slow down the craft out in space, since there was no gaseous atmosphere?. Well, even 25-50,000 miles out there was yet another type of atmosphere around the earth. It isn't made of gasses, but of electrons, and protons. Electro-magnetic Plasma. It is known as the Van Allen radiation belts. In 1958 the US sent the first Explorer craft to see how high and far we could go. Explorer was supposed to escape earth's gravity and fly past the moon and keep on going. At around 25,000 miles it ran into an intense band of radiation. A dense atmosphere of electro-magnetic energy. The band was extremely dense and intense. So much so, that after sending back some data, the craft not only slowed down, but it went hay-wire as all the electrical circuits on board, including the transmitter and receiver, literally 'fried' out, burned up in the strong electro-magnetic currents of the radiation belt. Back in the late 50's and early 60's the US sent one Explorer after the next to try and keep the electronics from frying, and to go beyond the belts. One after another the crafts met with problems. The Russians, too, were sending their own probes. All together by both countries 30-40 attempts were made, all ending in failure. The goal was to reach the moon with an Explorer, or a Luna probe, but the radiation belts proved to be formidable. In the late 50's all the electronics were tube type. By the early 60's transistors were used. Now, historical text books tell us that Russia was first to have broken the barrier with their probe. Somehow, with shielding or whatever, they claim to have gotten a craft through the radiation belt and beyond. (But I have also read somewhere that the radiation is so strong and intense it would take a plate of armor 2 or 3 feet thick to provide enough shielding. And any antenna would offer a conductor for the electron plasma to enter back down into the craft and the electronics to fry it out. If that is so, this thick shield was missing on the Apollo ship, so how did they get through the radiation belts? But, the Russians claimed their probe actually reached the moon by crashing into it. They claimed that their proof at the time that their probe successfully passed through the radiation belts was that the probes exploded large dyed powder bombs that caused a visible red cloud that was over 25,000 miles away. However, the books I read never explained what processes and protection were finally fabricated that gave the crafts the protection they needed to pass through the radiation belts. Later on, with Integrated Circuit Chips the problems with radiation and cosmic rays in space became even more acute as the size of the transistors shrank to become a fraction of a millimeter in size. At that size very small minute cosmic particles caused the chips to at least malfunction, if not fry out. And, as the chips were designed to consume less and less power, this also created the problem that it would take less and less of an electrical interference to cause the chips to malfunction, to set a bit to a 1 instead of a 0, etc. Of course, all space bound IC's are Rad-Hard (Radiation Hardened), and the entire chip is covered over with pure gold to protect them from such radiation. But, is that radiation hardness only good for the space between 50 to 25,000 miles, between earth and the radiation belts, or is it enough to allow craft to pass through the radiation belts as well? I theorize it is not anyway near enough protection to allow such craft to enter, what to speak of pass through, the intense ocean of radiation in the Van Allen Belts. I say my theory, but this is actually what my friend Rob told me as late as 1972, The radiation belts are very thick (25,000 miles or so) blankets of dense electro-magnetic plasma, an ocean of electrons and protons. On the other side of this shield or blanket of radiation are Solar Winds and intense cosmic, gamma and X rays. Intense enough to fry out radio circuits. What to speak of delicate Integrated Circuitry. Scientists concluded that the radiation belts are part of our atmosphere, that they provide a shield that protects earth from more intense cosmic radiation and solar wind storms that pass through the solar system. Were the Radiation Belts The Start of The Lie? Anyway, according to my friend Rob, we never got a craft through the radiation belts. Not with the Explorer crafts, or the Apollo crafts, or any Pioneer, or Mariner, or Viking or Voyager or other such deep space craft. Then why did we fake it and say we did??? This is all theory, by the way. I am not sitting here saying I absolutely believe every word my friend Rob told me about the radiation belts and that we never got through them. (However, I personally gave him a lot more than a grain of salt because by that time I understood who his father was and where he was getting his information from, and he was no quack himself. He was literally a genius, a UCLA Physicist). But, I don't know if all that he told me or I saw was true? So, I am only theorizing at this point, But, lets go back to the first claim the Russian's made when they announced to the world they had a craft that passed through the radiation belts. Let's assume, for the sake of theory, that they lied, they faked it. My theory says that at the time the US didn't have any way to know for sure one way or the other if they really did it or they had faked it. We suspected they could have faked it, but we didn't know. If we claimed to the world that Russia was faking it, what if they weren't and they could latter prove us wrong. How would that make the US look? Russia would be seen to be technically superior while we look very foolish for crying wolf, trying to make them look bad, when in the end we would be exposed as wrong. On the other hand, whether they actually made it through or not, it didn't matter because the rest of the world thinks they did, and at the same time the rest of the world knows America has not been able to do it. To the rest of the world, passing through the radiation belt was not the big thing, but when the Lunar Probe supposedly got through, it supposedly traveled straight to the moon and crash landed on the moon. Send back some fuzzy data as it supposedly did so. So where does that leave us? Second place. A no-show. If we don't get through soon, then we will have lost the Cold War, the Russians would win more and more political alliances. So, whether they faked it or not didn't matter, they were winning the world's political influence and were coming out the winner of the cold war. At that time Russia was first to produce successful ICBM missiles. They were the first to be able to land a nuclear warhead to almost any country and city in the world. They were the first to send up an earth orbiting satellite, they were the first to put a dog in space, the first to put a man in space, they had the largest rockets, they were now claiming to be the first to get a craft out of earth orbit, through the Van Allen belts and the first country to send a man-made space craft (unmanned) to crash land on the moon. Russia was claiming to have actually reached the moon with an unmanned craft. This was big-time and it meant a lot to the powers of the world in forming their political alliances. By far they were way ahead of the US at the time, and whether or not they faked this really didn't mater. That is what American intelligence concluded. That it really didn't matter if Russia really did what they said they did, or they had faked it. What mattered is the rest of the world believed them and for this Russia was winning more and more of the Cold War. Communism was spreading. American intelligence also concluded that it really didn't matter if we faked it or not. This was War, the Cold War. The fight was for world-wide political dominance and influence. We couldn't just sit there and let those communists in Russia make us look like second rate runners up. We had to convince the world that we were technologically more advanced... At least we had to appear equally advanced. This was the basis (according to my theory) that prompted the US military and intelligence to decide to also start faking some of our space missions. This was the beginning of the lies, at least in terms of the space program. (I must remind everyone here, I am only speaking in theory, I have no conclusive evidence that these things actually did not happen. But in the continuation of our theory...). The Van Allen Radiation Belts proved to be too formidable, and neither we nor the Russians were able to surpass it. Russia made the choice first, to fake it. We were in a race to see who could go to the moon first, and it was a critical time in history. It was around this time that the Bay of Pigs incident took place which took the world to within a push of a button, to within a hair-line decision of the Super Powers to enter into an all out nuclear war. The situation at the time was intense. Neither side wanted a nuclear war. If such a war were to have occurred between the USSR and the USA no one would win, both sides, and the world, would be destroyed. Russia knew this as well as we. Therefore space and technology became the battlefield. But, after 40 attempts to pass through the radiation belts, both sides were getting frustrated at the lack of progress. At that time, the race was for the moon, but if you can't go past 25,000 miles, you'll never reach the moon. Russia decided it was better to fake progress than to risk going on with a battle that was leading no where, for if the battle in space proved to be too futile, the only other alternative was a nuclear battle on earth. The decision to fake some of the early missions may have been made with the better interests of human society in mind. This we have to take into consideration. The men who made these choices may not have been the total demons we might like to think they were, they were all human and we might make some of the same decisions they did if we were in the same situations faced with the same sort of information. Russia may have made the choice before us that they could win influence by faking some things. But, just like a child who tells one lie soon finds himself wrapped up in a web of one lie after another made in order to support the first lie. Once the fakery and lying began, where and how will it stop? The Russians claimed their probe not only passed through the radiation belts, but escaped earth orbit and entered deep space and that it became the first craft to reach and (crash) land on the moon. That was a phenomenal achievement. It allowed Russia to win a battle in the Cold War. The US then claimed the same thing. If you can't beat them, join them. Did we figure out how to break through the Van Allen Belts or not? That really is the crux of my whole theory, and I am only basing it on what my friend and neighbor of the 60's told me, which is what he learned from his father who worked on the projects. Between near space, about 50-60 miles above earth surface, up to about 25,000 miles up there is no atmosphere and nothing to slow down a craft. It is in that space that we can successfully orbit satellites. However, between 25,000 and 50,000 miles is this dense ocean of plasma radiation that slows down crafts that enter it (preventing them from deeper space travel) and that literally frys out all electronics that enter it. That was what the paper I read said that my friend Rob showed me. If that is true, then every single deep space mission was faked. The Voyagers, Gallileos, or whatever. The probes to Venus, to Saturn, to Mars, etc., were all faked. What has not been faked were most all flights (excluding Mercury, Gemini and Apollo), at least in the last 20 years, made within the first 25,000 miles. These are all conjectures. I do not really know. I am basing all of this only on what my friend told me. Maybe he was misled, maybe none of this was faked. I am not going to take the strong position of saying I know more than I do. But, I am presenting this as food for thought. I do know his father worked on these projects, I do know I saw confidential documents. But, I don't know any real details. What if the theory is right and we never did pass through the radiation belts? Then why did we fake the space probes, the flights to Venus, and Saturn, etc.? For the same reason as stated above. Once the lying began, where and how do you stop it? University researchers didn't know it was faked. Senators didn't know. Outside of a small select handful of scientists, none of the other scientists knew it was faked. So, there has been an on-going demand from the public, from scientists, to keep going out into space, to keep making more and more probes of the solar system. What are those who make such decisions supposed to do? They can't say they can't do it, because on one hand they are saying they are already doing it. So, elaborate missions are set up and one lie after another keeps coming. Once it got started, how do you stop it? In the 70's How Did They Fake Deep Space Probes. How did they fake so many trips to Venus and Saturn, Mars, etc.? Well, one day around 1978 I was also wondering the same thing myself. I had seen the pictures of Saturn and it's rings and moons and I was also wondering, wow, 10's of 1,000's of electronic photos were being transmitted from, what was it, Voyager?. I kept wondering, How? Of course, they could just be models and photos were taken. But, then, one day, just after Star Wars II came out and Star Trek the movie (# 1) came out I had got hold of a movie industry magazine that was called Business Pictures. In it were ads from special effects companies who work for Hollywood. This was the dawn of computer graphics being used in motion pictures. Star Wars I was made using mostly models, but, after Star Wars I, George Lucas used some of the profits to set up a new lab called Pixar, which strove to push the technology and create stunning effects using state of the art Computer Workstations. CG, or Computer Graphics. I was looking at some of the ads and articles in the magazine and I found a peculiar one. Unfortunately I do not recall the name of the company running the ad. But, they were selling computer graphics "programming", not a finished program, but the algorythms and 'basic mathematical building blocks' used to create a program. What they claimed to be was a company that does contract work for JPL, NASA and the military. What they were selling were the software foundations and routines that did texture mapping and perspective, surface reflection, shadow mapping, etc. Then, what really caught my eye and peaked my interest was that the ad stated that the information they were selling had been developed over 10 years prior by NASA and the US military and had, up until now, been considered highly classified and secret information. With this technology and the use of super computers they claimed it was possible to create virtually any special effects scene. The reason given that the information was now being declassified and being offered for sale was that the movie industry (specifically the work done by Lucas's Pixar team - which became the foundation for Industrial Light and Magic, the premiere computer graphics company of the entire industry), had begun to catch up with the secret technology and it was decided there was no longer any reason to keep the information classified. Wow. The same technology that helped to produce the visual effects of space, planets, and space crafts used for Star Wars II and Star Trek I had been developed and used by NASA and JPL for over 10 years earlier. That would mean that NASA and JPL had the ability to create virtual reality graphics effects as early as the late 1960's. Texture mapping, shadow mapping, light reflection, etc. Then I instantly realized how JPL was turning out 10's of 1,000's of electronic photos of Saturn and space. They had CG technology for a long time before Hollywood finally caught up and learned how to do it. The 'fly-by' probes that mapped Venus and Saturn, etc. all sent back to earth electronic data and photos. It was feasible to generate all of this on computer. JPL had at it's disposal the fastest and most powerful super-computers of the day, like the Cray. All they had to do was bounce signals off a distant satellite so that the ground crews would receive real signals that they thought were coming from deep space.

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Maney people would have a real hard time believing or even entertaining the idea that we did not go to the moon. After all, it has been over 30 years since we, supposedly, sent our fist unmanned space missions to the moon. Having been so long, it... more