BBC Focus Magazine

[M Paul Lloyd]

If you are planning on seeing this film and don't want to know what happens then you are perhaps best not reading further....... oh and it is only my opinion, albeit that I have watched the footage of the Apollo missions quite a few times, I am not going to claim a massive amount of expertise.


So here we have a 'Blair Witch Project' in space, and to be honest it didn't really work for me the first time round so I tried to avoid getting too excited and approached this as a bit of non cerebral sci-fi 'fun' entertainment and taking that as my yardstick I have to say I rather enjoyed it.

Some of the sets, especially the cramped Lunar Module interior was very effective and the hardware, such as the Lunar Rover and Soviet lander were really quite convincing. Sadly they failed to add increasing amounts of Lunar dust to the suits and interior as time went by, which given that Lunar soil is as black as coal and as sticky as any carbon deposits the continually pristine Module interior and pressure suits rankled a bit.

Ironically the reason it fails to convince as the documentary, compiled from 'secret' footage that has been uploaded to the internet, it purports to be for a number of reasons, reasons that are generally used to try and prove that the entire Apollo mission was faked on a Hollywood film set.
The irony is not lost on me.

The aforementioned omission of Lunar dust aside many of the shots of actors moving around an otherwise quite convincing sets failed to show convincing movement within what was supposed to be a low gravity environment, which was rather poorly duplicated, in my opinion, with nothing more sophisticated than some slow motion footage of a shuffling dance step that lacked a convincing upward bounce as seen in the original mission footage. But the most significant gaff was perhaps the inclusion, after having so very carefully spliced stock footage of Apollo missions from orbit and on the surface into some very detailed 'retro' set pieces in a home movie style, they then added an impossible 'high level' panoramic shot of the two American astronauts discovering mysterious footprints in the Lunar soil!

And then their was the mutual decision to go wandering off on their own initiative when communications with Mission Control were lost!

Even Mrs.MPL hinted that this undisciplined if not unprecedented behaviour was basically 'wrong' and therefore less than convincing.
To be honest the rocks growing legs was in some respects better handled, but even then just who exactly was filming the second astronaut as he made off for the Soviet lander when his crew mate had disappeared in the depths of a dark and freezing cold crater??

So a bit of thought provoking fun, which I admit I enjoyed, but not much else.

The real down side to it all is the idea that some misguided individuals might actually be inclined to think it is a record of actual events, which it obviously isn't but then again that means nothing to the purveyors of utter woo-woo.

[KingPhillip]

"... given that Lunar soil is as black as coal and as sticky as any carbon deposits ..."

Is that from first hand experience reported by the astronauts? Outside the module? Inside the module? Back on Earth by the scientists?

Can it be sticky if the environment is dry and cold? Even when facing the sun?

[M Paul Lloyd]

Most of the relevant files I have been using are in pdf format which I can't upload from my net book but this site covers the problem well enough I think.
http://www.space.com/3080-lunar-explore ... lemma.html

[M Paul Lloyd]

They do say a picture can paint a thousand words.
Gene Cernan Apollo 17

[KingPhillip]

Wow! That answers my questions. Not exactly a romantic Earth-lit stroll along a lunar crater's rim.

Maybe logistically, Mars or one of the asteroids might be a better option going forward. The ubiquitous electrically-charged lunar dust seem to be an insurmountable obstacle for a long-term human presence.

[M Paul Lloyd]

It does present a few problems doesn't it, however I fear that Martian dust may prove equally troublesome and we may just have to find ways around the problems it presents.?

[Healerman]

Trouble with that dust (regolith?) isn't just that it clings, it is also extremely abrasive. It's like covering all the moving parts of your equipment in carborundum powder. Very destructive.

[M Paul Lloyd]

Yes regolith, technical term for dirt and surface type stuff if I recall correctly and the said 'stuff' on the Moon is indeed both sticky and abrasive and apart from being really messy caused suit seals to sieze which when you think about it is pretty worrying given the environement.

If NASA needed a reason to delay going back to the Moon that is a really major one right there. No need for creepy crawly rocks at all..