Lunar Surface Views

Follow THIS link to see loads of lunar surface photos. Enjoy!

This just in: We actually went to the Moon!

It started as a whisper. That whisper grew over time among those who cherish such things, and soon it became a loud din! What was it? It was the vocal few who believe that the moon landings which occurred back in the late 60's, early 70's were hoaxed.

Fact is they weren't. Their arguments (if you want to call them that) are based on incomplete facts, ignorance of facts, misinterpretaions, and deliberate obtuseness.

Before I continue, I want to give out a link to a priceless website that reduces the Moonlanding Conspiracy Loonies' so-called theories to ashes.

http://lunarlandinghoax.com/

So here we go... here are some of the latest photos from the moon! They clearly show the Moon landing sites...

Apollo 11 landing site as photographed by the Lunar Recon Orbiter (note the lunar lander's long shadow):


Here is what you are seeing:


Here is the Apollo 12 landing site as photographed from the LRO:


Here is the Apollo 12 site map:


Apollo 14 LRO photo and traverse map:




Apollo 15 LRO photo and traverse map:




Apollo 16 LRO photo and traverse map:




Apollo 17 LRO photo and traverse map:




VIDEO

The Men Who Walked on The Moon

Here they are... the 12 who walked on the Moon! 1st man on the Moon - Neil Armstrong (Apollo 11)  

2nd man on the Moon - Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin (Apollo 11)

3rd man on the Moon - Pete Conrad (Apollo 12)

4th man on the Moon - Alan Bean (Apollo 12)  

 5th man on the Moon - Alan Shepard (Apollo 14)  

6th man on the Moon - Edgar Mitchell (Apollo 14)  

7th man on the Moon - David Scott (Apollo 15)  

8th man on the Moon - James Irwin (Apollo 15)  

9th man on the Moon - John Young (Apollo 16)  

10th man on the Moon - Charles Duke (Apollo 16)  

11th man on the Moon - Eugene Cernan (Apollo 17)  

12th man on the Moon - Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17)  

Special note: Gene Cernan was the last man to leave the surface of the Moon. Many people recall the first words man uttered from the surface of the Moon. But who remembers the last words uttered by a human on the moon? Well, here they are: "...this is Gene, and I'm on the surface; and, as I take man's last step from the surface, back home for some time to come - but we believe not too long into the future - I'd like to just say what I believe history will record. That America's challenge of today has forged man's destiny of tomorrow. And, as we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came and, God willing, as we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind. Godspeed the crew of Apollo 17."

All Apollo Moon Missions

All Apollo missions:

Apollo 01 - Tragically, the three astronauts were killed in a capsule fire during an instrument test on the ground. Crew = White, Grissom, and Chafee.


Apollo 02 - No such thing.

Apollo 03 - Sub-orbital, unmanned test flight. It is informally, in retrospect, sometimes called "Apollo 3", but its official designation was "AS-202".

Apollo 04 - First test of the Saturn V booster (unmanned)

Apollo 05 - Test of the Saturn IB booster and lunar module (unmanned).

Apollo 06 - Another test of the Saturn V booster (unmanned).

Apollo 07 - An eleven-day Earth-orbital mission. Crew = Eisele, Schirra, and Cunningham.


Apollo 08 - The first human spaceflight mission to escape from the gravitational field of planet Earth; the first to be captured by and escape from the gravitational field of another celestial body; and the first crewed voyage to return to planet Earth from another celestial body. Crew = Lovell, Anders, and Borman.


Apollo 09 - First manned flight of the Command/Service Module (CSM) along with the Lunar Module (LM). Crew = McDivitt, Scott, and Schweickart.


Apollo 10 - Was a "dry run" for the Apollo 11 mission, testing all of the procedures and components of a moon landing without actually landing on the Moon itself. Crew = Cernan, Stafford, and Young.


Apollo 11 - Landed the first humans on the Moon (duh). Sea of Tranquillity region. Crew = Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins (duh).


Apollo 12 - Key objectives were a more precise landing, and to visit the Surveyor 3 probe to remove parts for analysis. Ocean of Storms region. Crew = Conrad, Gordon, and Bean.


Apollo 13 - Aborted mission. Mission would have explored the Fra Mauro formation, or Fra Mauro highlands. Crew = Lovell, Mattingly, and Haise.


Apollo 14 - Completed the mission intended for Apollo 13. Fra Mauro region. Crew = Roosa, Shepard, and Mitchell.


Apollo 15 - The first mission to utilize a Lunar rover. Hadley Rille Region. Crew = Scott, Worden, and Irwin.


Apollo 16 - Mission to Descartes Highlands. Lunar rover used again. Crew = Mattingly, Young, and Duke.


Apollo 17 - Longest manned lunar landing flight; longest total lunar surface extravehicular activities; largest lunar sample return, and longest time in lunar orbit. Taurus-Littrow region. Crew = Schmitt, Cernan, and Evans.


Apollo 18 - Cancelled. Crew = Gordon, Brand, and Schmitt (unofficial).
Apollo 19 - Cancelled. Crew = Haise, Pogue, and Carr (unofficial).
Apollo 20 - Cancelled. Crew = Roosa, Weitz, and Lousma (unofficial).

Shame the Moon program was cancelled. There might have been some exciting things happening. For instance some of the astronauts were strongly suggesting a more ambitious landing in Tycho Crater, or even the farside of the moon. Exploration of the Copernicus crater region was also considered.

The Demise of the 2009 COWBOYS!

Well, at least this year we got to the playoffs. Cool. Unfortunately we got DESTROYED by the Vikings.

Thanks to these guys we had to go home.

The Torment of Father Francis Joseph Bressani

The Torment of Father Francis Joseph Bressani. Read for an amazing (and pretty infuriating) story of survival.

http://books.google.com/books?id=iegNAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA117&dq=Father+Bressani&as_brr=1&ei=bShSS-m2CZ7ozAT4kfSVDA&cd=7#v=onepage&q=Father%20Bressani&f=false

Francesco Giuseppe Bressani was an Italian Jesuit missionary who traveled to New France (Canada) in the early 1640s to evangelize Indigenous peoples, particularly the Huron (Wendat). In 1644, while en route from Trois-Rivières to Huron territory, Bressani was captured by a Mohawk war party, part of the Iroquois Confederacy, who were at war with the Hurons and hostile to French allies.

Here is a summary of his captivity narrative:

Capture and Initial Torture:

• Bressani was seized along with several Huron allies.

• His captors tortured him severely: he was beaten, burned, mutilated, and had his fingers crushed or cut off.

• Despite this, he survived the ordeal due to his physical resilience and spiritual faith.

March to the Mohawk Village:

• He was marched over 600 miles to a Mohawk village in present-day New York State.

• Along the way, he endured further abuse and starvation.

Life in Captivity:

• Once in the village, he was paraded and further tortured in public rituals.

• Surprisingly, he was not killed—likely because of his youth, weakened condition, or potential value in ransom.

• He was held for about two months, during which he observed and recorded the customs of the Mohawk people.

Ransom and Release:

• The Dutch at Fort Orange (modern Albany), who were trading partners with the Iroquois, intervened.

• Bressani was ransomed and handed over to the Dutch, who then arranged his return to Europe.

Return and Writings:

• He returned to France and published a detailed account in 1653, titled "Breve Relatione d'alcune missioni".

• His narrative is a valuable source for early contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples, providing both ethnographic detail and insight into missionary struggles.

• Despite his suffering, Bressani returned to New France in 1645 and continued his missionary work for several more years.

Legacy:

• Bressani’s account is one of the earliest and most graphic descriptions of Iroquois captivity practices.

• His narrative also underscores the cultural and religious tensions of the time and the harsh realities of frontier missionary work.

Ski trip photos #3

Mike (me) throwing a snow ball...


Izzy in the snow...


The "green" area. Here is where you learn to ski. The conveyor belt takes you up to the top of a little hill and you slide back down. It's surprisingly fun, with just a hint of danger...


View forward from the ski lift...


Mike and Izzy on the slopes! Vacations are nice!

Ski trip photos #2

..."The Slope". I went down this at 20 miles per hour or more, by accident... Wow!


Mike and Izzy on the ski lift. (Heading for destruction?)


This is the view from the ski lift in Santa Fe Ski... You're seeing Izzy's and my skis...


Mike inside the restaurant of the Inn at Rio Rancho...


Izzy in the courtyard of the Inn at Rio Rancho...