# Did the Apollo 11 astronauts carry weapons? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2004, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086 "2004-02-08T04:47:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/41 "2010-09-03T13:04:17Z")
> [@Achilles](#): > > [QUOTE=Grumple Grommit] > How do you know? Thus sounds the bell to mark the end of the discussion… [/QUOTE] Exactlly. We say "Cite, please?’ 😃 Best wishes, hh ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/42 "2010-09-03T13:05:26Z")
Lack of brains… must be a zombie. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/43 "2010-09-03T13:07:55Z")
My favorite is how the microchip was discovered in 1948. If my grandfather had just gone out in that field a day earlier, he might have discovered it! ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/44 "2010-09-03T13:10:19Z")
> [@epl442](#): > > THis is why we didnt go to the moon… So you have thoroughly researched this subject? ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/45 "2010-09-03T13:19:03Z")
> [@ForgottenLore](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > How do you know? > > Gemini and Apollo astronaut Jim Lovell stated quite clearly in his book _Lost Moon_: The astronauts did not carry suicide pills. His take on it was that it would have been redundant to do so. If he were marooned in space and faced with the certainty of a slow painful death, all he’d have to do to commit suicide quickly would be open the hatch. I would imagine that the intended use of cyanide pills would have been in case of capture by the Soviets. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/46 "2010-09-03T13:45:46Z")
> [@Soup](#): > > [QUOTE=RickJay] > How about a set of brass knuckles big enough to fit over an astronauts glove? 😛 I love this image! “Hah, bow before Zoid puny earthlings!” _punch, smash, wham_ “Aggghhh, run away, run away!” btw on a semi-related note I do recall a story about the Soviets testing a ground-based laser on the first US shuttle mission. Not powerful enough to cause any damage but definitely not a friendly gesture and a strange thing to do. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/47 "2010-09-03T13:47:07Z")
Just a reminder that this 6 year old thread was bumped today with some, well, interesting thoughts on the space program. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/48 "2010-09-03T13:56:35Z")
Since this thread was originally published, I’ve come across other examples of weapons being carried aboard pioneering spacecraft in science fiction. Most notably, it’s in Heinlein’s first juvenile, **Rocket Ship Galileo**. Of course, if they hadn’t had those rifles aboard the _Galileo_, the novel wouldn’t have worked, but you can see Heinlein straining to rationalize them, especially as weight was definitely a concern. his hero, Dr. Cargraves, rationalizes carrying a couple of Garand rifles with the justification that, like the Russian cosmonauts mentioned above i the thread, their ship might return to Earth in some wilderness area. It’s noteworthy that the film that was loosely based on the novel, _Destination Moon_, doesn’t feature guns on the ship at all. There were plenty of other guns aboard spaceships, besides those in _Galileo, Robinson Crusoe on Mars_, and _It1 The Terror from Beyond Space_. I’m surprised how common they were, especially considering how catastrophic an accidental discharge aboard a space ship would be. I suspect most writers and filmmakers didn’t care and/or saw the dramatic potential and/or liked drawing the analogy to the Western Frontier. Heck, it’s all just “Wagon Train to the Stars”, right? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/49 "2010-09-03T14:02:59Z")
i found a page describing the weapons used (no zombie weapons or phasers) click [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheese_grater) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/50 "2010-09-03T14:52:32Z")
Proof positive that we are losing the fight. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/51 "2010-09-03T14:59:51Z")
> [@epl442](#): > > > [@Soup](#): > > > > How about regular guns? 😉 > > > > I know it sounds silly, but think about it for a moment. This was the first time humans were to set foot on another world. Sure, it was a world that had been studied enough, albeit remotely, to ensure that the astronauts wouldn’t encounter little green men. But don’t you think that during some NASA brainstorming session that the possiblilty that SOMETHING might be up there came up? Hey, it’s an alien world, maybe there WAS some silicone-based “rock monster” life up there. Or, if we managed to get a rocket up there, who’s to say there wasn’t some other visitors that got there first? 16th- and 17th- century explorers here on Earth came across creatures they never dreamed about. We’re still finding some today (like the giant worms surrounding thermal vents deep below the ocean’s surface). > > > > I guess, due to weight and space considerations, astronauts can’t be prepared for such an unlikely contingency as an angry alien big enough to actually harm them. And what would one bring anyway? As RickJay points out, a gun would be useless. How about a set of brass knuckles big enough to fit over an astronauts glove? 😛 > > THis is why we didnt go to the moon,the average american wont go to the offy without a pistol in hios pants+a 12 bore on the back seat.You really think theyd send the worlds best tech all that way with no weaps? > The plans for apollo wrere released years ago but there are 2 compartments still classified & listed as shelves or storage-one was for cyanide & other means of takin ones own life & the other may well have been a crossbow type weapon.The space shuttle on the other hand does have classified weapons.it carrys a diamond laser,a maser cannon & is rumoured to be testing the plasma cannon in conjunction with the new aurora -the replacement for strealth & capable of sub orbital flight.Along with pulse detonation.Which was originally designed as an engine but has interesting properties as a silent weapon-which the shuttle also can deploy in satellite form,like emp burst modules. > What we have now is all from tech collected from 1948 onward -1948 being the year the actual microchip was discovered -there is no way on gods green earth we went to the moon in 69 in what amounts to a sinclair zx spectrum & a nissan micra! we cant go there NOW -so there is no way we went then-if we cant go now,it follows we never went as it is so risky sending men when there are a dozen critical manouvres that need to be calculated to the micro level.The moon fotos have prooved to be easily replicable (even a tv show mythbusters did it-this is how easy this is 2 replicate) No one ever questions the camera on arnstrong when he went down the ladder-according to nasa the camera couldnt pan to get him-so someone must have gone out 1st +positioned it (also it should have been covered in dust were it panned thus)or perhaps they did it on a film set…😕 why does armstrong refuse to speak,why has aldrin several times threatened to? id love it to be true but like santa claus it simply has 2 many holes in its story line,never happened+still cant happen as we can only just survive the outer atmosphere & that costs trillions to maintain.sorry just dint happen 🙂 Maybe they carried guns that fired bullets of pure _stupid_? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/52 "2010-09-03T15:08:26Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > …Maybe they carried guns that fired bullets of pure _stupid_? We certainly have plenty of that stockpiled here on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/53 "2010-09-03T15:10:28Z")
The whole thing may seem absurd, but remember that the astronauts were put in isolation after recovery in case they had picked up any moon germs. If they had carried any antibiotics on board, those could be considered weapons to be used against alien life forms. As for more conventional weapons like guns, I doubt it. It would have been obvious that moon men would have more highly developed technology than ours, and our puny human guns would have been useless against them. Unless they were really good shots. Then they could have shot the alien death beam devices out of the aliens hands. Actually, that might not be very hard. Aliens usually have very long fingers, and large hands. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/54 "2010-09-03T15:12:40Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > > [@beowulff](#): > > > > …Maybe they carried guns that fired bullets of pure _stupid_? > > We certainly have plenty of that stockpiled here on Earth. Until the recent formation of a new political party, I don’t think we had the technology to purify stupidity, despite its abundance. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/55 "2010-09-03T15:27:12Z")
So we’ve learned from threads started or revived recently that we can’t shoot down an alien fleet that arrives on Earth and we can’t shoot aliens who we meet on the moon. Well, what’s the point of going into space at all if not to find aliens and kill them? We’ve got to start a new space race. We’ll start with the most important objective, destroying every alien civilization. We’ll have to invent weapons capable of shooting down and blowing up every sort of alien and alien ship we can think of. Then we’ll start a crash program for interstellar travel. We’ll travel to every other solar system we can reach, meet the aliens there, and kill them. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/56 "2010-09-03T15:27:45Z")
So if I understand you correctly, you’re saying they didn’t actually go to the moon, but when they did, they took a crossbow? [QUOTE=epl442] No one ever questions the camera on arnstrong when he went down the ladder-according to nasa the camera couldnt pan to get him-so someone must have gone out 1st +positioned it [/QUOTE] The camera that you’re referring to was mounted on the lunar module. It didn’t need to pan to see Armstrong’s first step, because they knew ahead of time where he’d be: at the base of the ladder. So the camera was attached pointing that way. ---
**Author:** ![Tranquilis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tranquilis/32/3639_2.png) [@Tranquilis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tranquilis)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/57 "2010-09-03T15:30:51Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > > [@epl442](#): > > > > THis is why we … > > Maybe they carried guns that fired bullets of pure _stupid_? Time-travelling bullets, at that. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/58 "2010-09-03T15:32:04Z")
Does Alan Shepard’s 6 iron count? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/59 "2010-09-03T15:35:39Z")
IIRC they did carry a medical kit with 3 ‘injectable’ medications one a pain killer, I think another was some sort of adrenaline rush, which could be used to boost human strength - sort of a human weapon, and a 3rd that I’m not sure of anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2010, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-the-apollo-11-astronauts-carry-weapons/228086/60 "2010-09-03T15:43:36Z")
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