Not quite right. I think Bad Astronomer already covered this. The stars are not washed out. There is no atmosphere on the moon to scatter the light to get a wash out effect.
The stars don’t appear because the film wasn’t exposed long enough to see them. If it were, the lunar surface would be an overexposed mass of white.
Dan Tilque
Yes there is no atmosphere, but the reflecting light off the surface of the moon is bright enough to wash out the stars’ light. Did the astronauts see the stars? That wouldn’t be a camera problem, but the sensitivity of the eyes is different from the cameras.
My answer was not meant to be substantially different than the Bad Astronomer’s.
Lib, did your mother think Apollo 8 (lunar fly-by mission) was a hoax? That mission occurred around Christmas, 1968 – a month before Nixon was sworn into office.
“The best way to do mathematics is to be creatively lazy.” -I. M. Isaacs
In response to your post about the authenticity of the moon landing:
While simple logic states that the moon landing was authentic, you seem to have ignored some very powerful evidence to the contrary. Among these are:
-It is well known that the moon has no atmosphere, so there would be nothing to block a clear view of the ‘billions and billions’ of stars trumpeted by Carl Sagan. In spite of this, the photos of the moon returned by NASA show nothing but a flat, black backdrop, completely absent of the flaming gasballs we all know and love.
-Assuming there is every good reason for footprints to have been left on the moon by the astronauts who visited it, why didn’t the thrusters from the lunar module blast module-sized craters in the moon’s surface?
-In the moon landing video, Armstrong & Co. appear to be lighted from both sides simultaneously. Either the moon is the ultimate in ambient lighting, or something’s majorly ‘up’ here.
-The following quotation from Bill Kaysing, a former tech writer for Rockwell International and major NASA critic: “When I worked at Rocketdyne, they did a feasibility study of…landing on the moon. They found the chance of success was something like .0017%. It’s also well-documented that NASA was often badly managed and had poor quality control. But as of '69, we could suddenly perform manned flight upon manned flight? With complete success? It’s…against all statistical odds.”
-Finally, we all saw the craft take off, but few consider how easy it would have been to change courses, jettison occupants into the nearby ocean, &c. only minutes thereafter.
While these are certainly not airtight pieces of evidence, and probably don’t make the greatest overall case for the “Astro-Not Theory,” they ARE significant facts, and facts which you seemed to wholly ignore.
Additionally, few odd, random moon-hoax facts:
-There is a group who claims to have tapped into NASA’s communications with the astronauts on the moon, and claim to have heard Neil Armstrong say something to the effect of “There are other spacecraft out there, lined up on the far side of the crater edge! They’re on the moon watching us!”
-Proponents of the theory that the moon is itself a hollow orb point to the fact that, when the Apollo 12 fell back to the surface of the moon, seismic instruments detected a distinct reverberation for a good hour and change. Additionally, the moon isn’t made of the same elements as the earth, so it’s NOT a chunk of earth that broke off. It’s also not a glom of space-debris; the moon’s having only 16.67% of the earth’s gravity more or less bars that much stuff from pulling together into a coherent orb of such a great magnitude. Additionally, Isaac Asimov believed the moon is a celestial body that was constructed by an alien super-civilization and dragged on over into our orbit. Even MORE additionally, many believe that some of Aristotle’s texts speak of a ‘prelunar time’, in which no moon was visible in the earth’s sky. The bottom line: the moon’s origins are even more shady than the earth in it’s shadow.
Yeah, OK, I’ve proven myself to be a major conspiracy wonk. Big friggin’ deal.
P.S. Just to avoid lawsuits, most of this material was learned, referenced, and downright pilfered from Richard Belzer’s “UFOs, JFK, and Elvis.”
Ta!
“…It’s only a paper moon…”
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UFO_Charlie
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“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something
about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is
purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.”
UFO_Charlie, as you seem to have ignored the entire discussion before your post, I should assume you’re just trying to get a rise out of everyone. But in case you’re serious, I have two suggestions:
To my fellows here at SDMB: I apologize for answering this post. I hope my attempt to fight ignorance didn’t unnecessarily feed the fire.
“If you prick me, do I not…leak?” --Lt. Commander Data
UFO_Charlie, you sound like a troll. Did you even read the thread? It discusses some of your criticisms already.
Originally posted by UFO_Charlie:
Already addressed.
The thrusters weren’t all that powerful. They did blow the dust around in the landing area. They were not designed to dig big holes, and in fact a lot less thrust was needed than would be needed on earth.
Discussed above.
Complete success? What about Apollo 1? What about Apollo 13? I don’t know anything about Bill Kaysling or his claims.
Not quite like you describe, but it would have been possible to drop the capsule in the ocean, say the Pacific, and nobody know about it. Except the recovery crew. The people who hauled them out of the water, and kept them in isolation until the “trip” was up. And the astronauts themselves. Someone would have said something by now.
Wrong - they are not ignored, they have been addressed.
And people claim we have an anti-gravity chamber at JSC too. We don’t. People can claim anything.
I have heard that statement.
It is very similar in composition to the crust of the earth. It does not have the heavier elements from the core. That discrepancy in makeup would account for the density difference. However, what justification do you have that amount of mass cannot accumulate into a planet?
Cite. When and where did he state this?
Every month that happens - the moon is overhead during the day, so it isn’t visible at night.
UFO Charlie said:
Did you not read any of the discussion prior to your post? This has been so well explained, you’d have had to try extremely hard to have missed it.
Actually, I DID try pretty hard. 
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UFO_Charlie
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“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something
about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is
purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.”
Welcome back, Phil!
Looks like UFO_Charlie was posting in this area at the same time my Mailbag item on trolls was posted. Coincidence?
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UFO_Charlie
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“I think computer viruses should count as life. I think it says something
about human nature that the only form of life we have created so far is
purely destructive. We’ve created life in our own image.”
Hey, Charlie, what do you think of those new satellite photos of Area 51?
Do you know Krispy Original?
Sig Alert!
Mr. UFO_Charlie, please, please, don’t besmirch the good name of the Good Dr. A!
He would be rolling in his grave if he heard such an outrageous statement if he hadn’t been cremated. The man was a PhD for God’s sake!
“Shoplifting is a victimless crime. Like punching someone in the dark.” -Nelson Muntz.