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Buzz Aldrin admits he didn't go to the Moon? — Transcript

by Dave McKeegan · 2,674 words · 394 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:01Hello everybody. Hope you're doing well
0:03and thanks for joining us for another
0:04video. Now, quite often when I do videos
0:07about the moon landings, I'll receive
0:09comments or even emails from people who
0:11claim NASA have admitted they never sent
0:15people to the moon. And these days, it
0:17tends to be three video clips that get
0:20referenced. one of Buzz Uldren being
0:22interviewed by a young girl, one of a
0:25NASA engineer talking about the Van
0:26Allen belts, and the most recent clip
0:28being from a press conference with the
0:30crew of the upcoming Arteimus 2 mission.
0:33Now, spoiler alert, none of these clips
0:36are actually them saying that nobody's
0:38been to the moon. But since people keep
0:40bringing them up, I thought I'd make a
0:42video looking at each of them and
0:44breaking down what they're actually
0:46talking about. Firstly, let's look at
0:49the Buzz Uldren interview since this is
0:51probably the one I see most frequently
0:53mentioned.
0:55>> Why has nobody been to the moon in such
0:58a long time?
1:02>> That's not
1:05an 8-year-old's question. [laughter]
1:08That's my question. I want to know, but
1:12I think I know
1:15cuz we didn't go there and
1:19and that's the way it happened. And and
1:21if it didn't happen, it's nice to know
1:25why it didn't happen. So So the argument
1:28people put forward here is claiming Buzz
1:30is saying they didn't go to the moon.
1:33Now, whilst his response is somewhat
1:36long- winded, he wasn't saying they
1:39never went to the moon. And the context
1:40of the question is very important.
1:44>> Long time.
1:47>> Why has nobody been to the moon in such
1:49a long time?
1:51>> The question wasn't asking him about him
1:54going to the moon. It was asking why
1:57after Apollo 17 in 1972
2:00has nobody else been to the moon. A
2:03question which pretty much every moon
2:06landing denier poses as apparent
2:08evidence that they never went in the
2:10first place. Buzz's response is based on
2:13answering why there were no more manned
2:16missions to the moon after Apollo 17.
2:19So, let's break down the answer. That's
2:23not
2:25an 8-year-old's question. [laughter]
2:28That's my question. I want to know, but
2:32I think I know.
2:34>> Firstly, he's highlighting that most
2:368-year-olds aren't asking that question.
2:38That's not the typical question a kid
2:40asks. That's what older generations ask,
2:43including himself.
2:44>> But I think I know
2:48cuz we didn't go there. And
2:52And that's the way it happened. And and
2:54if it didn't happen, it's nice to know
2:58why it didn't happen. So So most people
3:01hear we didn't and presume he means
3:04because they never went in the first
3:05place. But the answer could also mean we
3:08didn't go back because we just didn't.
3:11Much like how you could have gone on
3:13holiday years ago to somewhere and
3:15really enjoyed it, but have never been
3:17back. And someone might ask you, why
3:19haven't you gone back there? to which
3:21you might say just because I haven't
3:24that doesn't mean you never went in the
3:25first place which is the sentiment that
3:27Uldren is putting forward here and it
3:30becomes even clearer when you take his
3:32entire answer
3:33>> and that's the way it happened and and
3:35if it didn't happen it's nice to know
3:39why it didn't happen so in the future if
3:43we want to keep doing something we need
3:46to know why
3:48something stopped in the past that we
3:51wanted to keep it going.
3:53>> He's basically saying it's good to know
3:56why something stopped being done in the
3:59past so that if you want to do it again
4:01in the future, you can avoid the same
4:04problems being repeated. This is where
4:07most conspiracy edits end. But his
4:10answer actually carries on further.
4:14>> Money is a good thing.
4:17If you want to buy new things, new
4:21rockets, instead of keep doing the same
4:24thing over,
4:26um, then it's going to cost more money
4:29and other things need more money too.
4:32So, having achieved what the president
4:35wanted us to do and then what,
4:38>> as he highlights, money, and this is
4:40something that I've even talked about in
4:42other videos, going to the moon was very
4:45expensive. NASA's budget in the early
4:471960s was almost 5% of the entire US
4:52budget. A figure that was just not
4:54sustainable long term. A figure in fact
4:57that even President Kennedy himself
5:00didn't really want to spend
5:02>> but I do think we ought to get it, you
5:04know, really clear that the policy ought
5:05to be that this is the top priority
5:08program of the a otherwise we shouldn't
5:11be spending this kind of money because
5:12I'm not that interested in space. I
5:14think it's good. I think we ought to
5:15know about it. We're ready to spend
5:16reasonable amounts of money. But we're
5:18talking about these fantastic
5:20expenditures which wreck our budget and
5:22all these other domestic programs. And
5:24the only justification for it in my
5:25opinion to do it is how fast it is
5:27because we hope to beat them and
5:30demonstrate that starting behind it. We
5:32did by a couple of years. By God, we
5:34passed on.
5:34>> But he knew the US were trailing the
5:37Soviets in the space race and needed
5:40something they could win at. They were
5:42too far behind in the low Earth orbit
5:44things to try and overtake them. So the
5:48only realistic chance the US had of
5:50winning anything was aiming for the moon
5:53because both sides would basically be
5:55starting with a clean slate. And once
5:57the programs were far enough along that
6:00it seemed pretty likely they were going
6:02to achieve it, the budget was starting
6:04to get cut back. Once the goal of
6:06landing on the moon was met with Apollo
6:0911, attention then shifts to what next?
6:13Just sending two people at a time to the
6:15moon for a few hours was not worth the
6:18millions of dollars per mission. And the
6:21idea of long-term stays on the moon was
6:24a huge step into the unknown since at
6:26that point the longest that people had
6:28been in space was about 2 weeks. So
6:31NASA's focus then shifted to Skyab and
6:34the space shuttle. Skyab as a space
6:37station to assess effects to humans of
6:40being in space for long periods of time.
6:42And the space shuttle was built as a way
6:44of trying to make space flight cheaper
6:46by reusing components rather than
6:49building a whole new rocket each time.
6:52Ultimately, Buzz's answer to this
6:54question has been taken out of context
6:56by conspiracy theorists. I mean, this is
6:59an interview that was part of the 2015
7:01National Book Festival. This girl talked
7:04to Buzz for 17 minutes, and one of the
7:07first questions she asked him was
7:09actually about him going to the moon,
7:12and was he worried about being the first
7:14one there.
7:15>> Were you [snorts] a little scared about
7:18um going
7:21to the moon or coming home again?
7:24>> Scared cuz nobody had been there. cuz
7:26nobody has been there before.
7:28>> And this is his response.
7:29>> So we did send people and they went
7:31around the moon. Then we sent people
7:35another crew to go around the moon and
7:38then practice everything but landing.
7:44And then a very fortunate person with
7:48many things going right [music] in my
7:51life gave
7:53Neil Armstrong, Mike Collins,
7:57Buzz Aldra the opportunity to make an
8:01attempt to make the first landing
8:05and all of us want to succeed and we
8:07did. And he spoke to other kids at the
8:10same event as well. And one even asked
8:12him which of his life experiences still
8:15wows him today.
8:16>> The ones I haven't done yet.
8:19Duh. But I've uh
8:24been to the moon.
8:28>> So in summary, he was asked why nobody
8:30has been back to the moon after Apollo
8:3317. And his response whilst disjointed
8:37was essentially because we just haven't
8:40been back. It was too expensive to keep
8:42doing the same thing. They wanted to do
8:44other things. So money got shifted to
8:46those projects. And if we want to go
8:48back to the moon again and keep doing it
8:50long-term, they need to learn from the
8:53reasons why Apollo stopped, i.e. make
8:56the missions cheaper, which is what
8:58they're trying to do with the Arteimus
9:00program. So, speaking of Arteimus, let's
9:03look at the clip from the recent
9:05Arteimus 2 press conference that people
9:07now sometimes bring up.
9:09>> This is the first time we're going to
9:10send humans to the moon and we're going
9:11to have humans in low Earth orbit. That
9:12is awesome. Like, we should as humanity,
9:15we should take a brief moment to go,
9:17that's awesome. One of the things that
9:19we most asked for and look forward to is
9:22we are going to do a crew conference
9:23between Integrity and the International
9:26Space Station, the crew that's up there.
9:28So, I've had a few people bring this up,
9:30claiming that he's saying that they're
9:32sending humans to the moon for the first
9:34time. However, you'll note he also
9:37states that they're going to have humans
9:40in low Earth orbit at the same time.
9:43>> This is the first time we're going to
9:44send humans to the moon and we're going
9:45to have humans in low Earth orbit. That
9:47is awesome.
9:48>> NASA from 1962 to 1972 went from sending
9:53humans into low Earth orbit. Uh Apollo 7
9:56and 9 were also in low Earth orbit. But
9:58then Apollo's 8 and Apollo's 10 through
10:00to 17 were flying humans to the moon,
10:03but that was only ever one mission at a
10:06time. And after Apollo 17, NASA then
10:10went back to just flying in low Earth
10:13orbit with Skyab, Apollo Soyos, the
10:16space shuttle, and the ISS. But those
10:19were all after they'd stopped sending
10:21people to the moon. And during the
10:24period between 1968 to 1972, whilst
10:27Apollo was going to the moon, the only
10:29other countries that were sending humans
10:31to space was the Soviets. But none of
10:34their missions ever overlapped with the
10:36Apollo missions. So during the times
10:39that Apollo missions were orbiting the
10:41moon, those three crew members were the
10:44only humans in space. Arteimus 2 will be
10:48the first time there has simultaneously
10:50been humans orbiting the moon. as well
10:53as the earth which is what his answer is
10:56actually referring to. I mean the
10:58question he's answering is literally
11:00asking them about what they are hoping
11:02to take from the Apollo missions that
11:04did go to the moon. You are sitting
11:07there on the same stage that the Apollo
11:09astronauts stood and sat as they
11:12prepared uh for their mission to the
11:14moon. And I'm wondering now as you fast
11:16forward from that experience from Apollo
11:1811 and the other Apollo missions, uh
11:21what what is in your minds as you share
11:24that legacy, that mission, uh and really
11:27the the what similar goals do you have
11:29from what Apollo the Apollo missions did
11:32and what you're looking to do?
11:34>> And he mentions that they'll be doing a
11:36live video call between Integrity and
11:38the ISS. Integrity being the name
11:40they've given to the Orion capsule that
11:43they're using for that mission, which
11:45ties us nicely to the final clip that
11:47comes from a video that NASA published
11:49back in 2014 about the first test flight
11:52of an Orion capsule. It includes NASA
11:56engineer Kelly Smith explaining the plan
11:58for the mission, including this section,
12:01which people love to claim proves NASA
12:03never went to the moon. As we get
12:06further away from Earth, we'll pass
12:07through the Van Allen belts, an area of
12:10dangerous radiation.
12:15Radiation like this could harm the
12:16[music] guidance systems, onboard
12:18computers, or other electronics on
12:20Orion. Shielding will be put to the test
12:22as the vehicle cuts through the waves of
12:24radiation. Sensors aboard will record
12:26[music] radiation levels for scientists
12:28to study. We must solve these challenges
12:31before we send people through this
12:32region of space. People argue that
12:34because he is saying they need to solve
12:37those problems before sending humans
12:40through that radiation region of space,
12:43then that means humans have never been
12:45through that region of space and so
12:46can't have been to the moon, which is
12:48beyond the Van Allen belts. Except
12:51again, context is important. What Smith
12:54actually states is that the shielding on
12:56Orion will be put to the test to ensure
12:58the guidance and other onboard computer
13:01systems can cope with the radiation.
13:03Radiation like this could [music] harm
13:04the guidance systems, onboard computers,
13:06or other electronics on Orion, which is
13:09not saying humans can't survive. It's
13:12saying what they don't want to happen is
13:15send a crude flight through the
13:16radiation belts only to then find that a
13:19computer fails which could leave the
13:21crew with no navigation or even
13:24potentially worse. So even though they
13:26expect things to go right, it's standard
13:29procedure for space agencies to fly
13:32unmanned missions of new spacecraft to
13:34ensure that the systems work as they
13:36expect without risking astronauts lives.
13:40SpaceX flew an unmanned flight of Dragon
13:42in 2019 before the first man flight in
13:452020. NASA flew unmanned Apollo flights
13:49prior to the man flights. AS 2011 and
13:52202 were unmanned flights of the Block 1
13:55CSM in preparation for Apollo 1. Then
13:58after the fire and the redesigns, many
14:01of those changes were tested on unmanned
14:03flights Apollo's four and six before
14:07crude tests on Apollo 7. Apollo's four
14:10and six were also unmanned test flights
14:13of the Saturn 5 rocket before it was
14:15then used on the manned flight of Apollo
14:178. And both Apollo 4 and six flew high
14:21alitude paths which took the command
14:23module into the radiation belts to
14:25ensure that everything worked before
14:28astronauts went through the belts in
14:29them. So no, Kelly Smith was not saying
14:32humans haven't been through the belts.
14:34He was just highlighting what is
14:36basically standard steps of certifying a
14:39spacecraft for man flight.
14:41>> Before we can send astronauts into space
14:43on Orion, we have to test all of its
14:45systems. And there's only one way to
14:47know if we got it right. Fly it in
14:49space. Much like how a car company could
14:52have built dozens of different models of
14:54cars in the past, but still any and all
14:57new models they make have to go through
15:00standard tests before they are certified
15:02for public use. And Kelly Smith himself
15:06has even spoken out about this since in
15:09an interview he had with the Everyday
15:11Astronaut where he specifically laid out
15:14there's no conspiracy.
15:15>> Uh so this particular mission was
15:18designed to set up a high-speed re-entry
15:20test and with the limitations of what
15:22the Delta IV Heavy was able to deliver
15:24it had it forced us to spend a lot of
15:26time in the Van Allen belts. And so,
15:28yeah, there was some concerns about what
15:29this could do to instrumentation, but
15:31there's no like concern about like we
15:33would never put humans on a mission
15:35profile like this to just loiter in
15:37[clears throat] the Van Allen belts.
15:38There's no there's no objective to doing
15:40that uh for a human class mission. And
15:42so, you would pass through the Van Allen
15:44belts or, you know, you'd like skim
15:46through a portion of it on the way to
15:48the moon, but you wouldn't spend nearly
15:50as much time as the particular profile
15:52for EFT1 did.
15:53>> So, there we are. three times that
15:56people think NASA have admitted they
15:58didn't go to the moon, which in reality
16:00they're saying no such thing. But as
16:03always, feel free to leave your thoughts
16:04in the comments down below. If you
16:06enjoyed this video and you haven't
16:07already done so, then please do consider
16:09hitting the like and subscribe buttons
16:10and hopefully we'll see you in the next
16:12video. [music]

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