Suds and Science...Moon Hoaxes - OH MY!

Tonight was a great fun night in general.  Chris and I NEVER get a babysitter....as in a PAID babysitter.  Maybe 3 to 4 times a year for the evenings.  Mostly due to one simple fact - we spent so much money on childcare during the working hours, why pay for it at night?  Also, we don't want to not see our kids at daytime AND at night.  So, in essence, activities during the week - that we both need to attend - are not on our radar since we need to get a babysitter.

Well, something came along that peaked our interest.  Last month I saw as article in an H-F Patch Facebook Post about a new Science Pub.  This concept of Science Pubs is currently sweeping the nation.  A recent USA Today article  by Tracy Loew references how:

Across the country, thousands of people are gathering for monthly science pubs such as this one — informal lectures combined with food and drink that cover everything from the physics of flight to fire ecology to crime forensics. They're part of a loosely coordinated global "science cafe" movement that's been around for a couple of decades but has surged in the past year.

So guess what... a local professor stumbled across this concept, and Voila...made it happen!  Tonight was the second Science Pub and it was a hit.  They alternate each month between two local favorites - Grady's Grille in Homewood and the Flossmoor Station Brewery.  Last month's topic was on climate change.  Tonight's topic was very intriguing for people - "Was the moon landing a hoax?".

http://homewood-flossmoorsciencepub.blogspot.com/

I'm guessing there were around 60 people in attendance.  What really surprised me was the large number of older people.   Many in their 60s and 70s and above....and I'm sure the median age was close to 60.  So, Chris and I and Steve helped bring down the average a little :)

Anyway, for all of you wanting to know - drum roll - the moon landing was NOT a hoax!  I know - can you believe it?!?  Ok Ok.....just kidding.  Most people know it happened, but the presentation was about showing the science behind how it DID happen and did occur.  He went through many different MH (Moon Hoax) topics and did his best to 'debunk' them one by one....from the shadows, to the way the flag was flying in images and in the video, and to the amount of radiation and it's forms that the crew was exposed to in each Apollo mission.  What I thought was an interesting byproduct facet of research he did share was that of the 36 men who have been to the moon, they have a lower cancer rate than the general population.  BUT, 33 of 36 of them have developed early issues with cataracts - which is most likely due to their exposure to cosmic rays.

He also went into detail explaining the lack of atmospheric pressure and how that translated to cool tidbits on the propulsion of the space modules and the kick up of dirt on the lunar surface.  Also, the moon is not on a tilted axis as the earth is.  This causes lunar days and nights to be 14 days each.....14 days of sun, 14 days of dark.  Temperature swings can be around 250 degrees C between day and night spells.  All of these details helped for us to understand how the angle of the sun sources on the moon were effecting the images we were seeing - which could have made it easy for MH'ers who did not understand the moon - which is so different from Earth - and try to validate a Hoax.  For example, there are 3 light sources on the moon.  1) the sun  2) the highly reflecting Earth  & 3) the sharp reflective elements of the moon's surface which also scatter light once light hits it from the other light sources.  Most MH theories only focus on the light source of the sun.  All of these light sources have a huge impact on images as shadows can be greatly impacted when lit from multiple lights at various angles.  Here is a cool video of some of the moon landings:

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/player/news/space-technology-news/1969-moonlanding-vin.html

So, in the end, I guess I believe :)  He also said that if it were a hoax - then how hundreds of thousands of people MUST still be in on it for the cover to not be blown.  And what about the Russians?  Heck, the Russians really didn't want us to win the space race.  If it wasn't true, they would've blown our cover for sure by now.

The only skeptic in me is the engineer.  I know what it takes to put together simple three dimensional models.  I understand the complex nature of what I do....and the endless complexities of calculations that must be made beyond what I know and do to even be able to correctly calculate what it takes to get a rocket with humans safely to the moon and back, multiple times.  This is what I have a hard time understanding.  I work in the year 2011....with the latest computer software known to man.  Fifty years ago, everything was designed by hand.  Spreadsheets didn't exist.  Not a small team, but armies and armies of engineers must of been working on this for years, maybe decades, for this to work successfully.  Even in today's world of great software, we all make stupid mistakes.  Heck, five years ago we lost a satellite in space due to a metric to English unit conversion error.  It's just really hard for me to wrap my head around the concept that most of the calculations were done by engineers, by hand, with literally no simulation technology and computer aided computation to guide them along the way.  Maybe engineers were better back then....more careful....not reliant on technology to find the errors.  Because in today's world, if they took away our computers and calculators, I can guarantee you I wouldn't be stepping foot on one of those rockets.

So yes....we ordered appetizers...each drank a couple beers, discussed some lunar science and conspiracy theories, met a few other nerds like us - and had a blast.  I hope to put this into our calendar as a monthly or bi-monthly date night.  What is actually really exciting for me, is that I'm on the calendar tentatively to be the speaker for June - the last Tuesday of the month.  I've done presentations on earthquakes/seismology in the past.   I plan to put something together to discuss the safety of our structures we live and work in....and understanding better about the seismic faults in the Midwest in relation to Chicago in particular.  So, I plan to put together an outline and a 'catchy title' in the next couple of weeks.  Any suggestions....send them my way!  Should be a fun challenge...over beer no less!

So....cheers- to beers and science!