Tuesday, December 30, 2014

What is a “Moon Jellyfish”?



30 December 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            Known as the “Moon Jellyfish” or “Moon Jelly” to its friends, the formal name of this creature is “Aurelia aurita.”   Why “Moon” Jellyfish?  It gets its "moon" name because of its white color and circular shape.  Well, it’s not exactly snow white.  But it's as white as a jellyfish can get.  Jellyfish are translucent, you can see through them.  So, the Moon Jellyfish at least has a white “tint.”


            The Moon Jelly measures between 10 and 16 inches in diameter.  This jellyfish eats plankton and mollusks it picks up on the sea floor.   It really can’t chase its prey because Moon Jellies aren’t just slow-moving, they’re also extremely weak swimmers.  They depend on the tidal currents to move them along. 


            Moon Jellies are found in about every ocean on earth.  They live comfortably in warm tropical waters as well as the waters just off the coastal areas of Northern Europe, New England, and Eastern Canada.
  

            The Moon Jelly lives only in salt water.  While it tolerates warmer and colder temperatures, it seems to like its water between 48 and 66 degrees F.  Also, because of its modest swimming abilities, it favors seas that consistently have a current on which the Moon Jelly depends to keep it moving.


            Moon Jellies only live for about 6 months in the wild.  And they have their share of natural enemies.  Considered a taste treat by many sea birds, the Leatherback Sea Turtle and Ocean Sunfish also consider the Moon Jelly a “good dinner guest.”  
Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

What is a “Christmas Moon”?



25 December 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)


            First, Happy Holidays!  Happy Holidays to all who celebrate special holidays during this season of the year.  And, of course, a very Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate the Christmas holiday. 

            I wish I could say we had a Christmas full moon coming up or, at least, one that had just past.  Unfortunately, we’re not even close.  So, technically, we have no Christmas full moon this year.  The odds of having a full moon on Christmas Day are about 1 in 59.  The chances of having a full moon on Christmas Eve are about the same. 

            With these rather long odds, we really are in luck because, if you live in North America, there will be a full moon on Christmas Day in the morning hours just around, or after, sunrise next Christmas -- in 2015.  I say, “around or after” because the time zones changes around the world have the effect of making any full moon fall at different times in different places.

            In some places around the world, the 2015 full moon won’t fall on December 25th.  So, if you are anywhere other than North America, you need to check next year’s calendar to see if you live or will be in one of those locations where the full moon falls on December 25th.

            What is the significance of a full moon on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve? 

            None. 

            There are no long-standing traditions or ideas associated with any particular lunar event on, or around, Christmas. 

            Well, . . .  except one.

            Have you ever seen a picture of the full moon with the silhouette of Santa in his sleigh drawn by eight reindeer?  When people ask about the full moon on Christmas Day or Christmas Eve, they often refer to the view of Santa’s silhouette against the full moon. 

            Are these celebrants expecting to use the full moon as a sort of Santa tracker or Santa alarm?  Will the bright full moon in the sky “tip off” viewers to the progress of Santa’s flight through the dark sky?

            I’d never thought of the full moon as a sort of natural Santa radar – one that might compromise the jolly old elf’s stealth as he made his Christmas deliveries.  But who knows.

            Considering that this blog is meant for readers of all ages, an in depth discussion of Santa, his flight, and the possibility of actually seeing the old elf might bring up a few “delicate” questions that are best left for another time.

            Again, Happy Holidays!  And a “Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”


Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

What was the “Walk on the Moon”?


11 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            In 1961, President John F. Kennedy made a speech to Congress in which he proposed a national goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of the decade.  Kennedy’s vision was born of the Cold War.  The “space race,” between the United States and Soviet Union, was a sort of on-going “cold battle” between the two superpowers.  Whether by accident or design, President Kennedy proposed moon landing came to define “victory” in the space race.

            Immediately embraced by the nation, the goal was actually an amazingly ambitious one.  Space exploration had, up to that time, been designed to serve purely military objectives.  In the military scheme, manned flight served only a marginal purpose.  Now manned missions were a primary objective presenting a variety of amazing challenges for engineers who were tasked with designing habitable spacecraft for the long trip to the moon.

            Apollo space craft, carrying three astronauts, traveled to, and around, the moon on three missions without landing.  Then, on the fourth mission, Apollo 11 traveled three days before entering lunar orbit.  Leaving astronaut Michael Collins in the orbiting command module, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin entered the Lunar Module and descended to the moon surface landing in the Sea of Tranquility on 20 July 1969.

            After spending six hours in the module, Neil Armstrong stepped out onto the lunar surface with the words, "one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong and Aldrin spend about two and one half hours walking on the lunar surface.  After a stay of 21 1/2 hours, the Lunar Module, carrying the two astronauts, left the surface of the moon and to re-joined the command module.  The astronauts returned to earth splashing down in the Pacific Ocean on July 24, 1969.  The historic flight and landing was televised world-wide. 

            The 40th Anniversary of the moon landing was celebrated in 2009.  The regular anniversary is marks a yearly celebration by the Aerospace Workers world wide. 

            In an odd epilogue: In spite of the rather ample evidence of the event, opinion polls show numbers ranging at different times between 6% and 20% of people the U.S. don’t believe the landing ever took place!   See related blog:  What is the "Moon Landing Conspiracy"?


Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
& Belleville, Illinois

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

What is the “White Moon”?



18 December 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)


            In China, autumn’s Kindly Moon is followed by winter’s White Moon.  The ancient Chinese calendar was remarkably accurate for its time.  And, that was a good thing because life was carefully regulated by certain observances on certain days.  The White Moon was the last full moon before the winter solstice and came in the middle of a 29 day period: the month of the White Moon.

            The first day of the month of the White Moon was the day of “Stuffing Up Windows.”  On that day, people stuffed every crack and crevice they could find in their homes with heavy paper to prevent droughts and loss of heat during the winter season.  The old calendar even regulated when the clothing of the old season was abandoned in favor of clothing appropriate to the changing weather of the new season. 

            The “white” symbolizes the frozen landscapes and waterways of the season.  Surprisingly, with the use of ice skates and sleds, travel in this season was faster than ever.  In fact, freed from the work of farming, the winter season used to be one of fighting with feuding.  Armed confrontations not just between states, but between neighbors often erupted at this time.  The Chinese calendar even recommends fortification of one’s location during this season.

            A strategy developed of keeping conflicts to a minimum by having a great feast around the time of the Winter Solstice (the first day of winter).   Warriors were the guests of honor.  The hope was that the feasting and celebrating warriors wouldn’t have the opportunity to start trouble.  This feast for warriors around the first day of winter is strangely similar to the northern European Yule Feast which was also held for warriors in the same season.

            As the years past, the Chinese feast became a general celebration expressing optimism and hope for the coming spring. 

What is the “Moon before Yule”?

11 December 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)


            The “Moon before Yule” is another way of saying the Full Moon before Christmas.  The full moon before Christmas Day usually happens in December, but may happen in late November.  Although the word “Yule” is associated with the Christmas season, few people know exactly what it is.

            Yule was the Scandinavian/North Germanic word for winter.  “Yule tide” referred to the winter season.   Scandinavian warlords had a special feast for their warriors sometime between early December and late January.  This feast was not set on a fixed day.  Different kings and warlords would hold their “Yule feast” on different dates.

            King Haakon the Good of Norway was raised in England as a Christian.  He became king of Norway, in 953, and converted the country to Christianity.  He moved the “Yule Feast” to Christmas Day.  When the Vikings moved their Yule Feast to Christmas Day, Yule became another word for Christmas.

            There are some modern revivals of the term Yule Feast to describe a celebration held on the winter solstice.  This is not a revival of the actual pre- or post-Christian Northern European Yule Feast.  These modern feasts use the word “Yule” to simply mean "winter."  So, a feast held on the winter solstice, the official first day of the winter season, is sometimes called a “Yule Feast.”  


Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

What is a “Moonwort”?


28 October 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            It’s a plant.  The formal name is Botrychium lunaria.  But, I guess. to its friends, it’s known as the Moonwort.  As plants go, the Moonwort seems the very definition of hidden.  These plants are rare.  Or, maybe not.  What I mean to say is that even if you are standing right over one of these plants, you would likely not be able to find it.

            But how did it get the name “Moonwort”?  Well, whoever discovered it, many centuries ago, thought its leaves looked like half moons. I sort of see it . . . in a way.

Moon-Shaped Leaves?

            The Moonwort, when it rises above the ground, has two stems and looks like two different plants.  One stem has the “moon shaped” leaves and round pods full of spores.  (It’s a fern, so they’re “spores” instead of “seeds.”)  The other stem is the plain leafy part of the plant with leaves shaped . . . like leaves.  Or, at least, there’s nothing even remotely moon-like about the shape of the leaves on the other stem.

Moonwort

            Most ferns like moisture, but the Moonwort grow in relatively dry areas with alkaline (chalky) soils.  Sand dunes, inland cliffs, and well drained meadows are its favorite homes in parts of the U.K.  In the U.S., the Moonwort is found (when it can be found) in prairie, forest and mountain areas.  The Moonwort doesn’t like deserts, but it doesn’t like damp areas either – like most of its fellow ferns.

           Sometimes, the Moonwart will grow to up to 3 inches above the ground. Then, you can see one. This particular plant doesn’t like growing in laboratories or in any other kind of domesticated conditions, so it’s difficult to study. Your chances of just happening upon a Moonwort, when it’s growing above the ground, are not so good.
            When it’s growing above the ground?

            Yes, that’s what you read. What’s really just plain weird about the Moonwort is that it can grow completely below the ground for up to 10 years at a time. Again, you read correctly. The Moonwort can grow completely below the ground (no sunlight) for, sometimes, as long as 10 years at a time.

            How does the Moonwort manage this sun-less life style?

            This really unusual plant is sunlight optional. It can grow above the ground and produce its nourishment with sunlight (photosynthesis). Or it can stay below the ground and get its food from another plant, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus, know by the more manageable name, “AM fungi.”

            The AM fungi produce a carbon by-product on which the Moonwort feeds. The moonwort doesn’t even need its own kind to reproduce. When it grows entirely under the ground, it gives up making spores. New young Moonwort plants just bud and grow from the “mother” plant’s root (and, when it’s below ground, the Moonwort is all root).

            The Moonwort seems to be hiding. Ironically, this may be what attracted attention to it several centuries ago. This small fern actually had quite a reputation in some circles. I can only guess that its weird existence and, apparent, love of privacy, drew the very attention it was trying to avoid. And, possibly, that’s why this fern got a reputation for mysterious and magical qualities.

            A few centuries ago, this small hidden fern enjoyed a reputation as an ingredient used by the old alchemists. The Moonwort was supposed to be part of a chemical concoction that could turn lead into gold. Of course, the trick was to mix-up the potion just right. As there are no records of any of these same alchemists dying rich, I might say that, just maybe, the Moonwort’s gold-making reputation was . . . exaggerated.

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

What is the "Moon Landing Conspiracy"?

18 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 entered lunar orbit. Two astronauts descended to the surface of the moon landing in the Sea of Tranquility.   Six hours later, Neil Armstrong stepped out of Lunar Module and took the first steps on the moon.

But in 2001, a poll taken by the Fox network revealed that one out of five respondents, about 20%, didn’t believe this event ever happened.

That’s a bit of credibility gap.

A small but determined group of people assert that no manned mission has ever reached the moon.  The U.S., it is claimed, faked the 1969 moon landing something like the events presented in a fictional novel and film, Capricorn One, in which NASA claims to have launched astronauts on a mission to Mars.  In fact (or, rather, in fiction), the “astronauts” remain right here on Earth where they work on a sound-stage participating in the filming of a fake landing on the red planet.


The lunar landing skeptics are divided into two groups.  One group believes that no manned mission has ever reached the Moon.  All the Apollo missions, in which a landing was said to have occurred, were faked by filming the supposed lunar sojourn on a sound-stage and presenting the film to the world as a real series of events.

Another group of skeptics believes that the 1969 landing was faked, but subsequent missions were real.  Apparently, NASA needed to spend fantastic amounts of time, energy, and money primarily to spread around false evidence to cover up the fact that there really had never been a Moon landing in 1969.

In fact, the itemized list of anomalies that believers, or rather “disbelievers,” offer as proof is a long one. Almost all of the evidence centers around the photographs taken while the astronauts were on the moon.

Actually, most all of evidence of a “faked moon landing” can be explained and refuted – and has been – most comprehensively in an episode of the television series Myth Busters, in which Matt and Jamie go through most of the supposed “anomalies” and present pretty convincing explanations.


But the believers in the “faked moon landing” were “on a roll” for a while. In fact, there was a comedy of errors long and funny enough to bear reviewing.

First, a “moon rock” in a Dutch museum was found to be a piece of petrified wood from right here on earth. The rock was traced to an Ex Dutch Prime Minister who remembered having received the rock as a gift during an official visit by the Apollo 11 astronauts.   After the visit, the Dutch official donated the moon rock to the museum.


When NASA was contacted for authentication, the agency revealed that no records of moon rocks had ever been kept.   At the time, the agency believed that, with more missions, moon rocks would become so common that they would be nearly valueless.  So, without any records, we can’t really be sure where the original rocks are.  The moon rock evidence seemed . . . questionable.


When investigators sought the original films and video tapes of the missions, NASA explained that they had all been accidentally destroyed.   All originals and all copies.   And not just the tapes of the Apollo 11 mission, but the tapes of all the manned missions to the Moon.

Then, NASA sought to fill the void by obtaining the original news feed videos from CBS News. These would have been more convincing if the agency hadn’t immediately sent the tapes to Hollywood to be enhanced (altered).


Still, in 1969, computer generated special effects were far in the future. The question remained: How could anyone have faked the footage of the moon landing?

Well, it just so happened that a film director had recently consulted with NASA in the making of a film: 2001 – A Space Odyssey.  In that film, director Stanley Kubrick’s most amazing special effect technique, front screen projection, was used to simulate numerous scenes of astronauts walking on the surface of the moon.

While all this begins to sound worse and worse, in fact, the theory of Kubrick’s involvement unraveled quickly.  Not only did the director himself, co-workers, friends and family convincing deny his involvement, but the lunar surface scenes in 2001 really don’t resemble the photographs and tapes of the astronauts on the Moon.

But, amazingly, though the facts don’t seem to support the theories, the believers in the “faked moon landing” go marching on. The “legend” of Kubrick’s filming of a fake moon landing has not only survived, but developed into a further theory that the director “confessed” his involvement in “the greatest deception in history” by leaving clues in a subsequent film, The Shining.    A later filmRoom 237, carefully elucidates “the clues inserted” into the earlier film.

So, not withstanding all the evidence to the contrary, the belief that, at least, the 1969 moon landing was faked, goes marching on.

A final suggestion: One way or another, the “waxing and waning” of the numbers of believers in the moon landing conspiracy may, in the end, have more to do with a perceived credibility gap between a people and their government than about whether or not men ever walked on the moon.

Wikipedia gives an extremely good account the debate:


M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri &Belleville, Illinois

Thursday, December 4, 2014

What is the “Long Nights Moon”?


4 December 2014


The Short Answer (TSA)


            To the Native American population of North America, “moons” were periods of time consisting of about 30 days.  Actually, from the standpoint of the sky-watcher on earth, the average period from New Moon to New Moon is about 29.6 days.

            But these periods of time, “moons,’ got their names based on the month in which the full moon happened.  So the “Long Nights Moon,” as a moon-month, began with the New Moon on November 22nd.  But the Full “Long Nights Moon” will be seen on Saturday, December 6th.  Because the Full Moon of the period falls in December, what the Native Americans would have called the “Long Nights Moon” began on 22nd of November and will end on the 21st of December. 

            The early European settlers in North America already had a calendar.  Basically, it was the same calendar we have today, though less accurately calculated (it had a tendency to “lose time” and fall behind like a bad watch).  But, fast or slow, the settlers stuck to their calendar. 

            What they called the “Long Nights Moon” was just the full moon.  They probably borrowed the name from the Native Americans.  When the first European settlers became permanent residents and farmers, the Farmers Almanac picked up these early names as the names of the full moons.  You can find these names there, today. 


            We might guess that there wasn’t a lot to do during the deep winter in the northern part of North America.  Maybe this contributed to the, relatively, lack-luster names given to the winter moons.  While other full moons boasted rather exciting or interesting names like “Wolf” or “Strawberry,” the December full moon was just given the dreary name, “Long Nights.”   

            Why long nights?  

            The weather becomes cold and nights become longer and longer.  The longest night of the year happens on the Winter Solstice, the day when sun’s rays are weakest in the Northern Hemisphere.  This usually happens around December 21-23 of each year.  After that, with each passing day, the nights become shorter and days become longer.  At least, the days become longer until the Summer Solstice, in June, when, after the longest day of year, the yearly cycle begins, again.

Mark Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois










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Tuesday, December 2, 2014

What is the “Moondance Diner”?

4 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            New York’s Moondance Diner is a local landmark that has now been moved . . . and . . . a lesson to would-be collectors.

            Located in Manhattan at 80 Sixth Avenue, this small diner (36 feet by 16 feet) was opened in 1933 with the less lunar name of “Holland Tunnel Diner.” After the name change, the diner attracted a trickle of notable media credits.
            Along with several cameos appearances in a few television series, the '02 film, Spider-Man, featured the Moondance as the workplace of Jane Watson, Spider-Man’s love interest.  And, in television’s Friends, character Monica Geller, played by Courteney Cox, worked at the Moondance Diner.  But, in that series, an outside shot of the diner appeared to introduce scenes actually filmed in Los Angeles.


          These honors were enough to draw the attention of local residents and preservationists who organized a benefit dinner to save the diner when it was closed in 2007 and scheduled for demolition. The Moondance was donated to the American Diner Museum of Providence, Rhode Island.
But what’s a diner museum?

           Well, that will have to wait for another TSA.  But here begins a cautionary tale for would-be collectors.  Take some care to carefully select what you want to collect. Coins, stamps, and bottle caps are manageable collectables. When, you get to the level of collecting things like automobiles . . . well, collecting can become a bit more complicated and expensive.

            But diners are a whole other thing.


            Apparently, either space or expense made it difficult for the museum to keep the diner for itself.   The museum posted the Moondance Diner for sale on its website.   The diner sold for $7,500.00 and was moved to Wyoming (which cost about three times as much as the price of the diner itself).

            Sadly, the wilds of Wyoming get a bit more snow than the City of New York, and the diner’s walls bucked under the weight . . . just before the roof caved-in. The diner was repaired and restored within a few months and opened for business – just in time for a serious local downturn in the gas drilling industry on which the area depends.

            The Moondance Diner closed in 2012 and is, apparently, still up for sale.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois
 


Thursday, November 27, 2014

What are the “Moon’s Craters”?



27 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

 Craters

            The moon has craters.  These “surface irregularities” form the rough surface that gives the face of the moon . . . its “character.”  I suppose, if wrinkles give a face character, craters can give the moon’s face character.  And, in fact, the craters do just that.  The face of the “Man in the Moon,” so popular throughout the centuries, is nothing more than a shape “seen” by viewers, which is formed by the irregularities in the surface of the moon.

            In 1609, Galileo built his first telescope, turned it towards the moon and discovered craters.  Meteors, giant rocks hurling through space, were always suspected to be the cause of the craters.  Meteors have and continue to strike the moon regularly.  But, through the centuries, some believed that volcanic eruptions caused craters.  For a period of about 50 years, some believed that the moon’s surface was covered with ice, and glacial activity caused craters.  Then, the Apollo missions gathered data that pretty much confirmed that craters were caused by meteor strikes.  

 Large Crater

            And the moon still gets struck pretty hard.  The largest recorded strike on the moon happened on 17 March 2013.  The impact and plume of dust from the impact was visible to the naked eye -- if you happened to be moon-watching at the time. 

            The earth has craters too.  But the earth doesn’t get hit by too many meteors because this planet is protected by its atmosphere.  When meteors enter the gaseous atmosphere of earth, they experience friction, which creates so much heat that the meteors not only burn, but usually burn-up completely before reaching the ground. 

            It takes a monster of a meteor to reach the surface and make a noticeable crater on earth.  Any relief map of the state will show Arizona’s Meteor Crater.  Meteors had hit before, but this wasn’t your average meteor.  This easily visible monster of a crater (a bit under a mile wide) was made by a 160 foot-wide piece of space rock hitting the earth.

 Arizona's Meteor Crater

         Even when a rare meteor makes it to the earth’s surface, it’s usually so small that it hardly leaves a mark at all.  Few small craters “last” on the surface of the earth.  Rain, snow, and weather gradually cause these blemishes to fade away.

            But things are different on the moon.  There is no atmosphere of any kind to protect it from constant blows.  So, without any friction, space debris crashes into the surface of the moon at full speed.  Some of these impacts are from meteors speeding through space on a collision course with the moon.  Other objects and debris are attracted by the moon’s own gravity with the satillite drawing these blows down onto itself. 

            The complete lack of atmosphere has another effect.  The oldest craters on the moon are about 2 billion years old.  And, in those two billion years, they haven’t changed a bit.  There really is no weathering or erosion on the lunar surface.  The craters from most impacts are preserved intact.

                And, we don't want to forget the history of “moon crater naming.”  Giovannie Battista Riccioli named the first crater in 1651 and began a tradition of crater naming that became so widespread that the International Astronomical Union took over the regulation and recording of crater names in 1919. 

            There is a crater named “Apollo” after the Apollo missions.  Inside Apollo are some smaller craters appropriately named after “absent” American astronauts.  Aside from craters, the moon also has some vast plains with names beginning with the word “Mare” meaning “sea.”  The Mare Moscoviense, for example, is dotted with a few craters named after “absent” Soviet cosmonauts. 

            Craters are sometimes named in clusters with the name of one big crater given to the smaller craters surrounding it.  For example, the crater Copernicus, is surround by smaller craters named Copernicus A, Copernicus B, etc.  Chains of craters have names beginning with the word, “Catena,” Latin for chain, such as Catena Davy.


M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois




 

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

What is a “Moon Flower”?

24 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            I plant a garden every year and grow morning glories from seed every year.  Last year, I found the seed section of my local hardware store “picked-over.”  Unable to find my usual morning glories, I finally saw a pack of seed at the very bottom of the rack.  I reached down and picked up a pack without a thought.

            But I was in for a surprise.  The picture on the package - that looked like a morning glory - wasn’t.  To my surprise, I found myself buying a pack of moon flower seeds.  Instead of the morning, was I going to get the “glories of the night”?!

            My mistake was a natural one.  Known to their friends by their comfortable name, “moon flowers,” they are formally called Ipomoea alba.   These beautiful flowering vines were originally native to Mexico and Argentina.

            Why moon flower?

            Because this variety of what is, admittedly, called Morning Glory doesn’t bloom in the morning.  Instead, the moon flower blooms in the dark of night.  And, incidentally, these white, round flowers resemble a full moon.
            When I read the pack, I quickly realized that moon flowers would be a welcome addition to my garden.  Far from some vampiric hybrid with a dangerous nature, the moon flower is a morning glory that blooms really, really early in the morning.  Well, actually, they bloom long before it’s morning -- appearing after sundown and remaining until touched by the first rays of the rising sun.  (Although, on overcast days, they can last into the daylight hours.) 

            The flowers can be 3 to 6 inches wide and do for the evening what the traditional morning glory does for the early morning hours -- create a striking visual display of blossoms.  Now, thinking of the heat of the summer, I’m looking for an all-day-long glory, but have yet to find one.   



M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

 

Thursday, November 20, 2014

What is the “Film: Dark Side of the Moon”?



20 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            “Dark Side of the Moon” is a documentary . . . or at least it was originally intended to be.  Instead, the filmmakers produced a “mockumentary.” 

            What’s a mockumentary?  It is a film or television show parody of a documentary.  The documentary style is maintained throughout the film, but fiction is substituted for fact with a humorous intention.

            Director William Karel set out to produce a documentary on what was thought to be a mystery. 

            On July 21, 1969, Apollo 11 reached the moon and entered lunar orbit.  Two astronauts descended to the surface of the moon landing in the Sea of Tranquility.   Six hours later, Neil Armstrong stepped out of Lunar Module and took the first steps on the moon.  But . . .

            A small but determined group of people assert that no manned mission has ever reached the Moon.  The U.S., it is claimed, faked the 1969 Moon landing something like the events presented in a fictional novel and film, Capricorn One, in which NASA claims to have launched astronauts on a mission to Mars.  In fact (or, rather, in fiction), the “astronauts” remain right here on Earth where they work on a sound-stage participating in the filming of a fake landing on the red planet.
Capricorn One — Wikipedia           

          
            But before the age of computer generated special effects, who could have filmed a simulation so good that it would fool tens of millions of viewers.  Conveniently, at the time of the moon landing, director Stanley Kubrick had just completed his film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It is said that he consulted with NASA during the production to get the special effects just right. 

            And what was the director trying to simulate?  Scenes of astronauts walking on the surface of the moon.  Using his signature special effect technique, front-screen projection, Kubrick’s simulations were impressive.  More than rumored, it was asserted by theorists that Kubrick had done the impossible -- filmed and directed the greatest hoax in history.

 Scene from 2001 -- Astronauts on Lunar Surface

            But when Karel began the project, the theory of Kubrick’s involvement in the filming of a fake moon landing quickly unraveled.   When you’re a director in the midst project investigating a mystery that turns out . . . not to be a mystery, what do you do?  Well, you don’t lose your sense of humor.  And Karel didn’t.

            He decided to film a fake documentary about the filming of a fake moon landing.  His “mockumentary,” Dark Side of the Moon, boasts an impressive cast including Buzz Aldrin, Christiane Kubrick, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Vernon Walters, all of whom agreed to play themselves and, in scripted interviews, pretend that Kubrick really had filmed a fake moon landing.  The film is spiced from beginning to end with gross historical inaccuracies and miscast characters that tip the watcher off that what they're seeing isn’t true.

           
If you’re wondering what the film is like.  You can watch it on YouTube.  

 Dark Side of the Moon: Stanley Kubrick and the Fake Moon Landings
(full film)

 Or . . . this is the link:

Dark Side of the Moon: Stanley Kubrick and the Fake Moon Landings

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
& Belleville, Illinois