Mythbustin’ the Moon Hoax… Part I

Posted at 9:00 am in Antiscience, Astronomy, Cool stuff, Debunking, NASA, Science, Skepticism

I’m starting to receive a trickle of email informing me that the Mythbusters are tackling the Moon Hoax myth.

Yes, well, I need to divulge a secret: I know about it. I served as an informal advisor on the show.

Second, no, before you ask: I have no idea how the testing went. They didn’t tell me anything about the results! Grrrrr.

Third, this looks like it’ll be an awesome episode. The build team — Kari, Grant, and Tory — went to Marshall Space Flight Center to use a vacuum chamber there (it was even reported in the local paper). Looks like they’ll be recreating Dave Scott’s famous feather and hammer drop from Apollo 15, as well as the hoax claim that dry lunar regolith can’t hold a footprint, and how the flag can wave in a vacuum.

There’s a NASA video on YouTube about the visit:

Fourth, the show will air on April 25. Mark your calendars! I know I’ll be watching, especially since I don’t know how exactly they tackled one or two of the issues we discussed. Reproducing the lunar surface in a studio can’t be terribly easy, but they’re a smart group. This should be a lot of fun to watch!

Original here