Deja Vu

November 23, 2009

The Men of the Moon

Tags:: Great Moon Hoax,; NASA,; Sir John Hershel,; The New York Sun

2009: Last month, NASA scientists crashed a bus-sized satellite into the surface of the moon. On November 13th, they announced that they had found water. As the New York Times reported, “The confirmation of scientists’ suspicions is welcome news to explorers who might set up home on the lunar surface.” In an editorial for the Times one week later, William S. Marshall, a staff scientist with the Universities Space Research Association, encouraged readers to imagine “a habitat atop a hill in warm sunlight on the edge of a crater near the south pole of the Moon… Humans live in sealed, cave-like lava tubes, protected from solar flares and sustained by large surface greenhouses. Imagine the Moon as the first self-sustainable human settlement away from Earth and a high-speed transportation hub for the solar system.”

1835: The New York Sun published a six-part series by the fictional Dr. Andrew Grant, who claimed he was secretary to the very real British astronomer Sir John Herschel, about the discoveries recently observed at the Cape of Good Hope, where Hershel had set up his telescope the year before. The series, now known as the Great Moon Hoax, used the first three articles to describe the sights of water, vegetation, bison, goats, cranes and pelicans on the moon. Then on August 28th came the shocking description of winged men:

Certainly they were like human beings, for their wings had now disappeared, and their attitude in walking was both erect and dignified…They averaged four feet in height, were covered, except on the face, with short and glossy copper-colored hair, and had wings composed of a thin membrane, without hair, lying snugly upon their backs, from the top of their shoulders to the calves of their legs…Whilst passing across the canvass, and whenever we afterwards saw them, these creatures were evidently engaged in conversation; their gesticulation, more particularly the varied action of their hands and arms, appeared impassioned and emphatic. We hence inferred that they were rational beings, and although not perhaps of so high an order as others which we discovered the next month on the shores of the Bay of Rainbows, they were capable of producing works of art and contrivance.

Get one free trial issue of Lapham's Quarterly!

Fill out this order form.
If you like the magazine, get the rest of the year for just $49 (4 issues in all).
If not, simply write cancel on the bill, return it, and owe nothing.

First Name Please enter a first name.

Last Name Please enter a last name.

Address Please enter an address.

Apt./Suite

City Please enter a city.

State Please select a state.

Postal/ZIP Code Please enter a valid
zip code.

Email Address Please enter a valid email address.

Country Please select a country.

Canadian subscribers add $10; All other international subscribers add $40.

Comments Post a Comment »

Oh, the things we read onto the moon. The mid-19th century saw bisons and hairy angels who talk like Joe Pesci. Now, we see a cheery Fedex logistics center upon a hill. In the spacey, terrified sixties, the vision was a bunker protected from radiation in which you ate like someone from the barbaric east. (Survive and advance. Survive and advance.)

On August 29, 1962, the LA Times reported on a talk given at Oregon State University by one James C. Finn Jr of North American Aviation Corp (which became Rockwell, now Boeing) in which he predicted we'd have a moon base by 1990.

"When the base is established it will not be the plastic bubble so often pictured in illustrations for science fiction stories," the Times cautions, "but will be dug at least 40 ft. underground to protect the crew from bombardment by meteors and radiation and from the tremendous temperature changes between night and day on the moon."

The base would have a volume of 250,000 cubic meters and support 25 men (and maybe a few concubines, I note). "The base would contain a unit for reclaiming and purifying water and waste, 'gardens' for algae and broad-leaved plants to provide food and convert carbon dioxide into oxygen," the Times continues. "There also would be a small 'barnyard' of animals, such as rabbits and chickens, a fish 'pond,' and a mechanical system to control circulation of air, temperature, and humidity, Dr. Finn said."

I love how the reporter quotes "pond." What else would one call a aqueous repository for fish? How is it not a pond like any other.

But this section on the relative lack of meat in the astronaut's diet is my favorite: "He compared the possible diet of the moon base crew to that of Chinese and Indians, who eat a largely vegetarian diet supplemented with only a little meat."

In any case, look for all that to get started in 1970 and the construction and such to take until 1985. Oh, and water? We can extract forty pounds of it from every cubic yard of lunar basalt, Finn says.

Posted by Alexis Madrigal on Wed 25 Nov 2009
And you can upgrade your story here because last year I discoverd that there is actually another man in the moon and it is a Basketball Player and you can see part of it on the photo.

Here's a good site that tells my story...

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/03/09/the-basketball-player-in-the-moon-catch-it-tonight/

So who is this basketball player?

Well, I've named him after several people...

My old Dentist, Dr. Jack Hewson former Boston Celtic.

For my High School and College Basketball Teams..

St. Louis High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana
Copley High School in Copley, Ohio
Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio
Xavier University Musketeers, Cincinnati, Ohio...

And one other person too...

The Basketball Player better known as

Barack Obama, President of The United States.

P. Edward Murray
Past President
Bucks-Mont. Astronomical Assoc., Inc.

Posted by P. Edward Murray on Sun 29 Nov 2009
No offense, P. Edward Murray, but what are you talking about?

Posted by Alexis Madrigal on Mon 30 Nov 2009
Alexis Madrigal,

There is a man in the moon a woman in the moon and a rabbit in the moon. Plus a few other assorted personages as well as animals.

And now, there is a Basketball Player in The Moon or President Obama as the basketball player. He can also be a Soccer or Volleyball Player.

Just point your browser here..

http://www.universetoday.com/2009/03/09/the-basketball-player-in-the-moon-catch-it-tonight/

Posted by P. Edward Murray on Mon 30 Nov 2009
Since I wrote to you on November 30, 2009, I have formally decided to take this away from President Obama since he has not lived up to expectations.

He is no longer The Basketball Player in The Moon!

Posted by P. Edward Murray on Tue 8 Mar 2011

Blog

Deja Vu

The Men of the Moon

Content on this page requires a newer version of Adobe Flash Player.

Get one free trial issue of Lapham's Quarterly!

Comments Post a Comment »

Post a Comment

In Stir

No. 44