Monday 6 June 2011

Adam Curtis, close but no cigar

8.5 out of 10 for Adam Curtis and this little gem lodged inside the final episode of All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace.

'Cos Nazis on the Moon. RIP Gil Scott-Heron
Chief Nazi rocket scientist, he say:
“It is commonly believed that man will fly directly from the earth to the moon, but to do this, we would require a vehicle of such gigantic proportions that it would prove an economic impossibility. It would have to develop sufficient speed to penetrate the atmosphere and overcome the earth’s gravity and, having traveled all the way to the moon, it must still have enough fuel to land safely and make the return trip to earth. Furthermore, in order to give the expedition a margin of safety, we would not use one ship alone, but a minimum of three … each rocket ship would be taller than New York’s Empire State Building [almost ¼ mile high] and weigh about ten times the tonnage of the Queen Mary, or some 800,000 tons.”

Wernher von Braun,
the father of the Apollo space program,
writing in Conquest of the Moon.
Which is exactly the sort of thing you get right first time.

Well done Nazi rocket scientists!!!

 
Pan and Zoom,
On the Moon,
But don't forget the cameraman!!

19 comments:

paul said...

1/10 from me
Idealists inadvertantly caused all the shit we are in.
Shoehorning the rwanda conflict (in the last 5 mins or so) into this frame was particularly distasteful.

Stef said...

Curtis lost me for all time midway through 'The Trap' for the reasons Paul alludes to above

He does do a nice soundtrack though

Stef said...

"Which is exactly the sort of thing you get right first time."

a bit like those 7/7 jihadis and their magical DIY explosive pixie dust then

ant said...

Should have perhaps been a bit clearer in the original post, my bad.

The 8.5/10 was only for that one still snapshot that was carefully excised from the countless thousands in the full three hours of archive footage.

Otherwise, we would appear to all be in accordance on Mr Curtis' output.

Anonymous said...

Well done indeed.

- Aangirfan

Tom said...

I seem to remember using the phrase "unforeseen consequences" when trying to predict how fucked up the Libya debacle would probably get.

Then it pops up again in this Adam Curtis piece, to describe what happens when you foment revolutions on the other side of the world.

The fact that it's been happening repeatedly for a long time, as Curtis helpfully documents, is why I put "unforeseen consequences" in inverted commas because they are pretty fucking easy to foresee.

Stef said...

Negative Consequences are always unforseen, in the same way that negative economic data is always 'unexpected'; unexpected rises in inflation, unemployment figures etc etc

Of course one nation's negative is another cabal's positive so every cloud does indeed have silver lining

The Antagonist said...

Of course one nation's negative is another cabal's positive so every cloud does indeed have silver lining

Cloud linings are made of gold and platinum these days.

And, speaking of cabals, what looks like it's going to be a month long ramp-up to the 6th anniversary of 7/7, there's this (rhetorical question):

Bilderberg mystery: Why do people believe in cabals?

Stef said...

"Why do people believe in cabals?"

There is an alternative answer to that question to the one offered by the BBC

It also happens to be shorter than the BBC's answer

which means, thanks to the Magic Powers of Occam's Razor, that it must be the right one

Human said...

How about all the other moon landings? Or didn't you know there was more than one? Were all of them faked? How about the landers the Russians and America have put on the moon and Mars? Are they fake? All the tonnage we have put up there has to be accounted for by those who deny that any landing took place. Just where does the Space Shuttle go when it launches? Do you realize that space is a vacumn and the fuel needed once out of this atmosphere and up to speed is minimal?
Also the place of your citation claims that footage of the landing does not exist. It is readily available for those who care to do a simple search. Unless one wants to deny it exists. Then please don't.
Oh I see. You're an Ickean.....Never mind........Oh hold on...If if if what Icke says is true that we are ruled by reptilian aliens then those in power could easily fly to the moon and "stage" the whole thing from the lunar surface. Igeeenious. Of course that collides with logic, but I'm sure that won't stop you.

Stef said...

Speaking as a Moonlanding agnostic I have to say that's just about the shittest defence of the Official Apollo Narrative I have ever read

Reptillian said...

All the tonnage we have put up there has to be accounted for by those who deny that any landing took place.

Why would that be exactly?

Von Braun's problem, and that of many people who are sceptical of Apollo, was not lobbing a few tons of inanimate scrap onto the Lunar surface

His issue was sending live cargo through the Van Allen radiation belts, landing it safely on the Moon and having it come back to the Earth's surface not dead

You seem unable to appreciate the difference between the two feats. Others are less challenged

Just where does the Space Shuttle go when it launches?

The Space shuttle stays in Earth orbit, within the protection of the Earth's magnetosphere, shielded from all that pesky solar radiation. It is not capable of travelling to the Moon and never attempted to

Given that you dropped such a hefty bollock with that shuttle question following it up with a patronising reference to travel in a vaccum as if you know what the fuck you're talking about arguably qualifies as a second weighty bollock

Oh I see. You're an Ickean.....Never mind........Oh hold on...If if if what Icke says is true that we are ruled by reptilian aliens then those in power could easily fly to the moon and "stage" the whole thing from the lunar surface. Igeeenious. Of course that collides with logic, but I'm sure that won't stop you.

You appear to be arguing with yourself at this point. You might win that one but based on the rest of your comment that's not exactly a sure thing

Isaac Newton said...

@Reptillian

You passed up on this one...

Do you realize that space is a vacumn and the fuel needed once out of this atmosphere and up to speed is minimal?

Ever heard of gravity? Or do you actually think it's the atmosphere that keeps us from flying into space?

It might also be a good idea to learn how to spell vacuum before continuing your career as a science lecturer

obviously a major malfunction said...

Columbia in a great Enterprise will Endeavor for the Discovery of Atlantis and all Challengers will be destroyed

lmgtfy said...

"Also the place of your citation claims that footage of the landing does not exist. It is readily available for those who care to do a simple search."

what? like this one?

missing apollo tapes

Stef said...

= Conclusive proot that 7 year olds should be prohibited from using the Internet

Particularly when defending Official Narratives

The Antagonist said...

Columbia in a great Enterprise will Endeavor for the Discovery of Atlantis and all Challengers will be destroyed

Genius!

Stef said...

"Genius!"

As is the discovery that Humans can travel to the Moon in airships propelled by teensy weensy rockets

Stef said...

NAZA finds evidences of humans on the Moon!