Preface
In 1969, the American "Apollo 11" astronauts successfully landed on the moon in the presence of a global audience, which became an epoch-making event in human history, which not only excited countless people, but also aroused a wide range of enthusiasm for exploration. However, since then, the actions of the United States in the moon landing have gradually disappeared, which once caused public opinion to speculate, what is the reason for this?
Why the United States is no longer on the moon
In 1969, the moment the American astronaut "Armstrong" successfully set foot on the moon, it became a bright red mark that persisted in the annals of human history. Since then, the Apollo Starship of the United States has begun to enter frequent "commuting mode", and six consecutive lunar missions have also brought a large number of precious lunar samples to mankind and continuously expanded the boundaries of scientific research.
However, I don't know when all this seems to be suddenly hidden in the deep darkness of space, and there is no news about Apollo again.
In the early 60s of the 20th century, in order to cope with the escalation of the Cold War, the US government began to promote the development of the national space program at all costs. We must not only accomplish this goal, but also achieve it with the highest standards!" Within a few years, this grand promise was realized by people all over the world, and the footsteps of mankind finally entered the vast temple of the stars.
Behind this plan, there are also multiple considerations at the strategic level of the US government. In the space race between the United States and the former Soviet Union at that time, the ground on the moon naturally became a key point to repeatedly measure the strength of both sides. It was under such pressure that the Apollo moon landing, a seemingly arduous and dangerous project, was in fact politically significant and practical.
And after the completion of the lunar mission, the Apollo Starship will also return to Earth to carry a large number of lunar samples, which also contributes a number of valuable research materials to American scientists and provides an important reference for missions to explore new areas in space. Despite the attention of each mission, with the successful return of the Apollo Starcraft to Earth, the enthusiasm of the United States to land on the moon has gradually decreased, and the long-term competition with the former Soviet Union in the field of space has gradually weakened with the passage of time and the shift in public opinion, and the original goal of the American space program is no longer smooth sailing.
The world-famous oil crisis became the last straw that broke the camel of the moon landing program. In the 70s of the 20th century, with the soaring international oil prices, the United States large-scale short arbitrage trade, domestic oil inventories fell sharply, the U.S. government was forced to sacrifice the ban on oil exports, the whole country was shrouded in a huge oil crisis, in just a few years, NASA's budget was reduced by half, and in this obvious situation, the moon landing program has undoubtedly become the best place to reduce expenses.
Coupled with the constant questioning of the US lunar landing program by public opinion, all kinds of indications show that the lunar landing program, which cost a lot of money, did not bring significant economic benefits to the United States at that time, and some analysts even believe that the launch cost alone can create more jobs and economic output value for the country. All these factors led to NASA's announcement that it would stop landing on the moon, which also meant that American astronauts had not set foot on the moon since 1972.
The Mystery of the Moon
In 1969, when American astronaut Armstrong set foot on the moon for the first time, his assistant Buzz took a symbolic photograph of Armstrong against the vast lunar ground, and in the other corner of the photograph was a red, white and blue American flag. This scene has also become a classic scene that people talk about, and people have picked up cameras to record this moment.
The most striking element in this photo is the fluttering Star-Spangled Banner. Because the moon has no atmosphere and the wind speed is only zero, for a while, the image is as magical as a magic trick, and people continue to study and speculate in an attempt to find an answer to this incredible phenomenon. Repeated experiments have shown that in an environment without atmosphere, one side of the flagpole will also press the flag to the opposite side of the flagpole due to the squeeze of the wind, thus showing a state of "plopping and plopping", and will not form a coherent wave.
So what causes the American flag to flutter on the moon? After the examination and analysis of experts, it was finally concluded that this incredible phenomenon actually originated from the force of Armstrong's joint action with the flagpole when he planted the national flag on the surface of the moon, resulting in an action similar to that of the throw, and the subsequent fluttering animation was formed by the influence of this throw.
The moon is full and the moon changes everywhere, which also provides another explanation for this phenomenon, there is a very special surface structure on the moon, and the sun's rays will form an extremely subtle "moon wind" after shining on this special structure, and it is this tiny air flow that is also parallel to the surface of the moon that has a slight stirring of the national flag.
In 1974, Bill Kane wrote "We Never Went to the Moon——— America's $30 Billion Scam
Whether the flag is flying or not does not actually affect the mission of American astronauts on the moon, but it is this insignificant detail that has become the subject of public speculation for decades, and some people even doubt the authenticity of the successful landing of the United States on the moon. But in fact, whether it is the radiation received or the velocity beam in the background of space, it can clearly confirm the authenticity and effectiveness of the Apollo moon landing program, which is also an important node in the history of human space exploration.
In addition to this, there are doubts about why the footprints of American astronauts are so clear on the surface of the moon, where the footprints are wide. Originally, as we know, the more under the action of natural wind and rain, the easier it is to leave vague traces, but in the area of the moon without the protection of the atmosphere, the floating cycle of wind and rain does not exist, why can it remain clear and unchanged? These are all issues that people are concerned about, and behind these problems, there is another precious value of human space exploration.
What did American astronauts see on the moon?
Although it was an extremely difficult and dangerous program, in the early stages of the Apollo moon landing program, NASA did not limit the goal to the successful landing of astronauts on the moon, but closely linked space exploration and resource development to it. In fact, there is no wind, no rain and no dust, and on the moon without an atmosphere, it can accurately and stably retain human traces, which also brings a lot of convenience to scientific research.
The unique lunar environment also gives it unique resource value, for example, hundreds of millions of years ago there was a crustal sacred relic-moon rock, which is one of the most important carriers to understand the geological composition of the moon, and is also an important material brought back to the earth by American astronauts, and the international probe "Chang'e-5", which was specially visited by later generations, also brought these valuable samples back to the moon again.
On the Moon, a land without an atmosphere, American scientists have also discovered another very precious resource - helium-three. As theoretically the most ideal fusion fuel, its discovery has greatly encouraged the enthusiasm of scientists and governments, and it is believed that these resources can help solve the energy shortage and environmental problems on the earth, especially the scarcity of helium-3 and the huge cost of extraction on the earth, further highlighting the preciousness of this resource, and Nuwa is not an easy task, despite the unique resources, it is very difficult to mine, just the cost of mining is as high as trillions of dollars, if the resources are transported from the moon to the earth, it is a huge expense.
Although the United States halted its moon landing program in 1972, it never gave up its pursuit of space exploration. Up to now, NASA and various industries in the space field have thousands of researchers, who continue to challenge themselves while not forgetting to share all the results of space exploration with the world. From the completion of the International Space Station to the successful launch of the spacecraft Tiandi-1, from the discovery of traces of extraterrestrial life to the provision of better solutions for environmental protection, scientific research in the field of astronautics spanning decades has provided researchers with more space to expand.
Although whether American astronauts actually saw flying objects on the moon and whether they actually discovered extraterrestrial life, both then and today, all this remains a mystery. However, it is undeniable that it is these unsolved mysteries about space exploration that have inspired countless young people's enthusiasm for science and research, and have also given birth to many works of art and scientific discoveries.