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A study of White's Apollo "time study"


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White has produced what he calls irrefutable evidence that the Apollo photography was faked with his latest “research” he calls a “TIME STUDY”. Well folks its neither irrefutable nor a time study. Its easy to refute and its nothing more than assumption and false logic.

White wants the reader to believe that he has rigorously scoured the official record of Apollo at the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal, accurately summarized each EVA, accurately calculated the amount of time required for the tasks on each EVA,, accurately applied the results of this “time study” to the amount of photography produced during the EVA and finally accurately concluded the amount of photography was impossible based on his study. He states the Apollo Photographic record is false.

A reader might conclude from Whites words that it was a lot of work to find out all the details of each mission to prepare an accurate time study of their activities from which to base his figures and maths. And the reader would have been right had White actually done a “time study” of each mission. It is hard. One is required to read the actual transcripts and plot a detailed time line of the astronauts activities, including taking photographs. One would actually need to find out, for example how long it took the astronauts to take “pan photographs” which are a series of 8-10 images taken while the astronaut turns 360 degrees. It would be tedious work, but it would be required to actual do a proper time study to see if the astronauts could have taken the number of photographs on the lunar surface as stated by NASA.

Each mission transcript is many pages long as it details every conversation between the astronauts themselves and as well as with earth. It also includes post flight debriefing information to help the reader further understand what was happening. it’s a daunting task to sift through the transcripts and find the real information. I looked at Apollo 11, the briefest of all the EVA’s. My heavily excerpted summary of the mission transcript ran 12 pages and took me the better part of two evenings.. Imagine the work required to summarize all of the Apollo EVA’s. Some of the missions lasted over three days on the lunar surface.

Of course White did none of that. He simply guessed and called it a “time study” In short he did what he always does in regard to his Apollo “research”, he didn’t actually do any research.

Here’s an excerpt of Whites work as it applies to Apollo 11:

Grave doubt exists that the Apollo missions to the Moon were anything more than the most incredible hoax of all time. Did astronauts actually go to the Moon? I do not know. But NASA's own evidence shows that all photos of the Apollo feats had to be forgeries. They were likely made in a secret Earthly studio somewhere as a top secret military project. And if all the "Moon photos" of all the "Moon missions" were fakes, the question is 'why?'.

Real missions should have produced real photos.

Anyone with even elemental math skills and common sense can look at the facts, do the calculations, and come to their own conclusions about the alleged MASSIVE VOLUME of lunar surface photography in such a LIMITED TIME.

Here is my conclusion: IT COULD NOT BE DONE

Very simply, it amounts to a study known to many businesses...A TIME AND MOTION STUDY. The elementary question is: was it possible to take the known number of photos (from NASA records) in the amount of time available (from NASA records)?

Here is my actual count of EVA photos of the six missions:

Apollo 11........... 121

So I returned to the Lunar Surface Journal to find how much TIME was available to do all the scientific tasks AS WELL AS PHOTOGRAPHY. Unlike the number of photos, this information is readily available:

Apollo 11..........1 EVA, 2 hours, 31 minutes .......(151 minutes)

Apollo 11..........Inspect EM for damage, deploy flag, unpack and deploy radio and television equipment, operate the TV camera (360 degree pan), establish contact with Earth (including ceremonial talk with President Nixon), unpack and deploy numerous experiment packages, find/document/collect 47.7 pounds of lunar rock samples, walk to various locations, conclude experiments, return to LEM.

Let's arbitrarily calculate a MINIMUM time for these tasks and subtract from available photo time:

Apollo 11....subtract 2 hours (120 minutes), leaving 31 minutes for taking photos

So do the math:

Apollo 11.......121 photos in 31 minutes..............3.90 photos per minute

Or, to put it more simply:

Apollo 11........one photo every 15 seconds

The first thing you will notice about Whites work is that he got his summary of the EVA wrong. He didn’t even get the order of events correct, which leads me to believe he never consulted the transcript. Not a good start for a “time study”

Lets break down the Apollo 11 eva in approximately 15 minute segments and see what the astronauts did and how many photos they took. The reader should note I have used the exact same source material as did White:

http://history.nasa.gov/alsj/frame.html

Start of the EVA.

Armstrong exit’s the LM, deploying the mesa and the TV camera before he climbs down the ladder. Once he is on the surface Aldrin lowers the camera.

He takes no pictures

Second segment

Armstrong takes his first pictures, a pan. He takes a contingentency soil sample and then photographs Aldrin climbing down to the surface. They both test moving on the lunar surface.

20 pictures are taken.

Third segment

They both continue to test their mobility . Armstrong takes some various photos. They investigate the blast area under the engine and the touchdown probes. Armstrong removes the thermal blanket on the Mesa in preparation for moving the TV camera.. Armstrong moves the TV camera while Aldrin begins to unpack the solar wind experiment.

2 pictures are taken.

Forth segment.

Aldrin sets up the Solar wind experiment while Armstrong returns form setting up the TV camera and takes pictures of Aldrin with the SWE.. They plant the US flag. They talk to the president.

4 pictures are taken.

Fifth segment.

They finish their call from the president. They discuss the lighting and the effects of sun and shade on their temperature inside of the spacesuits. Pictures are taken of the soil and boot prints.

Aldrin takes his first series of pan photos, using the camera handheld rather than mounted to his suit.

17 pictures are taken.

Sixth segment.

Aldrin takes some inspection photos of the LM. Armstrong takes a bulk soil sample. Armstrong gets the camera back and takes pictures of the plaque. Armstrong takes photos of his bulk sample area. He takes the famous picture of Aldrin. Aldrin takes the camera back and takes another pan series. Armstrong takes photos with the Gold camera. These photos are not counted as EVA Hasselblad photos.

25 pictures were taken.

Seventh segment.

Armstrong continues to inspect the LM. Aldrin returns from his pan location and takes a few photos of the footpads and the area under the engine. He takes two pictures showing earth by taking his camera off of the bracket and hand holding it. Armstrong get the camera back and Aldrin goes to work on the Scientific Equipment bay. Aldrin deploys the PSE. Armstrong does another pan series. Aldrin carries the experiments out to the location where they will be set up. Armstrong takes pictures.

29 pictures were taken.

Eighth segment.

Aldrin and Armstrong finish deploying the experiments. Armstrong takes photos of the experiments. Armstrong goes out to East Crater to take a pan series. Aldrin continues to work on the experiments. Armstrong takes a few more pictures of Aldrin working at the experiments.

19 pictures were taken.

Ninth segment.

Armstrong and Aldrin close out the EVA. Aldrin climbs up into the LM and Armstrong passes sample and the film up to the LM. Just before Armstrong sends the Hasselblad film magazine up he fires off six random frames to assure that his last pan images don’t get light struck when he removes the magazine. Armstrong climbs the ladder, enters the LM and the EVA is over.

6 pictures were taken.

The first thing we notice is that for this mission there were 4 segments where the work load was such that either no pictures were taken or less than 6 pictures were taken. That’s a bit over 1 hour of time where only 12 photographs were taken. White suggests in his study that the work load was such that there should have been two hours with no photography.

Lets lay it out simply, the segments and the number of photos:

1. 0 photos

2. 20 photos

3. 2 photos

4. 4 photos

5. 17 photos

6. 25 photos

7. 29 photos

8. 19 photos

9. 6 photos

Its pretty clear from this summary that the Apollo 11 astronauts DID NOT have to take 3.9 photos per minute as White claims. His theory has been refuted.

So it seems White has been hoisted on his own petard. The skeletons in his closet have been reveled. It has been shown that he did no actual time study but rather did a “guess study “ He has failed to properly research the subject before jumping off the deep end, as usual..

John Costella on White’s time study:

"Apollo debates are usually dominated by physics arguments which can be confusing for most people. Jack White's new analysis is breath-taking in its simplicity: now anyone can understand the evidence and come to their own conclusion."

Sorry John, but its more like the analysis from a simpleton. Yes we can understand the evidence and come to our own conclusion. White failed in miserably in his attempt to prove the Apollo photography fake. Whites latest work speaks volumes about him and those touting his latest work.

So you the reader can now decide. Does the rest of White’s “time study” hold water, or is it full of holes like his Apollo 11 summary?

And now its White’s turn. You want to make this theory work you are going to have to go back to square one and actually do a time study of each mission. Na…never gonna happen.

Edited by Craig Lamson
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Some things to consider when calculating the images and how long it took:

1. The cameras had electric winders, so taking a series (e.g. 10 shots in 15 seconds) is not impossible.

2. Many of the shots, including the camera settings, were pre-planned and written into the surface activity timeline.

3. Each astronaut had a camera (though on Apollo 11, almost all images were taken by Armstrong I believe).

4. Were images taken by the Data Acquistion Camera included in the count?

5. It's quite easy to take a photo while doing something else (e.g. setting up an experiment). The astronauts often took images of surface samples they were picking up.

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3.  Each astronaut had a camera (though on Apollo 11, almost all images were taken by Armstrong I believe).

4.  Were images taken by the Data Acquistion Camera included in the count?

On A11 they only had one camera.

DAC images (or footage) didn't count toward the picture count in this case. they are separate.

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3.  Each astronaut had a camera (though on Apollo 11, almost all images were taken by Armstrong I believe).

4.  Were images taken by the Data Acquistion Camera included in the count?

On A11 they only had one camera.

DAC images (or footage) didn't count toward the picture count in this case. they are separate.

Yes they only had one silver coated surface camera, but they had a black hasselblad that was used in the LM positioned at the hatch as a backup if the surface camera failed. There was concern (rightly) that the black camera would be unsuitable for surface work because of its color.

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