krishna.org has a lengthy pseudoscientific article on why they feel the moon landing was faked, and a shorter example of poor maths directed at the same goal. I've met moon landing deniers. Some of them can make a superficially compelling case by referring to the tension of the cold war and the pressure to outdo the Russians, but ultimately they fall down under the weight of scientific facts. Still, you can have a conversation with them. I've known them to change their views.
But it turns out it is not doubts about moon landing footage or radiation levels that cause their dubiousness. Krishna Consciousness' founding dates all the way back to the mid 1960's when His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (henceforth Prabhupada, I don't want to get RSI retyping that title) formed the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. He had some interesting views on cosmology which are thoroughly defended by krishna.org here. An excerpt:
"The Vedic account of our planetary system is already researched, concluded, and perfect. TheVedas state that the moon is 800,000 miles farther from the earth than the sun. Therefore, even if we accept the modern calculation of 93 million miles as the distance from the earth to the sun, how could the “astronauts” have traveled to the moon–a distance of almost 94 million miles–in only 91 hours (the alleged elapsed time of the Apollo 11 moon trip)? This would require an average speed of more than one million miles per hour for the spacecraft, a patently impossible feat by even the space scientists’ calculations."
That's right, the moon landing can't have happened because they believe the sun is between the earth and the moon. Words failed me at this point so I decided to draw a picture (not to scale):
Distances to the edge of the universe taken from this interview with Prabhupada here: http://www.harekrsna.org/moon-landing.htm
But am I just picking on two websites here? One would hope that krishna.org and harekrsna.org are legitimate - they could however be elaborate ruses. Here are some other examples:
http://www.dandavats.com/?p=7481
"I have heard that some Apollo astronauts set up some reflector equipment which scientists still bounce lasers off of, and some powerful telescopes can see debris left by the astronauts on the moon. But that still does not make me doubt Sukadeva Goswami’s statements.
The main thing is, this method of proving something based on photographs and expert and percipient witnesses still is in the realm of imperfect senses and faulty speculations. The method of parampara which reveals the Absolute Truth to the sincere disciple is foolproof, whereas in the courtroom there is always some room for doubting if the jury got it right.
Srila Prabhupada requested us to build a planetarium in Mayapur and I assume the planetarium will show the moon farther from earth than the sun, as mentioned in Srimad Bhagavatam."http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX7cnzvD8OM
http://www.krishnaconsciousnessmovement.com/moonlanding.html
"they were watching the Moon landing. I sat down with them and we watched them land on the Moon. Immediately afterwards Prabhupada turned off the television and declared, “They did not go.” He looked at the TV and said it “This is an idiot box and it has made idiots of us.”...
“They have simply made false propaganda. They cannot go there. So because the atmosphere is different... There is also blazing fire surrounded by ice... And therefore at night it is so pleasing. You have got experience. Fire coming through ice, the rays, that is very pleasing. Therefore sunshine is making the whole thing very hot and the moonshine making it pleasing... Moon is the cause of vegetation in all planets; and they say there is no vegetation, it is simply dust. So we have to believe it? And when you present actual fact it is mysticism or mythology."http://krishnatube.com/video/147/Did-we-Land-on-the-Moon
http://harekrishnamalaysia.com/KRSNAinsight/2009/07/30/srila-prabhupada-a-conditioned-soul/
"So you have a little background in physics and this makes you the exception to Srila Prabhupada’s comments and/or his purpose for expressing them? [...]
Easy Journey to Other Planets is filled with comments on this so-called “space travel” and they are perfect.
Srila Prabhupada had his reasons for identifying the entire project (moon landing) as a bluff and a hoax. We just accept it – even if we cannot fully explain it to anyone’s, everyone’s or your satisfaction...
I’m sure that devotees who are more erudite than a mere woman can come up with much better citations to substantiate that Srila Prabhupada was not a mere conditioned soul, but an eternally liberated soul descending from the spiritual sky."http://www.amazon.com/Journey-Other-Planets-Bhaktivedanta-Prabhupada/dp/0912776102
Anyone convinced by this approach of using religious texts to disprove science?"This book sets out to discuss and prove that Vedic swamis have been travelling to other planets for thousands of years through meditation. They are not embarking on a mental journeys [sic] but are actually physically travelling to other planets. As all of Prabhupada's other works, this one is completely engrossing and highly recommended."
