Hot take: the moon landing footage at the Air and Space Museum felt different in person

I finally made it to the Smithsonian last month and stood right next to the Apollo 11 command module, which is way smaller than any photo suggests. What caught me off guard was the heat shield, it looks almost burned through in spots, like a toasted pan you'd toss. Does anyone else think the physical evidence there does more for the skeptics than the footage ever could, or am I just reading into it?

2 comments

2 Comments

nelson.wren3d ago

Did you catch that documentary about how the heat shield was charred worse than NASA expected?

paul_ramirez3d ago

You ever see a heat shield and think, "man, I know that feeling"? I once burned a pizza so bad the smoke detector went off and the char was so thick it looked like a black hole. NASA's like "unexpected thermal damage," and I'm like, "first time?" Honestly, if I was a heat shield, I'd be more worried about my cooking skills than re-entry. At least their char came with a parachute, mine just came with a fire alarm and regret.