On 20 July 1969, NASA's Apollo 11 mission landed Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the moon. It was Armstrong who uttered the famous words: "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."
Nobody noticed in the initial excitement of what was purportedly the first manned lunar expedition that a few photos revealed a mysterious shadow near Buzz Aldrin.
For decades there have been heated discussions within the scientific community as to what might have cast that strange shadow on the lunar surface. There have even been suggestions that the Apollo 11 mission was actually just a public relations exercise to conceal the fact that humans had already been on the moon long before July 1969. Indeed, in 1977 a sci-fi thriller called Capricorn One was released with a fake Mars landing as its central theme. Conspiracy buffs say the movie was inspired by insider talk that NASA was trying to cover up secret lunar operations dating back to the 1950s, including underground bases on the dark side of the moon.
Finally, after 55 years, we now know what object actually cast that mystery shadow on the moon... and who Buzz Aldrin was waving at...
"Hey there, young fella, what's your name...
and what have you got, besides bananas?"
"My name is Mooniandy, sir, I come from Kerala.
Would you like your bananas split, fried or blended
with vanilla ice cream?"
with vanilla ice cream?"
Eat your heart out, Mamak Kutty.
[Photos courtesy of Shanghai Fish. First posted 6 October 2011, reposted 13 July 2014 & 8 April 2016]
:D
ReplyDeleteGreat one Antares! Thanks for this early morning laugh. C u on sat ok? ;)
LOL..... BTW, if you are a fan, do read "First Man : The Life of Neil Armstrong" by James Hansen - fascinating book.
ReplyDeleteVery funny mate. Helps make up for the sad news that Steve Job is gone.
ReplyDeletehahahahahahaha....TQ !
ReplyDeleteActually its not about anyone from Tamil Nadu but refers to the industriousness of the people from Kerala (Dr Mahathir's native land, incidentally). A longstanding joke in India was about the enterprising Keralite (Malayalee) who is said to have opened a tea stall on the top of Mt Everest before Tenzing and Hillary scaled it. The joke was later extended to the moon after the Apollo landings. All the same the photograph is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteThe writing on the tea stall, Antares, is Malayalam. Hugs
ReplyDelete@Miriam - Ah so, I thought the writing looked Burmese... or like Pali... thanks for letting me know, so I can tweak the details for technical accuracy! :-)
ReplyDelete