Tag: First man on the Moon

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 11: The life and death of Edwin Moon

Photomontage of Buzz Aldrin from Apollo 11 and Gene Cernan from Apollo 17 whose connection Carol questions

Carol wasn’t sure about her husband’s course of action.

“Edwin Moon? Really? You couldn’t find a more transparent pseudonym? The Red Lions’ manager will see right through it,” she said.

“Don’t worry Honey, I did my research. There are several persons named Edwin Moon in Ohio.”

“Yes, but why that particular name? Edwin is Buzz’s first name, and Moon, well that’s just… just… I don’t even know what to call that choice of last name… obvious, unimaginative, careless…”

“It’s just my way of telling him that’s he’s on the right track without telling him,” said the old man  with a smile. “If he’s in advertising as he claims to be, he’ll get it. Trust me Carol, he’ll google the name and very probably see that one of aviation’s pioneers was named Edwin Moon. There he’ll find out that the guy’s plane was named Moonbeam.”

“So?”

“Well, the guy also claims to be a Space Race buff. If that’s true, he’ll be familiar with Gene Cernan’s promise to bring his daughter a moonbeam. I know it sounds like a stretch but it’s the kind of diagonal thinking typical of creative advertising people. And if he makes the connections then he would have proven himself right for the job. Think of it as a final test.”

“I’d hate being a student of yours,” said Carol.

As Carol wondered about her husband’s tactics, far away, two government agents had been made privy of the communication and were moving quickly to address the situation.

Over at Oliver, Martin & Simon Law Offices David was reading an odd email that had just arrived. It was sent by an old acquaintance from his law school days. One he knew to be dead.

“Hey buddy how are you doing? I’m writing because I remember you being involved a while back with some baseball fantasy league and I just got an official message regarding some sort of investigation of a scam going on in those leagues. It seems there’s a person or a group of persons working in various leagues who get close to other players and lead them to join a new business venture where they are subsequently  fleeced. A typical con job. Be careful and keep your eyes open.”

For a few seconds he stared at the email not knowing what to do with it. His first instinct was to delete it but as he pondered his options Mr. Martin walked into his office.

“I can tell by the look in your face that you got the email,” he said.

“You know about it?”

“I got a blind copy. It was sent by our government friends. I just talked to them; they want you to show it to Ms. Aldrich. Can you do it without arising suspicions?”

“Yes, just this morning I got Vega to talk to me about her father’s involvement with fantasy baseball. It would be a seamless expansion of our earlier conversation.”

“Perfect. Let’s make this happen today.”

“Just one question. Why use the name of a dead person I used to know?”

“I don’t know son, these spook types can be very weird at times. I’ve deal with them before; don’t read anything into it.”

Mr. Martin left and David wrote Vega a little message of his own acknowledging their earlier talk about her father’s involvement with fantasy baseball.

Oblivious to all that, Lucas was working on an answer to Edwin Moon’s message in the fantasy league chat room. He was usually aggressive in the pursuit of new clients, so even though he couldn’t pinpoint which Edwin Moon was contacting him he decided to take a swing at it to see if he could put the ball in play.

“Nice to meet you Edwin. Can I call you Ed? You’ll be able to see what I can do for you regarding communications at lucasaldrich.com. If you have specific questions please don’t hesitate to contact me through the website email. With regards to travel, it wouldn’t be a problem but, as is customary in the industry, your company would be responsible for all travel expenses. Looking forward to talking to you outside the fantasy league confines.”

Lucas then pressed the Send button and stared blankly at the screen for a while. Something was telling him that he was missing something about Mr. Moon.

Edwin Moon, he thought. Edwin. Buzz. Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin. Apollo 11’s lunar module pilot. Armstrong’s wingman. Moon. Moonbeam. Gene Cernan. Apollo 17. Last man to walk on the Moon. From Purdue University. Same as Armstrong. Shit! It’s him! He’s using a fake name!  

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 12: Connecting the Dots

Image illustrating Vega calling her dad to tell him about the email and connecting the dots

Lucas couldn’t wait to share his excitement with Vega so he called her.

“Hey Moonbeam! Whatcha doing for lunch?”

“Hi Dad, it looks like I’ll be having a sandwich on my desk at some point ‘cause I’m knee-deep in stuff that can’t wait. Why?”

“I’ve got very exciting news from our Kitty Hawk,” said Lucas.

“Really? Well, I guess I can step out of the swamp for a coffee break now. Spit it out; I’m all ears.”

Lucas read her all the messages. From the moment he asked about the Apollo 14/Kitty Hawk connection to the Edwin Moon revelation. And finished with his rationale of why he strongly believed that the man was indeed who he thought he was.

“What do you think?”

“I don’t know Dad. I think you might be stretching the facts a little. Tell you what. Let me get through all the stuff I have on my desk and I’ll call you when I get out of here.”

“Sure, no problem. We’ll talk later.”

Not long after hanging up with her Dad, David came knocking on her door.

“Hey Vega, some of us are going to Beppe’s Deli for lunch,” he said. “Would you like to join us?”

“I’m up to my ears in paperwork regarding the Chronologix suit. Gotta work through lunch. But if you could bring me a Reuben sandwich, I’d be eternally grateful? Here let me give you the money,” she said while reaching for her purse.

“Don’t worry about it, my treat,” said David. “By the way, did you receive my email about the fantasy leagues?”

“I haven’t checked email in a couple of hours. What about the leagues?”

“Oh just something I got from a friend regarding a scam that’s going on. I thought you would like to put your Dad on notice.”

“Sure, thanks. I’ll take a look at it as soon as I finish drafting this motion.”

As soon as David left for Beppe’s, Vega looked up his email and immediately called her father. She got his voicemail:

“Hey Dad, it’s me again. I just got some information that I need to share with you. In the meantime, please hold off any contact with the Kitty Hawks’ manager.”

She hadn’t hung up yet when Lucas called her back.

“Hey Dad I just left you a message.”

“Sorry I couldn’t pick up, had to visit the little boys’ room. What’s up?”

She told him about the scam and found it odd that her father sounded unfazed.

“Hmm, that seems to tie in with the dark car,” he said.

“What dark car Dad?”

Lucas told his daughter about the mysterious dark car that had been doing the rounds in his neighborhood.

“They wanted me to see them. No doubt. And now you talk to your boss about my fantasy league hobby and all of a sudden you get an email about a supposed scam that sounds exactly like my communications with the Kitty Hawks manager. I’m too old to believe in coincidences.”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean coincidences?”

“Don’t you see it? They know about our communications but don’t want to acknowledge that I’m on to something, so they resort to what they do best, intimidation and disinformation. The dark car is intimidation while the email is disinformation. Both with the clear intention of making me stop all contact.”

“Dad, I think you’re not…”

“Sweetie,” he interrupted her, “when have you heard of FBI-like organizations in the United States warning about an investigation in progress?”

Vega had to admit her father had a point.

“Please, just be careful Dad, and keep me posted,” she said.

After hanging up Vega connected some dots of her own. The government-looking characters talking to Mr. Martin and David at The Bar the night before; the email; fantasy baseball. Was David in on it? She thought.

She decided to play along just in case. So as soon as David came back with her lunch she thanked him for the information and told him that he had already advised her Dad to avoid any approach that sounded like that.

“Good advice counselor,” he told her and left her office satisfied that his job was done.  

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 13: Michael Collins

Michael Collins with the rest of the crew of Apollo 11 in 1969 and in 2004 during their visit to the White House

The old man had been staring at the curious email for a few minutes, trying to make some sense of it. He went over it one more time:

“Hey old man, how’re you doing? Listen, I’m writing because I remember you being involved with fantasy baseball and I just got an official message regarding some sort of investigation of a scam going on in those leagues. It seems there’s a person or a group of persons working in various leagues who get close to other players and lead them to join a new business venture where they are fleeced. A typical con job. Be careful and keep your eyes open. Don’t let them sell you a moonbeam. Give my regards to Carol, looking forward to seeing you both during next year’s 40th Anniversary ceremonies.”

It was from Michael Collins. He hadn’ seen him since their visit to George W. Bush’s White House for the Apollo 11 mission 35th anniversary in 2004, and he was sure he’d never shared his interest for fantasy baseball with his old colleague. But what intrigued him the most was that he was talking about something that eerily mirrored his contact with the Red Lions’ manager. Were those bastards monitoring his emails? He wondered.

Just in case, he decided to analyze the situation the old-fashioned way, without the computer. He took out an old notebook and a #2 pencil from the desk drawer and started going through the situation in his head. The email was obviously not from Michael Collins, but why choose him? He thought.

Did it have something to do with his missions? Michael’s missions included Gemini 10 which entailed a heavy load of experiments but was mostly about mastering orbital rendezvous. No connections there. Then came Apollo 8; he was grounded for that mission because of knee problems. Knees? Are they using Michael’s name to imply that if I talk they would hurt my knees Mafia-style? No, of course not. Keep thinking…

Michael was the one who came up with the idea for the Apollo 11 mission patch. The eagle landing with the olive branch symbolizing that we came in peace. Not much there either. What else? If he had stayed active he would have been back-up commander for Apollo 14 and mission commander of Apollo 17. Hmmm…

He drew three boxes in the notebook with the numbers 11, 14 and 17 inside them.

These mark the beginning, he thought as he circled the boxes with the 11 and the 14. And 17 is the end. Gene Cernan’s mission. The one with the moonbeam story.

He looked back at the email: “Don’t let them sell you a moonbeam.”

Ok, Michael is the only astronaut that can be linked to the two missions associated with the beginning of the moon landings and to the last one. But why say “Don’t let them sell you a moonbeam” in the email. It seems forced, like it was placed there for a reason… Oh my God… of course… Edwin Moon’s flying machine.

It’s them. They know I’ve been talking to the Red Lions manager and they have somehow sniffed my intentions. This is their way of letting me know that they are watching. Fuck. Time to go back to the drawing board.

His first task was to come up with a communications strategy that would allow him to maintain his contact with Mr. Lucas Aldrich without being monitored. No doubt he had received an email like mine to dissuade him from contacting me, he thought.

A ploy started to take shape in his mind, and the first step was to answer Michael Collins’ email.

“Thanks for the heads up Mike. I’ll keep my eyes open. Send our regards to Pat.”

Short, to the point and most importantly it read normal, like he didn’t suspect a thing, he thought as he pressed the Send button. He had just done so when his wife came in and caught him with a strange-looking smile on his face.

“What’s going on? You look like you’re up to something,” she said.

“Oh nothing, just emailing with Michael Collins,” he said as he scribbled something on the notebook for her to read. “It’s such a nice afternoon, why don’t we go out for a stroll?”

“What’s going on?” asked Carol once outside the house. “Why do I have to keep quiet and follow you outside? What do you mean they could be listening?”

“It seems my communication with the Red Lions’ manager has been monitored by people who want me to stay quiet. I don’t know for sure who they are, so for the moment we will assume our house is bugged. Although I’d like to think that’s unlikely. Anyway better safe than sorry. I have an idea on how to approach this and still carry on our original plan. It implies going low tech and I’m going to need your help.”

As the old man explained his idea, his wife understood that there was no turning back now.  

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 15: Pregame Jitters

Margarita cocktail for the pregame jitters related to the letter

Vega met her father at their favorite Mexican restaurant right after work. The letter was definitely an astonishing development and just holding it in her hands was spellbinding.

“You said you went to a client’s office and checked the handwriting using one of their computers?”

“That’s right,” said Lucas, “if my computer is being monitored, then using it for that would have compromised the whole thing. I’m no expert and, like everybody else’s, his handwriting evolves through the years, but this letter looks like it was written by the same person who wrote these other notes.”

Vega looked at the printouts of about a dozen different handwritten notes and nodded in agreement.

“So what’re you going to do?”

“My first reaction is to go,” said Lucas, “but I wanted to know what your gut tells you after reading the letter.”

“My mind tells me to be very careful,” said Vega, “but, oddly, my gut feels the man’s legit. It’s hard to explain, it’s like the letter itself has some kind of positive energy.”

“I know, I felt it too. So, it’s settled then, I’m going to Cincinnati.”

“We… are going to Cincinnati,” said Vega emphasizing the word we. “I’m not gonna let you go alone. My mind is still telling me to be careful.”

“Ok, so we are going… Shit I’m nervous. You know pregame jitters. I mean we’re gonna meet a historical figure. What if I screw it up?”

“Dad, you know more about the subject you’ll be discussing with him than the average person. Besides, he wouldn’t have invited you if he hadn’t noticed something special about you in the conversations. Plus I’m sure that after more than 40 years he must be used to people stuttering or going gaga when meeting him. Just do your homework and prepare well for the meeting. As for your current jitters, your lawyer advises a large Margarita.”

“Whatever you say counselor,” said Lucas while signaling for the waiter.

Two hours later at Lucas place…

Ok, showtime, thought Lucas as he sat on his computer.

He signed into the fantasy league chat room and wrote a message to the manager of the Kitty Hawks.

“Hey Ed, hope you’re well. I’ve been out for a few days and haven’t been checking my messages here. Listen, regarding the job you talked to me about, something has come up that will make it impossible for me to travel. Sorry for any inconvenience this might cause. Anyway, Godspeed in your venture.”

He had discussed the content of this message with Vega over Swiss enchiladas and they agreed that using the can’t travel excuse would help mask their real intentions later on when they did buy air tickets.

Over in Ohio, the old man read the message and smiled. He still had to wait a couple of days to get a confirmation by regular mail, but he was confident that the electronic message was part of the ruse he had proposed. He answered promptly:

“Don’t worry about it. Maybe some other time. By the way, it looks like we are leading our league. Would you be interested in a trade?” And just like that their conversations turned to pure baseball.    

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 16: Plans, Planes and Playball!

Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati

Time passed excruciatingly slow for Lucas during the following month. First he had to wait a couple of weeks before buying the plane tickets to avoid raising red flags to the people monitoring his moves.

During that time Vega came to the conclusion that, for those same reasons, it was better for both of them if she didn’t accompany him to Cincinnati. She wasn’t absolutely sure whether David or Mr. Martin at the office were in on it or not, but thought it was better to play it safe to avoid arising suspicions from them.

Lucas had a lot of time to ponder his travel options and finally settled for Chicago. He had been there for business before so he knew the city well and most importantly, had a history to back up his new trip there in the eyes of those tracking his moves. Also, he thought it would mask his true destination better than Detroit because, although the distances were quite similar, Chicago was in a different time zone and had the whole state of Indiana between itself and Cincinnati.

Before the self-imposed two-week waiting period had expired, Lucas got another letter from Edwin Moon acknowledging receipt of his response and confirming their meeting at the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati on May 18. A few days later he went online and bought himself a round-trip ticket to the Windy City.  He also booked a car rental for two days with return to the same location.

Finding a hotel took a bit longer. Since, in all probability, his every move was being monitored, he needed something that would signal he was going to stay in town while providing him easy access to I-94, the route he had to take out of Chicago towards Indiana on his way to Cincinnati. He didn’t want to add any unnecessary time to the 4½ hour drive. After some patient search, he found what he, and his budget, were looking for at the Crowne Plaza in the West Loop area and made reservations for two nights.

For the next two weeks Lucas and Vega went through all the possible scenarios and planned for each one of them. Lucas felt very confident when he boarded the flight to Chicago that Saturday, May 17, 2008. He was already in his seat when a woman in her mid twenties and an athletic build placed a weekender type bag on the overhead compartment and sat in the seat next to his. He was prepared to face the possibility of him being followed the whole trip and immediately tagged her as an agent of whatever government agency was tracking his actions.

“Business or pleasure?” he asked her.

“Business,” she said courtly.

“Same here, business on a Saturday. I’m in advertising. Clients don’t know the meaning of the word weekend,” said Lucas trying to get her to spill whatever cover she was using.

“I do most of my work during weekends,” she said with a small smile that lighted up her stern face.

“Really, what is it that you do? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“I’m a professional soccer player. I’m on my way to Chicago to join the Red Stars.”

“The Red Stars? I’m not familiar with them.”

“It’s the city’s entry in the new Women’s Professional Soccer League.”

“Wow, I didn’t know about it. Good luck…” Lucas extended his hand to shake hers, “my name is Lucas Adrich, consider me a Red Stars fan from now on.”

“Thanks, but be aware that the first season starts next year. I’m Megan…  Megan Rapinoe by the way.”

If this was a cover it was a pretty risky one; too easy to corroborate whether her information was false, thought Lucas. She must be the real thing. He wondered if she would end up being one of the league stars. He considered asking for her autograph just in case but desisted from the idea.

The flight was uneventful and he arrived at O’Hare Airport in Chicago right on time. He followed the signs to the car rental companies, and 45 minutes later left for the Crowne Plaza Hotel on a silver Toyota Camry.

He was too excited about the next day’s adventure so he hardly slept that night. It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when the alarm clock went off at 5:00 in the morning. After showering he had a hotel bedroom coffee that tasted like dirty water and got on his way. He had to leave no later than 6:30 to make it to the game before the 1:15 start time. There was a one hour difference between Chicago and Cincinnati and leaving at that time would give him an hour to spare for any unforeseen events.

Driving through Indiana got to be extremely boring with flatlands as far as the eye could see, but it was a beautiful day for baseball with clear skies and gorgeous 66° weather. He was already on I-65 heading south when he realized it was already mid-morning and he hadn’t had breakfast. He stopped at the next rest area near Lafayette and got himself an egg and bacon sandwich with some more coffee. After a quick restroom pit stop he was back on the rented Camry approaching Indianapolis at 65 miles per hour.

Two hours later he pulled into one of Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark parking areas, never noticing the car tailing him, a nondescript gray sedan with a middle-aged couple inside that looked like anybody’s next-door neighbors. They watched him step out of the car before following him inside the park.

Once inside the ballpark, Lucas had to ask directions to the suite 110. When he finally got there, the old man was waiting for him outside. To Lucas he resembled the actor that played Batman in the 60’s TV series.

“Ed?” asked Lucas as he approached the man.

“Lucas I presume,” answered the man extending his hand to shake Lucas’.

“Yes Ed, thanks for the invitation. This ballpark is absolutely gorgeous. Like a temple for baseball.”

“Please call me Neil, there’s no need for subterfuge anymore,” said the old man with a smile. “Let’s go in. Would you like a beer?”

Ha! I knew it! You’re Neil Armstrong, thought Lucas but instead said “Love one Neil, thanks.”

“Two Hudys Al”, the old man told the suite attendant as they entered.

“Hudys?” asked Lucas.

“Hudy Delight, Cincinnati’s very own light beer,” said Neil. “Would you prefer something else?”

“No, a Hudy would be perfect.”

“Let’s seat outdoors. The day is too nice to stay inside,” said Neil leading the way.

“We’ll have more privacy out here; don’t wish to be overhead by the suite attendant,” he said once outside. “By the way, great pitching matchup today Volquez versus Lee, the two teams’ aces.”

Once they took their seats the game  started and with it the most fascinating three hours Lucas had ever experienced in his lifetime.

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 17: First Inning – The Beginning

Suite at Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati

Lucas sat with Neil Armstrong on the suite’s outdoor seats and looked around taking in the grandiosity of the situation while sipping his Hudy Delight.

“Only one loss between the two pitchers… and 12 wins. Both early Cy Young candidates in their leagues. Definitely a pitching banquet ahead of us”, said the old man.

“Ah, oh, yeah,” sputtered Lucas.

“Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, I’m okay, it’s just that I’m a little overwhelmed by this whole… surreal experience,” said Lucas feeling a bit embarrassed.

“It’s only regular season,” said the old man with a smirk.

“Yeah, well, for you maybe, ‘cus you’re not sitting next to a historical figure watching the game.”

“Oh, that. Well, after today, maybe you’ll make history too. And on that note, thanks for accepting the invitation. It took me many years to finally decide on this course of action. Something that I’m sure you’ll understand once you hear what I have to say.”

The man took a long sip of his beer before continuing.

“On your response to my initial letter you asked me several things. Where would you like to start?”

“Why me? What are you looking for?” asked Lucas.

“Well, first things first. You’re a communications professional. I visited your website and liked what I saw. You’re also a knowledgeable person in the topic of the Space Race of the sixties, so you’re better suited to understand the context of what I’m going to tell you. As for what I’m I looking for? I want people to know the truth and I can’t tell them myself.”

“So you want me to tell people? I thought this conversation was supposed to be kept confidential.”

“This conversation never took place. What you do with the information you get is entirely up to you,” said the old man. “But don’t tell that to the people who accompanied you.”

“Who? What people?”

“The two agents following you. I spotted them when you approached me outside the suite. They were walking like 50 feet behind you. A middle-aged couple who looked like John and Jane Midwest. I’m sure they will be talking to you after the game.”

Instinctively, Lucas looked over his shoulder after hearing this, but all he could see through the glass window was Al, the suite attendant who immediately approached them to ask if they needed anything.

Neil Armstrong politely dismissed the courteous attendant who went back inside to wait upon a group of six that had just entered the suite.

“Relax Lucas.”

“It’s just that I had been on the lookout for a tail , and finding out that they fooled me pisses me off.”

“Let’s take one step at a time, they will not cause a scene. That’s why I chose this public venue for our little chat. Al and the six friends I had on standby in case something like this happened are our insurance that the agents won’t come inside the suite.”

Lucas looked back into the suite and a few of the guys waved at him smiling.

“This is so surreal,” said Lucas mostly to himself.

“Well, with that out of the way, what do you think we start at the beginning?” said the old man. “As you know there are a lot of conspiracy theories regarding the Moon landings of the late sixties and early seventies. Some going as far as to state that it was all a fake. Well, the truth, as it usually does, lies somewhere in the middle between what the conspiracy theorists say and NASA’s official version of the events.

“Let’s be clear about one thing Lucas, man did land on the Moon. Whoever claims otherwise is a fool. Where NASA’s official story starts to deviate from the truth is with regards to when the landings took place. On the other hand, conspiracy theorists are closer to the truth when it comes to the tools used by NASA to achieve such deviation.

“You must remember that in the sixties the Cold War was at its peak and beating the Soviets to the Moon was a political endeavor more than a scientific one. So, after the tragedy of Apollo 1 and the calendar setbacks that it entailed, officials at NASA and the government began to seriously worry that Kennedy’s promise would not be fulfilled and that the Soviet Union would beat the U.S. to the Moon. An occurrence that would have dealt a crushing political blow to America’s world leader image and role.

“That’s why shortly after the conclusion of the 1967 congressional hearings on the Apollo 1 accident, a handful of government and NASA top brass got together and laid out the main components of a secondary protocol for all Apollo missions that required it. The operation’s objective was to convey the idea that the U.S. had landed a man on the Moon even if they hadn’t. It was a monumental misinformation endeavor and, as with many other Space Race era plans, it had to go through several stages in order for it to be successful.”

“When was this protocol added to the Apollo program?” asked Lucas.

“After the assassination of Bobby Kennedy in June 6, 1968. While the media attention was centered on that story, President Lyndon B. Johnson gave the order to put the secondary protocol in motion.”

Meanwhile on the playing field…

The Indians started the first inning well, putting men on first and second with no outs but ended in disappointment with a strikeout followed by a double play to end the top half of the frame. The Reds drew first blood by scoring a run in their bottom half of the inning.

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 18: Second Inning – Secondary Secrecy

.Grainy image of first man on the Moon video, its production shrouded in secrecy

“Secrecy was of the essence,” said the legendary astronaut. “NASA had to fool a lot of important people for the plan to succeed, so it was a strict need-to-know approach to everything. They had to keep a lot of people in the dark.”  

“I’m sure they had to, but how can you keep such a monumental task secret with so many people involved.”  

“One would ordinarily think that something like that would be more complicated than it really is. But it’s all about compartmentalization of information. Segmentation of labors. No single person had the whole picture. You tell people only what they absolutely need to know in order to do their part, embellish it with a little bit of fiction and everything looks like business as usual. Everybody did what needed to be done under false but believable pretenses. This was done masterfully, and as a result, only a handful of people had the whole picture.”  

“And you were one of them?”  

“As commander of the mission with the most complex and important secondary protocol, I was made aware of much more than the average astronaut. The same applied to Buzz and Michael. Our mission was by far the most extensive and risky with a high-profile dimension upon our return to Earth. Still, I’m sure there were a few things we were not made privy of.  

“See, the secondary protocol was different for every Apollo mission. Each one had to either test or place a component of the whole plan. Only the commanders were aware of the whole picture. They would brief their crews on the details once the previous mission was concluded and it had become official that their own mission needed to implement the secondary protocol. But those briefings were limited to the extent of their mission. They did not include any information regarding the role of other missions.”  

“In November of 1968 America elected Richard Nixon as their new President,” said Lucas. “That must have thrown a curve on the secondary protocol plans. How was that handled?” 

“The powers behind the plan chose not to inform President-elect Nixon for two very important reasons. First, plausible deniability, and second, he was the person that would oversee the landings on the Moon. It was important that he believed everything was for real. That way his actions would convey the highest degree of credibility to the world. Remember, for the governments of the U.S. and the Soviet Union, the space race was more a political endeavor than a scientific one.  

“Anyway, besides the astronauts in the missions that carried out the secondary protocol, nobody knew about it outside a very small group of the highest top brass at NASA, plus LBJ and his most inner circle, and, I suspect, one or two Senators as well.”  

“What about mission control? How would you train for a secondary protocol without the collaboration of someone there?”  

“That’s an example of the compartmentalization of information I mentioned earlier. Over at Mission Control, the people developing simulations worked on scenarios pertaining to the secondary protocol without knowing they were generating the basis for a ruse. Since the secondary protocol was designed around the transmission of false but realistic data to Earth, the creation of such data could be concealed within the regular parameters of the development of regular training exercises. To the people working on simulations these were just more situations we had to train for. Little did they know that those streams of data they were creating were going to be used by the astronauts to transmit false data to the ground during secondary protocol missions.”

“So, does this transmission of false data included the video purportedly showing mankind’s first landing on the Moon?”  

“Yes, it does. A very small team sworn to secrecy worked on the production of the simulated transmissions of us on the Moon. NASA fed them the cover story that they were creating some training films. And that the videos were deemed classified because of the Cold War. They used doubles for the filming which meant that no astronaut ever put a foot on a filming studio. Just like with President Nixon: plausible deniability. I can say under oath that I never participated in the filming of any fake Moon landing video, blah, blah, blah.

“Anyway, to further minimize the probability that the production house could identify their material in the transmissions from the Moon, their videos where heavily edited and the images degenerated using the videotape technology of the era. Someone, I don’t know who, made several generations of the final edit until it reached the grainy look you saw on those transmissions.”  

“So, conspiracy theorists had it right when they said the whole thing had been filmed on a stage…” said Lucas.  

“They did, but they struck out when they took that to mean that we never landed on the Moon,” replied Armstrong.  

Over on the playing field:

The Indians once more started the inning well with a double to center but, just like before, the effort was fruitless. No score for either team in the second inning. Reds leading 1-0 after two.      

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 19: Third Inning – Who’s on First?

The third inning started, and Lucas’ list of questions increased with every pitch.  

“Who decided which astronauts were to carry out the secondary protocol missions?”  

“One simple directive guided the selection process: they had to be the ones most likely to keep their mouths shut,” said Armstrong. “Military background was preferred although in my case it was more of a psychological profile thing.”  

“What do you mean?”  

“In August 1968 George Low, Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, had a secret meeting with Bob Gilruth, head of the Manned Spacecraft Center, Chris Kraft, Director of Flight Operations, and Deke Slayton, who as NASA’s Flight Crew Director was the person tasked with making crew assignments. They were Apollo program’s four senior administrators, and by that time had become an unofficial committee that got together often in Gilruth’s office to discuss and make decisions on the future of the program. Not much happened that didn’t originate with them.

“Well, in that August meeting Low convinced the group that the only way to meet Kennedy’s goal was to send Apollo 8 around the Moon on December of that year. It was a Hail Mary pass that would allow NASA to fulfill in one mission many of the program objectives needed to land on the Moon.

“That meant reshuffling the other missions and the crew assignments. The original Apollo 8 mission became Apollo 9 and in the process Buzz, Michael and me, instead of being back-up crew of Apollo 9 became back-up for Apollo 8. Something that meant that our place in the rotation suddenly had us in line for the prime crew of Apollo 11, which was, at the time, scheduled to be the first G-type mission. In other words, the first Moon landing mission.

“At the time I thought that such a realignment of missions had been simply a lucky break for us, but I found out shortly thereafter, that I had been chosen not to be the first man to actually land on the Moon but to be the commander of the mission with the secondary protocol to tell the world that we had landed on the Moon. Very big difference, believe me. And the reason I was selected for that was that Gilruth, Low, Kraft and Deke saw me as a person who did not have a large ego. Chris Kraft wrote about that in 2001 as part of his autobiography.”

“So, in June 6, 1968, LBJ gave the order to put the secondary protocol in motion,” said Lucas, “and in August, the Big Four laid out the whole plan. Right?”

“Pretty much. That Apollo 8’s crew, was the first to train for a secondary protocol. The crews of Apollo 7 and 9 were kept in the dark. Their missions were about testing the spacecrafts on Earth orbit and as such, were of little or no use to the overall plan.

“Only seven astronauts were aware of the whole secondary protocol: Commanders Frank Borman of Apollo 8, Tom Stafford of Apollo 10, Pete Conrad of Apollo 12, Jim Lovell of Apollo 13, Alan Shepard of Apollo 14 and myself on Apollo 11. Nobody else was made aware of the whole plan; it was just us. As a matter of fact Lovell carried out two secondary protocol missions; the only astronaut to do so. We were all members of the New Nine group except for Shepard who, as you know, was one of the Mercury Seven; the first American to go into space way back in 1961.”  

“What about their crews? You said that the commanders would brief their crews only to the extent of their mission and did not include any information regarding the role of other missions. Didn’t they have questions? How was that handled?”  

“There was a total of 10 crew members involved in the secondary protocol missions; all were military men. They knew how to follow orders without questioning them. Plus there was always the ‘that’s classified’ response,” said Armstrong with a smirk. “Actually, two of them, Young and Cernan, did get to walk on the Moon in later missions. And a third one, Dick Gordon was in line to do the same in Apollo 18 until his mission was cancelled due to budget cuts. I’m sure they didn’t need much more motivation to keep their mouths shut.  

“All astronauts involved were given a lifetime mission that transcended the primary mission objectives. Our mission would not be completed until we have taken what we know to our graves. It’s a very heavy burden I’ve come to regard as unjust, not for me, but for the ones who were not given the credit they deserved. Look Lucas,  I’m convinced that it was the right thing to do in the context of the era, but we now live in a different world. It’s time for people to know the truth.”  

Over on the field

The third inning was a testament to the pitching duel in front of us that day with only one hit between the two teams and no runs scored. Reds still leading 1-0 after three.      

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 20: Fourth Inning – 1968 Overture

Image of Surveyor probe on the surface of the Moon

On the top half of the fourth inning the Indians tied the game on an RBI single by Casey Blake. Lucas pumped his fist in celebration before resuming his conversation with the old astronaut.

“We’ve got ourselves a tie ball-game,” he said.

Armstrong smiled and continued his story.

“You know,” he said, “what prompted President Johnson to green light the secondary protocol in 1968 was the lunar module evaluation done by the Apollo 9 crew.

“Both mission Commander Jim McDivitt and his LMP, Lunar Module Pilot, Rusty Schweickart had been part of the many tests conducted at Grumman’s.”

“Grumman, yes, the company in charge of developing the lunar module,” added Lucas.

“That’s correct. In general terms their assessment was that the extent of things still not working properly on the module was such that it would be impossible to have a 1968 launch.”

“Which would have made it almost impossible to fulfill Kennedy’s promise,” said Lucas.

“Right, so when confronted with that situation in June, 1968 LBJ activated the secondary protocol. It’s no coincidence the LM-2, the designation for the lunar module initially assigned to McDivitt’s mission, was moved to NASA that same month.

“Production of the lunar module was already behind schedule, but when the LM-2 arrived at Cape Canaveral that June, NASA confirmed that the craft still had significant defects and some officials referred to it as a piece of junk. Grumman’s estimate at the time was that the first mission-ready lunar module, meaning LM-3 because LM-2 was beyond fixing, would not be a reality until at least February 1969.”

“And that’s when George Low came up with the idea of the circumlunar mission for Apollo 8,” said Lucas.

“You know your NASA history,” said Armstrong. “Another event added pressure on the Apollo program to make the 1969 landing goal. In September 1968 the Soviet Union’s Zond 5 mission successfully carried Russian tortoises in a cislunar loop around the Moon. This was the second consecutive successful cislunar mission for the Soviets, and NASA was getting antsy.

“The stakes were extremely high, and the pressure was mounting. There was speculation within NASA, that the Soviets were preparing to launch cosmonauts on a circumlunar mission before the end of 1968.

“As matter of fact the Zond 5 mission shocked the hell out of us when voices of cosmonauts were transmitted from the spacecraft,” said Armstrong. “The cosmonauts were apparently reading out telemetry data and computer readings, and even discussing making an attempt to land. It turned out to be a hoax perpetrated by the cosmonauts who were sitting comfortably at their command center in Crimea plugging into the Zond 5 transmitter.

“The official version was that it was a prank, but I always thought they were testing their own version of our secondary protocol. The fact that their transmission was discovered to be a fake so fast taught us a critical lesson: our communication of a Moon landing very probably would have to come from a transmitter on the surface of the Moon and not from the orbiting command module.

“Which brings me to the next point. The one thing that finally convinced President Johnson that the secondary protocol was the way to go,” said Armstrong, “was the fact that there were five Surveyor probes on the surface of the Moon.”

“You mean the probes sent by NASA to test soft-landing capability?”

“Yes, from May 1966 to January 1968 NASA’s jet propulsion laboratory sent seven robotic spacecrafts to the surface of the Moon. One crashed and another one exploded before landing, but five made it to the surface and those could be used to simulate transmissions from the surface of the Moon.

“Of all the Surveyor missions only number 7 at the Tycho crater was not used for the secondary protocol. Surveyors 1 and 3 were in the Ocean of Storms which ended up being Apollo 12’s landing site and one of the alternate landing sites for Apollo 11. Surveyor 5 was on the Sea of Tranquility which ended up being Apollo 11’s landing site. And Surveyor 6 was on Sinus Medii, another one of Apollo 11’s alternate landing sites.

On the bottom half of the fourth inning

The Reds regained the lead on a solo homer by Adam Dunn. 2-1 Reds after four.      

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…

Posted on

THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 21: Fifth Inning – Heads and Tales

NASA Administrator Thomas Paine in 1969

While on the playing field Reds pitcher Edison Volquez manhandled the Indians lineup on the top half of the fifth inning, Armstrong continued his tale.

“In October 1968, NASA Administrator James Webb who had been informed about the secondary protocol plan by the big four, Gilruth, Low, Kraft and Slayton, stepped down from his post,” said the old astronaut. “Although the official version for his resignation was that he wanted to give the next President space to name his own director, some say the decision was prompted by his strong opposition to the deception.

“He was succeeded by Dr. Thomas Paine who oversaw the Apollo 8 to 13 missions. It was rumored among the astronauts in the secondary protocol loop that Dr. Paine was not made aware of the plan when he took over. It became obvious later that, being an engineer, he had figured out the deception somewhere along the line and that was why he quit after the Apollo 13’s opera of a mission. I think something else was at play too.

“Dr. Paine had been in charge of acquiring the sentiments of world leaders for the Apollo 11 Goodwill Messages which were meant to rest on the lunar surface. He personally corresponded with the heads of what became seventy-three participating nations, and coordinated the efforts to enshrine their messages on a tiny silicon disc. By the way, it’s interesting to note that Lyndon B. Johnson’s message was written as if the Moon landing was a future event and not an accomplished feat. Something along the lines of: ‘We expect to explore the Moon… The purpose of the American people remains unchanged… and so on.’

“To this day I can’t figure out why he did that. It was too risky, but time proved him right I guess; nobody noticed anything fishy about that. Anyway, I digress. Going back to Paine, I think that, once he figured out the deception, he got really upset with NASA. It must have been frustrating to spend so much time in a purely cosmetic endeavor. One that amounted to nothing in the end. I’m sure he felt used. He resigned and left NASA a couple of months after the conclusion of the congressional review on the Apollo 13 mission.

“Then came Dr. George Low,” said Armstrong.

“The man historians deem responsible for saving the space program. Instrumental in the development of a safe Apollo spaceship after the Apollo 1 fire. And originator of the idea to turn Apollo 8’s mission into a circumlunar one,” said Lucas.

“Again, right on the money with your NASA history. The timing of his appointment and tenure are very revealing because he only oversaw the Apollo 14 mission. The chief savior of Kennedy’s dream was in fact the one in charge during the mission that accomplished the feat, albeit not within JFK’s timeframe. I don’t think that was a coincidence. Remember he had been one of the architects of the secondary protocol, a shady but program-saving initiative as well. So, his appointment at the time seemed like NASA’s way of showing him the appreciation he deserved. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. There were seven other missions before Apollo 14.

“As I mentioned earlier, Apollo 7 had no secondary protocol. Their mission was to test the command module on Earth orbit. Apollo 8’s mission, on the other hand, was critical. Besides the political statement regarding the U.S. leadership position in the Space Race, it was meant to test whether communications from Moon orbit could be distinguished from the ones coming from its surface. Something that the Soviet Lund-5 prank had already proved  impossible. Regardless, NASA believed they had a game-changer for that approach.

“They tested the ability to use the Surveyors’ communication equipment as relay stations between the Apollo command module and mission control on Earth. They also tested the already obsolete “Moon bounce” technique which was developed in the late 40’s and which entailed reflecting a radio signal from the surface of the Moon. It turned out these were not their only options.

“The game-changer was the unified S-band transponder General Dynamics had been developing for the Apollo spacecraft. One of its functions was to provide the link for the surface of the Moon broadcast. But the most interesting aspect of this was that this piece of equipment served as a communication relay station between the astronauts and mission control. After all the tests performed by Apollo 8, the unified S-band transponder approach became plan A for the secondary protocol deceptive communication with Earth. They kept using the Surveyors’ communication systems as back-up plan which is why the Apollo landing sites matched the Surveyors’ locations.

But before that, Apollo 9 had to render a verdict.

On the field…

Things got worse for the Indians on the bottom half of the fifth inning. The Reds increased their lead to 4-1 thanks to RBi singles by Ken Griffey Jr. and Brandon Phillips.        

 

 

 

Please help keep the stories flowing…