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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.      

 

 

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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.      

 

 

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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.      

 

 

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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.        

 

 

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 22: Sixth Inning – To Land or Not to Land

Apollo 10 command module as seen from the lunar module in Moon orbit

The Indians’ rookie first baseman Michael Aubrey homered with one out in the top of the sixth to close the gap to two runs.  

“Nice one”, said Armstrong before resuming his amazing tale. “Chief among the problems with the LM was the landing radar. A system that, for obvious reasons, Apollo 9 couldn’t test on Earth orbit.”  

“What kind of problems are we talking about?”  

“Locking on false targets due to the LM’s vibration. Electrical problems that caused arcing. Persistent cracking on solder joints, just to name a few. As a matter of fact, NASA developed a new maneuver in order to be prepared for landing radar related problems. This service module’s  Moon orbit maneuver was developed to save descent stage propellant thus increasing hover times during powered descent.

“Apollo 9 had no secondary protocol mission, but Apollo 10 did. It was up to them to test the radar on a powered descent trial run on Moon orbit.  But they had a secret agenda as well. Their secondary protocol mission was to deploy an S-band transponder to the surface of the Sea of Tranquility.”

“Wait, before you go on… how did you guys hide the secondary protocol during the mission? Logic tells me that the ship’s systems would’ve transmitted to mission control some sort of data regarding the actions taken”, said Lucas.

“Before activating any secondary protocol task, we would switch our transmission to a previously recorded telemetry data that would match the primary mission. But funny you mention that, because on Apollo 10 they disguised their launching of the transponder by doing it while separating from the descent stage. Not a great idea in hindsight because this caused the LM to start gyrating wildly in all three axes. It took Tom and Gene almost four minutes to regain control of the spacecraft.

“Apollo 10 had very interesting moments. I’m sure you’ve read about the strange music the crew heard while on the dark side of the Moon. Of course there are people who believe those were signs of another intelligent presence on the Moon, but I think that the most reasonable explanation for the weird sounds is that they were being originated by the transponder.

“By the way the transponder lander also included a laser ranging retroreflector that Earth scientists could use to verify the landing. The Eagle’s official landing site was adjusted to correspond with the transponder whereabouts.”

Something in his mind made the old astronaut smile.

“What?” asked Lucas.

“The crew of Apollo 10 was a very special group. Lunar module pilot Gene Cernan described themselves as the kind of people who given an opportunity to land, they just might take it; NASA was not going to risk having a couple of cowboys attempt a Moon landing if the landing radar worked. That’s why the ascent stage of their lunar module was loaded with the amount of fuel and oxidizer it would have had remaining if it had lifted off from the surface and reached the altitude at which the Apollo 10 ascent stage fired; this was only about half the total amount required for lift off and rendezvous with the command module from the surface of the Moon”, said Armstrong.

“If I recall correctly, they got as close as nine miles to the surface of the Moon”, said Lucas. “Just looking at it at such close range must have produced a very hard-to-resist temptation to land. Do you really think they would have attempted it?”

“Even with a full amount of fuel? I doubt it. Tom was a very disciplined astronaut, and as  commander he would’ve never strayed from the mission. Anyway, it ended up being a moot issue.  The landing radar didn’t function properly, so they were forced to activate their secondary protocol.

“In the end, Apollo 10 successfully accomplished its mission objectives and the stage was finally set for the most important secondary protocol mission of all.”

Indians’ ace Cliff Lee chased off the field  

After seeing their advantage trimmed in the top half of the inning the Reds answered with two runs in their half of the inning sending the stellar Cliff Lee to the showers early. 6-2 Reds after six.

 

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 23: Seventh Inning – Two Strikes

Official NASA picture of Armstrong and Aldrin training session

“After Apollo 10’s successful mission, the stage was set for us in Apollo 11 to take… a giant leap for mankind”, said Armstrong with sarcastic pomposity. “Something that had to happen regardless of anything. So, we trained for two scenarios. In the first one, everything works fine, the landing radar functions properly, and we get to walk on the Moon. On the second scenario, some sort of malfunction forces us to abort the primary mission and we activate the secondary protocol.”  

“You asked me earlier about the video from the surface of the Moon and I told you it was a piece created on Earth as part of the deception. But that was not the only piece created for this. We also recorded a simulated communication with Mission Control to take over the actual communication once we switched to the secondary protocol.”  

“Like the trick the cosmonauts pulled with Zond 5?” asked Lucas.  

“Similar in content, but in their case they were transmitting live from Earth through the spacecraft’s communication system, while our stuff was prerecorded”, said Armstrong. “The landing audio was a three-minute segment in which Buzz was reciting altitude and speed information with very few interventions from me. It ended with me saying ‘Tranquility base here, the Eagle has landed.’ You can look up this segment in the mission transcript of the 4th day starting at the 6 hour, 43 minute mark.”  

“For a long time I suspected that the whole Apollo 11 Moon landing had been part of a ruse”, said Lucas. “But for some reason, my mind, very probably steered by emotions, never made the connection that ‘The Eagle has landed’ phrase was a recording.”  

“I know what you mean. If it’s any consolation, that was exactly what I was going to say if we had actually landed.”  

“I’m sure. But I’d bet it must’ve been a lot harder living with such a historic quote attributed to you knowing what you knew. Quotes. Plural. Gotta add the ‘one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind’ one. Anyway, what prompted your activation of the secondary protocol?” 

“As it turned out we had problems with the landing computer overloading during descent. Mission rules called for an immediate abort in such an event. So after the second 1202, 1201 alarm went off regarding the overload, we switched to the secondary protocol and started transmitting the recording which had been mixed with the corresponding telemetry data needed to satisfy mission control.  

“Once the three-minute recording was over and we were on our way back to dock with the command module we reestablished real voice communication with Houston. Our telemetry data feed remained within the secondary protocol to make them think we were on the surface of the Moon.  

“The rest of our supposed stay on the Moon followed the same pattern. While I was ‘walking’ on the Moon, I was really in the command module. But, for all practical purposes on Earth, the historic event had taken place. Kennedy’s dream had been fulfilled. America had beaten the Soviets to the Moon. Mankind had taken its giant leap. The public pressure was off, but the feat wasn’t accomplished.  

“Unbeknownst to everybody but a few people at NASA, the challenge of landing a man on the Moon continued secretly. And Mike, Buzz and me had the cruelest part of that mission. From the moment we switched to the secondary protocol while flying the Eagle we knew what laid ahead for us. A life of telling people that we had actually accomplished what we did not.

“As soon as I could I took a giant leap of my own and walked away from the limelight . A scenario I never enjoyed to begin with, and one of the main reasons they chose me for that  role. It was tougher for Buzz. His bout with alcoholism through the years has been secretly associated with his orders to remain silent about the truth.”  

 Seventh inning stretch…  

Fortunately for the Tribe, Pitcher Edinson Volquez, who had already thrown over a hundred pitches, was out of the game for the Reds. The Indians seized the opportunity to rack-up a couple of runs in their half of the seventh inning.  

“When we left Earth,” said Armstrong, “we were ready to land on the Moon. We were all looking forward to a smooth mission in order to avoid the deception. Unfortunately, such a scenario was not on the cards for us.  

“It was then Apollo 12’s turn at bat. Their official mission objective was to achieve a precise landing. Not surprisingly, a spot near the Surveyor 3 landing site was selected for it. Remember that Apollo 8 had proven the Surveyor probe could relay all the communication and telemetry data to carry on the secondary protocol if needed.  

“They too were ready to truly land on the Moon, but as destiny would have it, as soon as they had cleared the tower during takeoff their Saturn 5 rocket was struck by lightning twice creating havoc in their electrical systems. Five days later when Pete Conrad and Al Bean attempted their Moon landing the LM started experiencing electrical failures. They had no choice but to activate the secondary protocol. Immediately after that, the Apollo 12’s ‘Moon surface data’ was transmitted through Surveyor 3’s communication system. That’s why their video camera supposedly got damaged and there’s no video from the surface of the Moon. That’s also why there’s no retroreflector on their official landing site.  

After seven…

The Reds opened the bottom half of the seventh inning with a single, but new Indians pitcher Jensen Lewis took care of the next three batters in easy fashion. After seven, the reds lead the Indians by a score of 6 to 4.          

 

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 24: Eighth Inning – Perfect Setup

Headlines of the Apollo 13 situation over a picture of mission control

“After Apollo 12’s mission in November 1969, with the decade coming to an end and Kennedy’s dream believed to be fulfilled, Americans were fast losing interest in the space program. Amazingly, they would rather watch the TV show Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In than a live broadcast from outer space,” said Armstrong.  

“I never understood how that level of disinterest could be possible with such an amazing human endeavor,” commented Lucas.  

“Well, today it’s even worse. What do you think people would rather watch tonight, a live broadcast from the surface of Mars by one of the rovers there right now, or Desperate Housewives?”  

“Touché. It’s embarrassing… it’s gotten worse.”  

“Anyway, that apathy from the American public was what motivated the Apollo 13 successful-failure type mission,” said Armstrong. “The heads behind the secondary protocol were 99.9% certain that the next mission would be able to finally land on the Moon.  And they believed such an accomplishment deserved a big audience. So, to rekindle public interest in the Moon missions, they came up with a plan for a dramatic preamble. A story that would set up the truly historic event.  

“Enter Apollo 13’s Odyssey. Just like the setup man in baseball who comes to pitch in the eighth inning with the mission to keep the opposition in check and set the stage for the closer in the ninth.  It was pretty clever really. After all, why not take advantage of the number 13. Use its bad luck reputation to put some excitement back in the space program. Especially when, by happenstance, the lunar module assigned to that mission was number 7; lucky number 7 for unlucky number 13!  A fortuitous circumstance that, in their view, was not to be wasted.  

“It was the simulation of all simulations. The astronauts’ secondary protocol mission called for them to activate an alternate telemetry feed to mission control which would show the catastrophic events that are now in the history books. Everybody at mission control thought they were dealing with a real situation, and the astronauts played their parts brilliantly.  

“The plan banked on the media to mount a huge show around the potential catastrophe, and they didn’t disappoint. They hyped it all the way up in their endless pursuit of higher ratings. The whole world got wrapped up in the event.”  

The Reds setup man gets the job done

The Indians started the eighth inning with a hard hit to deep left field by pinch hitter Ryan Garko who tried unsuccessfully to stretch it into a double for the first out. This was followed by a fly out to right and a ground out to third and the Reds’ setup man Jared Burton got out of the inning with his mission accomplished.

“What about the names of the command and lunar modules? I have a theory about them,” said Lucas.  

“Oh yes, those. Jim Lovell chose the name Odyssey because he liked the word and its definition: a long voyage with many changes of fortune. Coincidence? Of course not. That was Jim’s way of telling the world as much of the truth as he could get away with. And the name Aquarius for the LEM… Well, that came about because of a generalized peeve within the astronaut core. The lyrics of the song Aquarius tell us that ‘The Moon is in the seventh house’. Alan Shepard was one of the original seven astronauts. Deke Slayton wanted a Mercury 7 astronaut to make the first Moon landing.

“Landing on the Moon had always been in the house of the Seven. Does this conform with your theory?”  

“It’s compatible,” said Lucas, “I missed the house of seven reference though.”  

“The Apollo 13 mission was intentionally structured to be the official media preamble for the real first landing of man on the Moon,” said Armstrong. “And it was so obvious that to this day I can’t believe people didn’t see right through the deception. I mean, they named the command module Odyssey and kept the number 13 instead of just skipping it like they do in buildings.  

“The media craved stories that boosted their ratings and NASA gave them a hell of a good one. Whereas unbeknownst to them, the mission was a huge success!  Apollo 13 recaptured the imagination of the American people and brought their attention back to the space program. So, after such an emotional roller coaster, everyone was once again glued to their TV sets when the time came for the Apollo 14 historic voyage.  

“In the meantime, there was some house cleaning to take care of.  What happened had to be investigated and I was assigned to serve on the investigation panel. As part of it, and being aware of the secondary protocol, I opposed the investigation report’s recommendation to re-design the service module’s oxygen tanks, which were the source of the explosion. I knew it had all been a simulation and couldn’t just sit there and watch them spend unnecessary tax dollars on such a pointless endeavor.  

The bottom of the eighth

The Reds made the Indians pitchers work in their half of the inning with a couple of walks, but they also came out empty. After 8 innings the Reds still lead 6-4.      

 

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 25: Ninth Inning – We’re here

Illustration of Alan Shepard celebrating after hitting a golf ball on the Moon

“There are things that people just don’t see, even though the information is out there for anybody to access,” said Armstrong.  

“Officially, Apollo 13 was supposed to land on the Fra Mauro area of the Moon, and the members of its original crew were Shepard, Mitchell and Roosa. That crew was switched with the original Apollo 14 one. Allegedly, NASA wanted to give Shepard, who had been grounded since being diagnosed with Ménière’s disease in 1964, and his rookie crew more time to train. But the truth is that they were switched because the Apollo 13 mission had been redefined and Apollo 14 was to be, secretly, the real first landing on the Moon.  

“Think about it!  Shepard’s crew is bumped from Apollo 13 to Apollo 14, but their landing site stays the same. Apollo 14’s original landing site in the Littrow region of the Sea of Serenity was not switched to Apollo 13 together with the crew that had been training for it. Obviously, Apollo 13 was never meant to land on the Moon.”  

“That was reserved for the Kitty Hawk mission,” said Lucas.  

The old astronaut smiled at the Kitty Hawk reference. The name he had chosen for his fantasy baseball league team. The very thing that had started all this adventure.  

“The Kitty Hawk mission, that’s right,” said Armstrong. “The name of the command module tells you that it was meant to be the first to accomplish something very special. Just like the Wright Brothers flyer was the first airplane to fly in the United States.  

“It’s always been a burden to be recognized as the first man on the Moon when that honor belongs to someone else. Alan Shepard, the first American in space was also the first one to accomplish such an epic feat. That’s why I chose the name for my fantasy league team. Using the Kitty Hawk moniker wherever and whenever it fits, is my very personal way of tipping my hat to him and his memory.  

“But Kitty Hawk wasn’t the only name with hidden symbolism in Apollo 14. Lunar module number 8, the one assigned to the mission, was christened Antares for a very interesting reason. NASA wants everyone to believe that the name referred to the star on which the LM oriented itself for lunar landings but that’s just misdirection. No pun intended.  

“I never spoke to Alan about it, but I see something else in that name. The term Antares comes from anti Ares. Since Ares was the Greek god of war then anti Ares means antiwar. Remember the Apollo 11 patch design featuring an eagle carrying an olive branch to convey the idea that ‘we come in peace’? Well, Antares is just another illustration of the same message.  

“Beyond that, Apollo 14’s LM hides an overlooked and curious fact. Antares’ number was LM-8. It’s interesting that the first humans to fly to the Moon did so on Apollo 8 and the first humans to land on the Moon did so on another number 8 craft. Did you know that in numerology, 8 is the number of Apollo?”  

“No I did not,” said Lucas enthralled by the old astronaut’s tale.  

“A fun fact, that I believe was just a coincidence,” said Armstrong. “A happy consequence of using ‘lucky’ LM-7 on unlucky Apollo 13.”  

“What about Shepard’s words when he landed on the Moon? That, to me, have always been sort of a smoking gun”, said Lucas.  

“Oh yes,” said Armstrong while proceeding to quote Shepard, “It’s been a long way, but we’re here.  The official NASA story is that he was referring to his personal struggle with Ménière’s disease but I can tell you he was not. He was making a statement for the history books, not for his personal scrapbook. Why people never picked up on that is beyond me.”  

“Maybe because by that time, landing on the Moon was a fait accompli. Nobody picked up on it because nobody was searching.”  

“You’re probably right. You know, Shepard was a smart-aleck and I’m sure he said those words truly believing  he would get away with it, that nobody would see through it. Same with the Coyote mission patch. You know about that, right?”  

“The one done by the backup crew?”  

Apollo 14 backup crew patch“The one and only”, said Armstrong. “My instinct tells me that Shepard himself probably commissioned its design. Remember that he was Chief of the Astronaut Office for 8 years before the Apollo 14 mission. The other astronauts still saw him as a figure of authority. So it wouldn’t surprise me if he had used that reputation to ask a secret favor from his backup crew. The no questions asked type. The alternate mission patch featured the Roadrunner cartoon character already on the Moon as the Coyote arrives. Shepard wore it on his PLSS – his personal life support system – during Moon walks. The symbolism was straightforward; someone else would be forever credited for being first on the Moon.  

“I’m sure that not being recognized as the first man on the Moon was probably behind Shepard’s idea of hitting a golf ball on the surface of the Moon. An act that positioned himself as the only man to play golf on the surface of the Moon and as time has proven, ensured that people would remember his walk up there.”  

“I never thought of that. That was pretty clever of him”, said Lucas.  

“Alan Shepard was a very cunning man”, said the old astronaut while looking towards the stadium’s scoreboard.  

The closer closes

The Reds closer Francisco Cordero needed 23 pitches and faced four batters but managed to keep the Indians from scoring, and just like that, the game was over. Final score: Reds 6, Indians 4      

 

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THE ANTARES SECRET – CHAPTER 26: The Final Boxscore

Full Moon over Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati

The stadium crowd started heading for the exits, but the old astronaut remained seated with an expression in his face which denoted the cogs in his brilliant mind were turning like crazy. “You must be wondering why I’ve told you all this,” he said.  

“I was about to ask you what is it that you want from me?” said Lucas. “I’m an advertising man not a historian.”  

“Precisely. You’re an experienced advertising professional, but are not employed by the big-time media players. That makes it easier for you to sound honest and not like a hired gun or a PR person. See, what I want you to do is come up with an off-the-record way to let people know the truth.”  

“You want me to become another conspiracy loon?”  

“Now you know the truth. It’s up to you to do whatever you feel is right with such information. Whether you come out sounding like a loony will depend on your approach to the facts I’ve revealed to you. I chose you because I trust you have the mind to create a communication strategy that would minimize the possibility of this becoming another crazy conspiracy theory. Although I must warn you that the forces who want to keep this secret will do anything in their power to discredit the story.”  

“I figured that much already.”  

“Listen, why don’t you think about it on your way back home and we’ll talk in a couple of days. While you’re considering your options give some thought too to how much the endeavor will cost and prepare me an estimate.”  

“Further conversations can be problematic with the authorities already on our case. Who knows what’s waiting for me with the agents outside.”  

“We’ll figure something out,” said the old man with a smile on his face. “Come on, let’s go.  It’ll be better if we don’t give the agents an opportunity to be alone with either one of us. The crowd of departing fans will give us cover.”  

The two men left the stadium suite and joined the still sizeable throng of fans heading for the parking lot. Neither one was able to identify an agent in the crowd. Lucas felt relieved when he finally reached his rental car and was on his way back to Chicago.  

The four-and-a-half-hour drive was uneventful. Once back in the hotel, he got a message from the concierge that his daughter was waiting for him in the bar. Lucas approached the hotel’s lounge cautiously since he knew that his daughter Vega was back home.  

It was around 9:30 PM on a Sunday night so the bar was relatively deserted. A woman in a business suit waved at him and Lucas assumed her to be his phony “daughter”. An agent for sure. He scanned the place and saw what seemed like two other agents in the bar pretending not to notice him.

He walked slowly towards the woman, and she stood up to meet him.  

“You’re not my daughter,” said Lucas.  

“And you’re definitely not my father Mr. Aldrich,” said the woman. “Sorry for the weak ass story with the concierge, I’m agent Rittenhouse of the NSA, please have a seat.”  

“What for?”  

“Relax, we just want to have a nice chat about your little day trip to Cincinnati.”  

Lucas noticed that the other two agent-looking fellows had moved from the bar to a table near the entrance.  

“Is it now illegal to watch a baseball game in this country?”  

“Mr. Aldrich, the NSA wants to talk to you about the Antares Secret,” said agent Rittenhouse while gesturing with her hand for Lucas to sit.  

Lucas took a seat facing the lounge’s entrance so he could keep watch on the other two agents.  

“I’m not alone Mr. Aldrich but those two clowns are not with me. Now let’s get down to business.”  

In front of the hotel a black car opened its doors and a woman with three men stepped out. They hurried to the concierge desk at the lobby and the attendant directed them to the hotel’s lounge.  

Lucas was listening to agent Rittenhouse when he saw Vega enter the bar with three men he couldn’t recognize. He stood up and started to go to her when agent Rittenhouse pulled out her gun and ordered him to stay put.  

“Agent Whitaker please escort these people out of the premises,” said Rittenhouse.   The bartender, who was the second agent on site, left his position and approached the group.  

“You can holster back your gun agent, we have a message from your boss,” said Vega handing the bartending agent an official looking envelope.  

Agent Whitaker took the envelope to Rittenhouse who read its contents and proceeded to make a phone call.  

“Lion Tamer,” Lucas heard her say to whoever was on the other end of the line.

Rittenhouse listened silently for a few seconds and signed off with a curt “Yes, sir.”  

“We’re out of here agent Whitaker,” she told her partner and then looked fiercely into Lucas eyes. “We’ll be watching Mr. Aldrich.”  

The NSA agents stormed out of the bar, and Lucas went over to embrace Vega.  

“What are you doing here? What was that all about?”  

“That was Oliver, Martin & Simon Law Firm in action. Please meet David Roman, my boss and one of the firm’s junior partners. He helped engineer this little operation,” said Vega. “Before anything else, what did you say to the agent?”  

“Nothing, she was just in the initial process of advising me about being a patriot and protecting the legacy of those who gave so much of them in the pursuit of something of utmost importance for the nation. Of course, there was the expected veiled threat of destroying my reputation if I went public… plus enhanced interest in my affairs by the IRS,” said Lucas.  

“Mr. Aldrich you’ve been in the NSA radar for some time now regarding your contact with an important asset for them,” said David. “We became aware of the situation because our firm has done some work for their branch of government in the past and they approached us to interfere with your endeavor. Vega here told me about your trip to meet this asset and I got worried our friends at the NSA might get really antsy about you. I talked to our senior partner Mr. Martin and he worked the phones to avoid a troublesome situation.”  

“There’s a catch Dad,” interjected Vega. “You must sign a legal binding document that states you won’t reveal a single thing you found out from the asset. The firm is working on the final draft for you to sign it ASAP. The NSA gave us 48 hours to comply.”  

“That’s it?” asked Lucas. “It’s funny because on the drive back from Cincinnati I had already decided that I wasn’t going to tell anybody. Too many people gave their lives to make a dream come true. To achieve what was once deemed impossible. No way I’m going to throw dirt on that.”  

“I’m glad you think that way. What do you think we go home now Rocketman?”

“Sure. By the way, who are the other two guys in your little entourage?”  

“Oh, they are part of the firm’s security detail. David and I thought we should show a little muscle when crashing the party the NSA had planned for you.”  

“Nice touch. Let’s go home Moonbeam.”    

 

THE END    

 

EPILOGUE  

Neil Armstrong died in 2012 due to complications following a cardiovascular procedure. Two years later, the hospital secretly paid his family $6 million as a part of a wrongful-death-and-survivor claim. His remains were cremated and buried at sea making an autopsy impossible. Furthermore, the burial location has been kept secret.   

 

 

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