Apollo "Artifact - switch to channel B"

From somewhere, one of my friends got a story of the astronauts on the
moon saying "I think we found an artifact" and the ground saying
"switch to channel B" and then the radio being silent for a couple of
minutes (presumably while they discuss the artifact on channel B).

I searched the official transcripts of the communications of the
Apollo landings, and the only time I found the word "artifact" spoken
was on Apollo 17, and that was from the ground, talking about a
possible artifact in the TV camera.

So can anyone shed light on this? Debunk it? Confirm it? Show how it
was misconstrued from something else?

Did the astronauts have a second secret radio channel?

"Jan Philips" wrote in message
...
|
| From somewhere, one of my friends got a story of the astronauts
| on the moon saying "I think we found an artifact" and the ground
| saying "switch to channel B" and then the radio being silent for
| a couple of minutes (presumably while they discuss the artifact
| on channel B).

There are many claims of this nature, all of them unsubstantiated. One even
comes with a fabricated audio clip purporting to be Armstrong and Aldrin
being "buzzed" (no pun intended) by flying saucers.

| Did the astronauts have a second secret radio channel?

The command module had various means of communicating privately with Mission
Control, but I haven't yet seen anything in the lunar module's engineering
that allows for that. Certainly nothing that goes by the name "channel B."

The Apollo astronauts had various code phrases (e.g., "Falcon code", common
to various navies) that allowed them to communicate messages that were
inappropriate to phrase directly on an open channel. And if a controller
requested an "EMU check," this was a code phrase meaning the astronauts were
working too hard and needed to take a break.

The Gemini spacecraft had a private channel. A similar code phrase was used
to indicate switching to the channel. The cover was blown when a tech-savvy
reporter asked what that phrase "really meant".

Based on this usage, I doubt the moon-walking astronauts would say anything
so blatant if indeed they had a private channel and a reason to use it.

--
|
The universe is not required to conform | Jay Windley
to the expectations of the ignorant. | webmaster @ clavius.org

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 11:28:27 -0500, Doug...
wrote:

But it seems truly conspiratorial to think that anyone on the moon would
ask for such a private conference... especially since NASA actually had

My friend is a big conspiracy buff. I don't know where he gets all of
those ideas. The only explanation is that the aliens have planted
something in his brain and they feed the thoughts to him. ;-)

In message , Doug...
writes
In article ,
says...

"Jan Philips" wrote in message
...
|
| From somewhere, one of my friends got a story of the astronauts
| on the moon saying "I think we found an artifact" and the ground
| saying "switch to channel B" and then the radio being silent for
| a couple of minutes (presumably while they discuss the artifact
| on channel B).

There are many claims of this nature, all of them unsubstantiated. One even
comes with a fabricated audio clip purporting to be Armstrong and Aldrin
being "buzzed" (no pun intended) by flying saucers.

| Did the astronauts have a second secret radio channel?

The command module had various means of communicating privately with Mission
Control, but I haven't yet seen anything in the lunar module's engineering
that allows for that. Certainly nothing that goes by the name "channel B."

The Apollo astronauts had various code phrases (e.g., "Falcon code", common
to various navies) that allowed them to communicate messages that were
inappropriate to phrase directly on an open channel. And if a controller
requested an "EMU check," this was a code phrase meaning the astronauts were
working too hard and needed to take a break.

The Gemini spacecraft had a private channel. A similar code phrase was used
to indicate switching to the channel. The cover was blown when a tech-savvy
reporter asked what that phrase "really meant".

Based on this usage, I doubt the moon-walking astronauts would say anything
so blatant if indeed they had a private channel and a reason to use it.

Houston could always initiate communication with either the CSM, LM or
both on a separate *ground* loop, of course -- it was possible *from the
ground* to switch the air-to-ground comm into a loop that wasn't sent out
to the world. The astronauts themselves would have to request such a
"private conference" in the clear, however. Or drop such a request onto
their onboard tape recorder and wait for Houston to review the tape and
get the message. (The latter happened on Apollo 8, when the crew
reported Borman's flu symptoms. It took Houston several hours to listen
to the downloaded tapes and initiate a private conference.)

Those transmissions were still going out on S-band, presumably, so they
were audible to any radio enthusiast with the right equipment - or to
the Russians.
--
"Roads in space for rockets to travel....four-dimensional roads, curving with
relativity"
Mail to jsilverlight AT merseia.fsnet.co.uk is welcome.
Or visit Jonathan's Space Site http://www.merseia.fsnet.co.uk

Jan Philips ) writes:
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 11:28:27 -0500, Doug...
wrote:

But it seems truly conspiratorial to think that anyone on the moon would
ask for such a private conference... especially since NASA actually had

My friend is a big conspiracy buff. I don't know where he gets all of
those ideas. The only explanation is that the aliens have planted
something in his brain and they feed the thoughts to him. ;-)

Aim a copy of " Bad Astronomy; Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from
Astrology to the Moon Landing 'Hoax' ", by Philip Plait, creator of
www.badastronomy.com, at him.

Andre


--
" I'm a man... But, I can change... If I have to... I guess. "
The Man Prayer, Red Green.

On 18 Aug 2003 17:54:11 GMT, (Andre Lieven)
wrote:

Aim a copy of " Bad Astronomy; Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from
Astrology to the Moon Landing 'Hoax' ", by Philip Plait, creator of
www.badastronomy.com, at him.

I have referred him to that website. I checked it before I asked
here, and I didn't find anything about this exact topic. He certainly
doesn't believe that the landings were a hoax.

On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 18:51:26 +0100, Jonathan Silverlight
wrote:

Those transmissions were still going out on S-band, presumably, so they
were audible to any radio enthusiast with the right equipment - or to
the Russians.

And the claim has been made that many ham radio operators heard it.

On 18 Aug 2003 17:54:11 GMT, (Andre Lieven)
wrote:

Aim a copy of " Bad Astronomy; Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from
Astrology to the Moon Landing 'Hoax' ", by Philip Plait

Judging from the table of contents, there doesn't seem to be anything
about this specific topic. It could be in there with the "moon hoax"
though.

http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyT...fContents.html

"Jan Philips" wrote in message
...
| On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 18:51:26 +0100, Jonathan Silverlight
| wrote:
|
| Those transmissions were still going out on S-band, presumably, so they
| were audible to any radio enthusiast with the right equipment - or to
| the Russians.
|
| And the claim has been made that many ham radio operators heard it.

No hoax enthusiast has yet been able to provide a name or other
identification for anyone who claims to have heard such a transmission
directly. I have in my notes the names of about a dozen radio operators who
*did* hear the Apollo 11 broadcasts and who can confirm that no "artifact"
or other UFO-related dialogue occurred.

I have heard an audio recording purporting to be a UFO-related dialogue from
Apollo 11, but it is easily detectable as a forgery. The radio speaking
protocol is highly uncharacteristic, the voices do not especially resemble
the Apollo 11 crew, and the Quindar-like tones are simply scattered at
random throughout the recording.

Given the hearsay nature of the ham operator claims and the apparent
willingness of the conspiracists to blatantly fabricate evidence, I have no
faith whatsoever in any of those claims.

I was able to ask Apollo 14 LMP Ed Mitchell about the Apollo radios, with
this allegation especially in mind.

All transmissions between earth and ground were conducted over the S-band
radio link. One voice channel was provided that could be switched between
two preset frequencies. The radios on the spacecraft were not tunable
except via these presets. Any voice communication would have to travel by
that route. Privacy could be achieved only by disconnecting air-to-ground
feeds from external access, but there was no system or protocol to keep the
radio transmission itself safe from electronic eavesdropping.

--
|
The universe is not required to conform | Jay Windley
to the expectations of the ignorant. | webmaster @ clavius.org

In article , Jan Philips
wrote:

From somewhere, one of my friends got a story of the astronauts on the
moon saying "I think we found an artifact" and the ground saying
"switch to channel B" and then the radio being silent for a couple of
minutes (presumably while they discuss the artifact on channel B).


"Switch to channel B"? Hm, why am I suddenly reminded of the "Man From
U.N.C.L.E." all of a sudden?

Most likely they're using the term "artifact" in the same way we discuss
"artifacts" on the edges of objects in lossy-compressed JPEG images, or
the way peoples' voices sometimes don't sound right on cellphones or over
VoIP systems because of the way the voices are compressed, and are
sometimes said to have "artifacts" -- although they may indeed have found
an artifact, namely Al Shepard's golf ball, and were asked to switch to
Channel B to avoid mentioning the brand of golf ball on an open comm loop.
But, probably not.


So can anyone shed light on this? Debunk it? Confirm it? Show how it
was misconstrued from something else?

That story -- and others like it -- are loaded with so much bunk that they
collapse under their own sheer weight, eliminating any need for debunking.

Somebody -- may even have been Armstrong, iirc -- facetiously discussed
how fun it'd be to pause for a moment after stepping onto the surface,
then suddenly scream something like "Oh, my God, it's --" and then cutting
the mic.


Did the astronauts have a second secret radio channel?

Oh, yeah. And decoder rings, and everything. (;^

--
"All over, people changing their roles,
along with their overcoats;
if Adolf Hitler flew in today,
they'd send a limousine anyway!" --the clash.
__________________________________________________ _________________
Mike Flugennock, flugennock at sinkers dot org
Mike Flugennock's Mikey'zine, dubya dubya dubya dot sinkers dot org