Friday, June 24, 2011

Apollo 11 - Michael Collins' Jacket

Firstly my Youtube Channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/Betamax101

My first refutation of your claims is to highlight what you call an "anomaly" with Michael Collins' Jacket.
I have seen numerous claims where you compare the motion of his jacket to ISS footage and make associations that any differences in movement are indicative of gravity. That in itself is a self supporting argument, since your assessment is wrong in the first place.
I am now presenting a video series I put on youtube to specifically debunk your argument, with descriptions of what each video demonstrates.


Video 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NkijOFUnu0

In this video, I show the footage in question. The major part of the movement of his jacket is caused by a semi rigid plastic hose holding an attachment (with mass) at waist height, being moved away from and back towards him. The contact causes the jacket to naturally ripple and flex.
The video also highlights a bulging of his jacket, at the back and on his shoulder area. In itself a clear sign that the jacket's Earth weight does not pull the air out, but rather, a lack of weight holds it in place.
His arms are vertical and against the bulkhead above him, to counter his natural upwards motion in zero-g whilst jogging. This is effectively transferring his momentum from one direction to another in a short space of time and repeatedly.
I highlight the flexing of his body, his laterally twisting torso, and the upward and downward motion of his legs.
All of this activity creates air movement, though slight, that also has a contributary effect.


Video 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ogk218Qt24

In this video, I concentrate on the motion in zero-g of Collins' identification tags (dogtags). The video highlights a very fleeting glimpse of the tags, shows them hovering in front of his neck, and moving side to side along with the lateral motion of his shoulders and neck. I have also slowed the footage down.


Video 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vs_u4iNfaGk

In this video, I address the issue of the cuffs supposedly always resting on his wrist. There are clearly instances, when the opposite is true. That is, the sleeves are puffed up with air and floating as they would in zero-g.


Video 4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BQQyG8XDlA

In this video, I show again the dogtags clearly floating, numerous times, zoomed in, and with a frame extract of all frames in the sequence. I demonstrate with back to back repeats, the sideways motion.


Video 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LK0cleCpmfM

In this last video, I concentrate on isolating the signs of weightlessness and showing the numerous comments made on the videos. The comments in themselves, demonstrate a complete non-understanding of science, they contradict each other and quite frankly are absurd.

Summary:

When the jacket moves, the corner moves. When rippling occurs, the tendency of a fabric would be to unripple, since it is not it's natural state. When contact occurs from an object it will give momentum to the jacket, when the object swings away, it pulls the fabric back. The swinging object will cause gentle air currents which will have a minor effect. The movement of the jacket in and out will also produce small air currents.

In addition to the swinging object, we have the lateral motion of his torso as each knee comes up alternately. We have the upward motion it induces, followed by immediate downforce as he pushes with his arms on the bulkhead above. We have even more lateral and vertical rotation in his shoulders as his knees come up and arms push down.

The semi-rigid hose is what is causing the attachment to impact his lower jacket, as it pulls on it. It also flexes with his body motion and causes it to swing inwards and outwards.

The jacket has clearly air buffered at the back, because of earlier movement in the cabin with it unfastened. Jackets do not puff up and billow like that in gravity - it is a clear sign of zero-g. Weight will pull the fabric downwards and much tighter against a body where gravity is in effect

Every single thing involved in his movement has momentum that affects his jacket. I will leave you with just the two comments from my videos, made by the user youtube and forum spammer Cosmored.....

"Collins' jacket corner bounces up and down the way it would in gravity"

Then in reply to my video showing the puffed up back and shoulders of his jacket:....

"In zero-G the jacket would be bouncing up and down on his back if it were loose"

To anybody with rationale, logical thought, with even mild powers of discernement, I would say that fairly conclusively closes the door on that little piece of the "mountain of evidence".