Fake NASA moon landings?

There is a medical component to this question. Some who argue that the Apollo moon landings were fake say that the Apollo astronauts would have been poisoned by passing through the Van Allen radiation belts that ring the Earth. NASA argues that the astronauts passed through the Van Allen belts too quickly to be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation. I suppose you can think of it like this: Fire is dangerous. However, if you pass your hand quickly over the flame, then you won't get harmed. According to Wikipedia, the Van Allen radiation belt is a torus of energetic charged particles (plasma) around Earth, which is held in place by Earth's magnetic field. The belts are a hazard for artificial satellites and moderately dangerous for human beings, difficult and expensive to shield against.

It's interesting to see that some people strongly believe that the moon landings were fake. Modern special effects are so advanced that we could probably fake a lot of things today. We didn't have CGI graphics in 1969.

So what do you think? Do you believe in the conspiracy theory? (You must love the X-files. My wife loves the X-files.)

Speaking of NASA, do you know about the Aerospace Medical Association? If you've ever wanted to go into space, maybe you'll get your chance if you pursue a career in aerospace medicine. Read an interesting story on CNN about the moon landings here.

If I Could Go Through Life Again

If I could go through life again, I think I'd like to pursue a career in Aerospace Medicine. What is Aerospace Medicine?

According to the American Board of Preventive Medicine, "Aerospace medicine focuses on the clinical care, research, and operational support of the health, safety, and performance of crewmembers and passengers of air and space vehicles, together with the support personnel who assist operation of such vehicles. This population often works and lives in remote, isolated, extreme, or enclosed environments under conditions of physical and psychological stress. Practitioners strive for an optimal human-machine match in occupational settings rich with environmental hazards and engineering countermeasures."

Kids often grow up with lofty dreams. I always wanted to be an astronaut or a fighter jet pilot (yes, you can blame those dreams and ambitions on my love for Star Wars and science fiction). However, my dreams shifted towards biomedical engineering as I got older and those dreams of space travel faded away. Now, as I look back on life, I wonder what life would have been like if I had pursued aerospace medicine. Preventive medicine is not a specialty that is emphasized very much in most medical schools. In fact, I still meet many medical students who are not familiar with this specialty. They have no idea that you can do a residency that also includes the completion of an MPH degree.