The Flat Earth Society

We were discussing some issues at work during afternoon tea, the guys like to generally discuss issues related to science and other interesting phenomenon. So I brought up the beliefs of the Flat Earth Society just as a bit of a stir - just as a bit of a laugh. They informed me that some guy named Columbus had already proved those beliefs to be false so they didn't believe there was such a group known as the Flat Earth Society, they couldn't believe that people could be so stupid - fair call.

I initially thought Flat Earthers were doing exactly that, just causing a bit of a stir and seeking attention so I started looking into this more as a laugh - I really didn't think they were serious. I first read about Flat Earthers when American rapper B.o.B started a GoFundMe page to launch multiple satellites into space to disprove centuries of science and related technology.

Now I must admit, the only rapper I knew of before this chap was Eminem, so I'm not well versed in the world of rappers. If I have the misfortune to hear someone doing this rap thing, I am concerned that my ears might start bleeding so I didn't take this claim seriously. I didn't actually know the name of this guy, I just thought he was some dumb arsed rapper seeking to promote his little known career with some controversy, this could still be the case.

The Earthrise photograph captured on Christmas eve 1968 from the Apollo 8 mission to orbit the moon shows the Earth suspended in space - amazing. Apollo 8 was just the second manned mission in the program and the first manned mission to leave the Earth's orbit to reach the moon. The six day mission included 10 orbits of the moon before returning to Earth. Searching through NASA information gave me a bit of a surprise as the Apollo 8 back-up crew consisted of a couple of gentleman named Armstrong and Aldrin along with Fred Haise as lunar module pilot who later flew the Apollo 13 mission.

No doubt the Flat Earth Society will denounce the moon orbits and moon landings as fake so this stunning photograph will be dismissed as a hoax. We can seen the moon from Earth and we can view by eye that it is a sphere, the sun is also a ball of burning gasses and every other planet viewed through a telescope is spherical, Let's not even get started on gravity or why the world's oceans don't pour off the edge of a flat Earth. I do believe in challenging beliefs, this is the reason why science has evolved and new knowledge gained - this isn't doing that.