Reporter: Do you, in other words, do you believe that astronauts landed somewhere?
Prabhupāda: That is next question. First of all, whether you actually went to the moon, that is the first question. You have to conclude that you did not, because the sun planet is first, the moon planet is second. You cannot go to the sun planet, ninety-three millions of miles, how can you go to the moon planet?
Reporter: Well, except that...
Prabhupāda: According to our śāstra, the moon planet is above the sun planet, and the distance is 1,600,000 miles. So accepting that the sun is 93,000,000 miles away, then you add another 1,600,000, almost 2,000,000, it becomes 15,000,000 miles away. So if you go at the speed of 18,000 miles per hour, it takes more than 6 months. So how you go there in 4 days? And you advertise in the paper: "Now, they have reached." After 4 days.
Rāmeśvara: They don't accept that the moon is further away.
Prabhupāda: They don't accept, that is another thing, but we have got this information. How we can accept it?
Reporter: I didn't understand that last.
Rāmeśvara: I said to Prabhupāda that the modern man believes that the moon is closer, but Prabhupāda said, "But our ancient literatures teach that the moon is further away." So since we have that information, how can we accept the version of the modern scientists?
Reporter: Hm hm.
Rāmeśvara: We've got...
Prabhupāda: Not only that. Why this arrangement that Monday and, Sunday first, Monday second?
Reporter: Well, that doesn't necessarily speak of distance.
Prabhupāda: Hm?
Reporter: It doesn't necessarily speak of distance.
Prabhupāda: That.... Distance may not be, but you have to accept the sun planet first, moon planet next.
Reporter: Er...
Prabhupāda: Distance is not the question.
Reporter: OK.
Prabhupāda: Why this arrangement: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday? There is some system. The system is, just like first, second, third, fourth. So it is naturally concluded the moon planet is next to the sun planet.
Reporter: Do you feel—maybe you answered this, but I didn't understand the answer—do you feel that astronauts did land somewhere, but it was some other planet?
Prabhupāda: That may be. Or it may not be also.
Tamāla Kṛṣṇa: What about that sometimes people ask us what about the pictures of man on the moon?
Rāmeśvara: They show man in a spacesuit walking on some other planet.
Prabhupāda: That is also, what is called, argumentative. Somebody says it is arbitrary arrangement.
Reporter: Hm. Laboratory.
Prabhupāda: Of course, we do not go into the details of this. My question is that why Sunday first and Monday second? Nobody can apli..., replies.
Rāmeśvara: Prabhupāda once also argued that the dust, the dirt that they brought back, it did not reflect any light, but the moon is always reflecting light. So it was a different substance than what must be on the moon surface.
Prabhupāda: Now, according to our Vedic scripture, Moon is one of the heavenly planets.
Reporter: Are there any other Vedic scriptures that you believe speak to a situation that is greatly misunderstood today besides this?
Prabhupāda: No. Vedic understanding means there is no different Vedic version.