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NASA 1969 vs 2026 Buff Doge Meme

This meme uses the popular 'Buff Doge vs Cheems' comparison format to satirize the stark contrast between NASA's 1969 Apollo moon landing and modern NASA's upcoming 2026 Artemis moon mission. On the left, the buff, muscular Shiba Inu (Buff Doge) represents 1969 NASA, which successfully landed the first humans on the moon using incredibly limited computing power (only ~4KB of RAM on the guidance computer). On the right, the awkward, smaller Cheems Shiba Inu represents 2026 NASA, which has suffered multiple embarrassing technical issues including broken on-board toilets and faulty outlooks on the Orion capsule, referenced directly in the text. The meme jokes about how modern space programs struggle with basic problems that 1960s engineers overcame with vastly less technology.
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NASA 1969: LANDING ON THE MOON WITH 4 KB OF RAM
NASA 2026: "OUR OUTLOOK AND TOILET DON'T WORK"

Overview

This meme uses the popular 'Buff Doge vs Cheems' comparison format to satirize the stark contrast between NASA's 1969 Apollo moon landing and modern NASA's upcoming 2026 Artemis moon mission. On the left, the buff, muscular Shiba Inu (Buff Doge) represents 1969 NASA, which successfully landed the first humans on the moon using incredibly limited computing power (only ~4KB of RAM on the guidance computer). On the right, the awkward, smaller Cheems Shiba Inu represents 2026 NASA, which has suffered multiple embarrassing technical issues including broken on-board toilets and faulty outlooks on the Orion capsule, referenced directly in the text. The meme jokes about how modern space programs struggle with basic problems that 1960s engineers overcame with vastly less technology.

Origin notes

This meme originates from Reddit meme communities, with the original Reddit post titled 'At least they seem to still use the same cameras...', which adds an extra joke about modern NASA's low-resolution mission imagery matching the 1969 era. It is a derivative meme built on the pre-existing popular 'Buff Doge vs Cheems' comparison meme template, and circulates widely across social media discussing NASA and space exploration.

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