The Moon Landing and Conspiracys

Abstract During 1969 the Americans landed on the moon and since then some people believe the moon landings to be a hoax, these people are called conspiracists. Many conspiracists have found evidence pointing towards the Apollo never going to the moon and it was all just a hoax and it was all filmed in a studio, and Kennedy organized it all just to win the space race. But many of these claims can be disproven like how the American flag appeared to be waving on the moon. It can also be proven we did go to the moon with Evidence such as glass spherules found on the moon that were not broken down like how found on earth. The Moon Landing July 16th 1969 at 9:32 a.m. EDT, Apollo 11 was launched and headed to the moon, on Apollo 11 is Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Approximately twelve minutes later Apollo 11 is in Earth’s orbit. After one and a half orbits around the earth, the crew on Apollo 11 gets a "go" to head for the moon. Three days later the crew is in lunar orbit. A day after that, Armstrong and Aldrin climb into the lunar module the Eagle and begin the descent to the moon, while Collins stays orbits in the command module the Columbia. When the Eagle was making the land to the moon, Armstrong improvised and manually piloted the Eagle to land in a crater on the moon because of boulders in the way of the landing. When Armstrong landed the Eagle there was only enough fuel to last about another thirty seconds. About six and a half hours after the landing it was ten fifty-six p.m. and Armstrong exited the Eagle and was the first man on the moon. About twenty minutes later, Aldrin followed.

The Space Race was a competition between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The two competed for technological superiority. The Space Race began in 1955 when both countries announced that they would soon be launching satellites into orbit. They both took each other’s announcement as a challenge and established their goal was to beat each other by putting a satellite into space. On October 4, 1957, the Russians placed the first successful satellite, Sputnik I into orbit. With that The Russians had taken the lead in the Space Race. Four months later the Americans successfully launched their first satellite the Explorer I. On April 12, 1961, The Soviets again won the race for putting the first man into space, Yuri Gagarin was the first man to orbit the Earth in the spacecraft Vostok I. Three weeks later the US launched the Freedom 7 with astronaut Alan Shepherd aboard. The Eagle spacecraft landed on the moon On July 20, 1969, the crew included astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins. Neil Armstrong stepped outside and became the first man to walk on the Moon. With the Americans walking on the moon before the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, The Space Race was officially declared won the by the united states in the summer of 1975. The Conspiracists Moon landing conspiracists claim that the Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA and other organizations.

Various groups and individuals have made claims since the first moon landing that NASA did not go to the moon and say NASA manufactured, tampered, or destroyed evidence including photos, telemetry tapes, radio and TV transmissions, Moon rock samples, and even killing some people to make sure no one knew that they were faking the moon landing. Polls taken have shown that between 6% and 30% of Americans, 25% of Britons, and 28% of Russians surveyed believe that the moon landings were faked. Even in 2001 Fox news station made a documentary called "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" which claimed NASA faked the first landing in 1969 to win the Space Race. The Glass Spherules The first piece of evidence that points toward the Apollo 11 moon landing to be a hoax is The article "How Do We Know the Moon Landing Really Happened?" by Scott Davis describes that many glass spherules were found in the Moon rocks that were brought back by the Apollo crew. Glass spherules are produced two ways, the ways are in explosive volcanic activity and by high-speed meteorite impacts that melt and vaporize rock.

In either case, the rock needs time to cool and crystallize slowly. On Earth, the elements quickly break down any volcanically-produced glass, but in space, glass spherules do not break down. Glass spherules have been found in both meteorites that have fallen to Earth and in the Moon rocks returned from the Apollo missions, proving that the rocks were obtained safely from outside of earth such as the Apollo safely bringing it back. Moon Rocks are identical to rocks collected by scientists that went to Antarctica The article "Apollo 11 Moon landing: conspiracy theories debunked" states "Some Moon rocks have been found on Earth, but they are all scorched and oxidized from their entry into the Earth’s atmosphere as asteroids", but rocks from the Apollo missions brought by the many visits from moon are not scorched and oxidized, proving that they were retrieved from the moon and safely brought back to earth. The American Flag Another piece of evidence that points toward the Apollo 11 moon landing to be a hoax is that when Armstrong and Aldrin placed the American flag on the moon the flag seemed to be waving in the wind. The article "How Do We Know the Moon Landing Really Happened?" by Scott Davis states that the flag appeared to be waving because "The flag was disturbed as it was planted into the ground and kept this bent shape because of the lack of strong gravity on the Moon".

The Rock Labeled With a C In Addition, Scott Davis states that many conspiracists found a photo of a rock that was labeled with the letter "c". The conspiracists were saying that the rock was a prop on a set that was accidentally placed upside down by someone. But what most likely occurred was that a piece of hair or thread was caught in the copy machine while the image was being copied. Armstrong’s Boots Another way that the conspiracy theory can be proven false is the conspiracists had evidence that Neil Armstrong’s Spacesuit boots do not match the prints that are on the moon. This can be explained by the article "Lunar footprint mystery" by Dan Evon which states that "the footprint seen above wasn’t made by Neil Armstrong, but rather by fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who accompanied Armstrong to the moon. Aldrin snapped that photograph of his own footprint to allow scientists to study the tensile strength of the lunar surface, and that photograph matches the tread on Aldrin’s boot". Also, "he and Aldrin donned a few extra pieces of gear before stepping onto the moon’s surface, including two large overshoes with treaded soles". The Reflection in the Visor After the Apollo 17 moon landing a Youtuber with the username of Streetcap1 found a photo, the photo showed an astronaut with his spacesuit on and on the moon. The photo showed the astronauts visor and a reflection in the visor. The video posted by Streetcap1 stated that in the reflection on the visor their appeared to be a person without a spacesuit. This is false and can be proven by the photo, it does appear that the person does not have a space suit but in the shadow of the astronaut, it clearly shows the bulkiness of the oxygen tank on his back. In the Apollo 12 mission there is another photo, and in this photo there is a reflection on the visor of the astronaut. This reflection shows a piece of equipment, an astronaut taking the photo and what appears to be a studio light. NASA says it is not a studio light but it could be anything from a lens flare to a smudge during the development of the photo. Blast crater Many conspiracists have brought up yet another reason why the moon landing did not occur. Their reason was that there were no craters from where the landing occurred. The photos showed no signs of the Apollo landing but NASA has stated that the landing module landed on a solid rock with a thin layer of dust and the modules thrusters are not powerful enough to cause damage to the rock. All Moon Landings Happened During Nixon's Presidency All six moon landings occurred during the time Richard Nixon was president, because of this conspiracists are saying that he made it all up just to win the race to the moon, but the Article "Apollo 11 Moon landing: Conspiracy Theories Debunked" states the reason they all occurred under president Nixon is because "the race had been won and the money dried up. The USSR has no interest in coming second, and politicians on both sides realized that lower-orbit missions had much greater commercial and military potential." Radiation from the Van Allen belt A Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles that are held in place by the planets magnetic field, Earth has two of these. These belts protect the earth from solar radiation by trapping in the layer surrounding the earth. A Russian cosmonaut claimed that the radiation from the Van Allen belt would have killed the astronauts aboard the Apollo, but the Articles "Apollo Moon Landing Hoax Theories That Won't Die" By Robert Myers and Robert Pearlman and "Apollo 11 Moon landing: conspiracy theories debunked" by Richard Holt both explain how the small amount of time in the belt and with the protection from the spacecraft and with the radiation being equivalent to what of an x-ray during the time would not harm the astronauts.

The footprints in the dust on the moon are well preserved as if made in wet sand, but there is not any moisture, atmosphere or strong gravity on the moon. The reason the footprints are well preserved is because of the lack of wind on the moon means the footprints aren’t blown away, also dry, fine-grained dust particles hold their positions due to the friction between them. The stars are missing In many of the photos taken by the astronauts they show the background clearly, but from each of these photos there’s something missing, the stars! Many conspiracists say that the stars are not there because whoever was in charge of the background forgot to paint the stars on, but would NASA really forget something that important. The reason that the stars can’t be seen in the photographs is because of how much light is being reflected off the moon and the exposures they were using were very fast which does not let a lot of light into the cameras. Shadows Some people point out that some of the shadows given off by the astronauts are different in length and there are multiple shadows at different angles in the photos, which may suggest that there was more than one source of light, like a large studio lamp that a lighting system was set up incorrectly on a stage somewhere, and NASA had failed to notice the inconsistencies.

Many scientists argue that this is false and give reasonable explanations such as "Apollo Moon Landing Hoax Theories That Won't Die" By Robert Myers and Robert Pearlman states "The astronauts were taking their photos on a hilly, brightly-lit landscape while the sun was close to the horizon. Imagine taking a photograph of someone on a rolling, uneven field of snow during a full, low-hanging moon. The contours of the ground would produce shadows of many different lengths." Also "Why do some people believe the moon landings were a hoax?" by John Fuller describes that "Scientists argue that the photos were taken on rough, hilly landscapes, which are bound to produce all kinds of wacky shadow lengths no matter where you stand. If you take a picture on a snow-covered hill, for instance, the same kind of effect will likely take place." The Backgrounds Many websites describe that conspiracists claim that the backgrounds on the photos are identical backgrounds in other photos that NASA said were taken miles apart, This suggests that a painted background was used And NASA thought they could get away with it.

What actually is occurring is the backgrounds were not identical, just similar. What appears as nearby hills in some photos are actually mountains many miles away. They just appear close because there are very few objects such as trees and buildings to help judge distance. Melting Under the sun’s rays the moon would have been at around 280 degrees Fahrenheit. Several people have made claims that under the extreme heat the film and several other things would have melted. Scientist’s come back to this claim described by the article "Apollo Moon Landing Hoax Theories That Won't Die" By Robert Myers and Robert Pearlman states that "No one was leaving bare film out on the hot lunar surface. All material was contained in protective canisters. In addition at the time the Apollo missions landed, they were either at lunar dawn or dusk. As a result, the temperature was more easily manageable. Wires and dust Some people have pointed out the moon landing occurred in a studio and to create the effect of weak gravity on the moon the astronauts were carried by thin or transparent wires and filmed jumping around. Then NASA would have slowed down the film in order to make it look like they were floating through the air. Scientists disproved this claim because of the dust. Scientists said that the dust was kicked around by the astronauts as they move around the moon's surface. If NASA filmed the video on Earth, the dust would gather into clouds because of air in the atmosphere. Instead, the dust is kicked up and falls right back to the ground without collecting or floating around. It would have been possible for NASA to build a studio and create a vacuum but that is considered to be something that would be incredibly difficult, even by today's standards. Two Hills "MOON HOAX PROVED? Is this where NASA filmed 'fake lunar landings on Earth?" by Jon Austin describes how David Bryan believes a hill near the summit of Mauna Kea in Hawaii may have been used as a backdrop for some of the footage. He compared NASA images of a mountain near Taurus Littrow, said to have been taken on the Moon during the 1972 Apollo 17 mission, with the Hawaiian scene, and believes the backgrounds to be the same one. Many people have stated that they look similar but are not the same at all.

Conclusion

In conclusion many conspiracists believe that NASA never went to the moon and to prove this they find evidence of it not happening such as radiation would have killed the astronaut and the conspiracists also find evidence that it was filmed on earth and not the moon with evidence such as their being studio lights with evidence such as funny shadows and in a photo of an astronaut there is a reflection of the studio light in their visors. But there are ways to disprove these claims like how the reflection could just have been a smudge when the photo was being developed. There are also many ways to disprove many of the conspiracist’s claims of the moon landing being a hoax.

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