Why do Some people think that the Moon landing was faked?

Question

We never discussed this in High School, and it was abit before my time, given I am almost 23. Why do people think that, and have they gone to the moon since?

Answer 1

our government lies so much!

Answer 2

gross stupidity and fashionably abysmal scientific ignorance.

Answer 3

Because stupidity is running rampant in our society.

Geoff G has a point too - these same geniuses don't want to hear the facts.

Answer 4

First, to your question, Triple M. I'm a 50 year old space fan and amateur space historian, so I can tell you a bit about this, and point you at some good info sources.

The loons who try to peddle their Moon hoax crackpottery, do it for the same reasons that drive most conspiracywhackos: A need to be unique, and a need to feel superior to all those who just accept... facts. Its the same with those who claim 9/11 was a conspiracy, or the same about the murder of JFK.

There were six successful Moon landings, from July of 1969, to December of 1972. No one has gone back since, though NASA has plans to do so by about 2020.

Among the best sources for Apollo, is Andrew Chaikin's A Man on the Moon, which also was the primary source for the wonderful HBO miniseries from 10 years ago (That Tom Hanks worked on, and introduced) From The Earth To The Moon. The DVD set is available (Including from DeepDiscount, which is having a DVD 20% off everything sale until the 29th. They have it for $46.89, with the 20% off, its $37.51, free US shipping included) and is a joy to watch.

Now, TruthBox belied his name, by posting solid untruths about Apollo. Lets demolish them in order.

"There are around 4? documentaries which put forward the evidence that it was faked. Namely the footage that was shown in "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Moon" which showed the astronauts faking it as if they were on the way to the Moon, whereas there was a large slide put over the window and the cabin blacked out - the slide was the Earth - the audio gives the hint it was being faked, as well as the clip itself, which showed extra parts showing the faking - that was not edited out. If this faking was faked - then it was all excellently done."

Nothing above is even remotely true. Well, there are some claimed fictions calling themselves "documentaries". Thats about it. On Apollo, because on the way to and back from the Moon, the spacecraft stack (Command Module, Service Module, Lunar Module, all docked together) was put into a slow roll to even out heating effects, when the astronauts were to sleep, they set up a window shade, for the same reason most people have one in their bedrooms - not to be woken up early by Sunlight. Which, in space, doesn't go away for 8 hours.

"The documentaries point out a whole host of details - such as in one - mentioned that the Hasselblad cameras used on the Moon, were ordinary cameras with oversized controls. Nothing extra was done to them - no extra shielding against cosmic radiation, extreme termperatures, and the no pressurization of outer space."

Total untruth. The camera were heavily modified to protect the film (And, before arriving at the Moon, the film was stored in a lead container, to prevent film fogging from cosmic radiation).

--Around the same time, Kodak, in Rochester, USA, was asked by NASA to develop thinner new films with special emulsions. Similarly, at Carl Zeiss in Germany they were busy investigating whether the optical characteristics of lenses changed in vacuum.

At Hasselblad the shutter was modified. Lubricants had to be chosen with utmost care because of the risk that conventional lubricants could boil off in vacuum and condense all over the optical surfaces of the lens.

This in turn (Apollo 1 fire) led to a further stiffening of technical specifications for the moon camera. Synthetic materials were to be avoided. It was absolutely essential that any such materials should first be tested and approved by NASA. The already tight schedule came under even greater pressure.

The specifications for the moon camera were finally settled in September 1968. A completely new lens was being designed by Carl Zeiss. This lens would have a maximum aperture of f/5.6 and a focal length of 60 mm. Naturally it had to exhibit minimal radial and tangential distortion. The design was not complete until February 1969. The finished cameras for Apollo 11 were delivered by Hasselblad on 1 March 1969.

On board the Apollo 11 was the so-called moon camera plus two "standard" space cameras. Before the trip the magazines were loaded with 70 mm film on open spools. This permitted some 200 exposures per roll.--

"And so, how come the photographs came out picture perfect in such hazardous conditions?"

--Neil Armstrong took the photographs. As commander he was also assigned as photographer and instructed to take photographs of anything that appeared interesting. He shot a total of 3 magazines containing just over 150 frames each. Many of the pictures are uninteresting to most of us but a surprising number can be counted to have historical value.

For example, when Armstrong made the first footprint he bent forward to take a picture. The camera was actually mounted on the chest of his space suit. Naturally he was unable to bring the camera to his eye to compose a shot in the normal way. The camera simply pointed where he turned his body.

Each time he made an exposure he was forced to say "I am taking a photograph now". Down on earth, ground control made a note of the time so that they could keep track of how many pictures were taken. Armstrong himself could not see the counter on the camera.--

The relatively few that get published are the ones that came out GOOD. Including after some cropping. My wedding photographer had far easier working conditions, and we put about 96 pics into our album, but he shot 360 photos. And, he did crop some of the ones we kept to have them look better.

"Anyway the documentaries are convincing"

No.

"Of course the most obvious evidence is - why no further missions to the Moon?"

No bucks, no Buck Rogers. Money and politics. Once NASA got to the Moon first, the race and the reasons for it were over. Its also worth noting that NASA started to have it's budget cut as of FY 1967, two years *before* Apollo 11. Politics is a 24/7/365 business.

Hey, TruthBox, have you seen a Saturn V rocket launch since 1973 ? Uh huh. Thats why.

"And why no Russians trying to land there?"

Because their effort failed. And, they did try. You should see the pictures from their N-1 rocket's failures. One launch got about 500 feet up... and then the engines shut down. Consider a 3500 ton rocket, full of fuel, falling right back unto the pad from 500 feet straight up... BOOM! Thats a Bad Day.

"That is all a very big mystery."

No. It was known even then, and since the USSR fell, we've had lots more specific information. Asif Siddiqi's Challenge To Apollo goes into their effort in great detail.

Had Apollo really been faked, it would have been a HUGE propaganda victory for the USSR to have been able to expose that, at the time, or since. They didn't, because their own evidence told them it was all real. They had deep space tracking equipment, too.

"And there is the claim - that yes, the first mission Apollo 11 was faked, but later missions were genuine. Makes it even more confusing..."

Thats because the deniers are not consistent. They're just nuts.

"Can we trust NASA?"

Yes.

"Try viewing "The Missing NASA Transmissions"

Nothing on Google. You might have meant: "The Secret

NASA Transmissions". OK, heres a review:

--While extraterrestrial life may exist, "The Secret NASA Transmissions" video is not proof of it --

"which shows we shouldn't trust them at all."

No, it shows that the conspiraciwhackos are uniformly DUMB.

"It is about the early Space Shuttle missions and what they found up there --- above the Earth."

Wrong. Its massive ignorance about what happens when you use the zoom on a camera while filming with it.

So, TruthBox's writings get a perfect score: Perfectly WRONG.

Answer 5

I'm not patriotic, but we definitely landed on the Moon.

Some people are gullible, willing to believe anything they are told based on a few 'facts' without ever looking into it themselves.  Anyone with a high school science education can debunk the Moon landing conspiracies - I know because I showed the Fox pseudo-documentary to a high school class and watched them debunk them all.  It was beautiful.

Answer 6

i think a lot of people challenge the FACT we landed on the moon because they are too ignorant to admit that our country is capable of this accomplishment. people aren't patriotic anymore... they challenge our entire country. but it goes beyond that.

i also think that they do it just because their iq score is less than the number of times we landed on the moon. people overload their few neurons just thinking about the idea. they don't understand the science behind it, and they don't take the chance to. so, because they don't understand it, they say it was fake.

i can't tell you exactly why people think the moon landing was fake, but they are all wrong. i will tell you that. people say "well i can't see the flag on the moon even with my telescope." the moon is 250,000 miles away people the most powerful telescope on earth couldn't see it. people simply don't think like they should.

as you might have guessed, i believe, well i know, that the moon landing was real. don't let anyone else tell you otherwise.

Answer 7

I think geoff g. doesn't like FOX... lol he should go write for south park =]

Answer 8

Probably because they have nothing else to talk about.

Besides, how could the Moon landing have been faked?

How can 400,000 people who worked on NASA's Apollo Moon program have kept it all a secret?

Yes, there were more people (400,000), who worked on getting Americans to the Moon than the distance to it in miles (240,000).

Besides the six Apollo Moon landings, how do you also explain Apollo 13?

Oh, wait!  They (the conspirators) came up with that just to make us believe that at least one Moon mission didn't make it.  Ridiculous!  To say the least.

But, why go back to the Moon again?  For what?  Been there, done that.

I say we concentrate our efforts on an international human expedition to Mars, instead!

Answer 9

Any number of reasons for it.

They just don't want to believe.They are just trying to keep the controversy going....or they truly don't know any better.

I know on this forum....they keep trying to present the same tired arguments about the moon pictures and whatnot....but...all the real evidence..for the real landings is out there for public viewing....but..yet..the non believers just don't want to see past all the fakery!

Answer 10

The simple answer is because they're idiots.

The complicated answer has to do with them knowing somewhere down below that it was real, but convincing themselves that it was fake because it makes them feel important - i.e. 'You're all so stupid to fall for this, but I know the truth!'  The same reason any conspiracy theory gets propagated even though it lacks a logical, consistent base.  That's probably a lot closer to the truth than the simple answer, but I like the simple answer better :P

h**l, I bet most of the moon conspiracy people would be shocked off their asses if it turned out to REALLY have been faked.  I like to think people aren't truly stupid enough to honestly believe this junk, but their emotions and sense of self-importance clouds their mind.  But maybe I'm wrong about that...

Answer 11

There are around 4? documentaries which put forward the evidence that it was faked.  Namely the footage that was shown in "A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Moon" which showed the astronauts faking it as if they were on the way to the Moon, whereas there was a large slide put over the window and the cabin blacked out - the slide was the Earth - the audio gives the hint it was being faked, as well as the clip itself, which showed extra parts showing the faking - that was not edited out.  If this faking was faked - then it was all excellently done.  The documentaries point out a whole host of details - such as in one - mentioned that the Hasselblad cameras used on the Moon, were ordinary cameras with oversized controls.  Nothing extra was done to them - no extra shielding against cosmic radiation, extreme termperatures, and the no pressurization of outer space.  And so, how come the photographs came out picture perfect in such hazardous conditions?

Anyway the documentaries are convincing - even one that tries discounting the controversy, tries to be convincing presenting the standard view, it was not faked.

Of course the most obvious evidence is - why no further missions to the Moon?  And why no Russians trying to land there?  That is all a very big mystery.

And there is the claim - that yes, the first mission Apollo 11 was faked, but later missions were genuine.  Makes it even more confusing...

Can we trust NASA?  Try viewing "The Missing NASA Transmissions" which shows we shouldn't trust them at all.  It is about the early Space Shuttle missions and what they found up there --- above the Earth.

Answer 12

because half of all people are below average.

Answer 13

I think we have to split two groups:

1. Casual Believers may have seen it on TV (or somewhere else), didn't bother to check the facts and believed those lies.

2. *True* Believers

- have no real idea about science, and because they don't understand it, believe no one else does either, so scientist must be liars

- believe in a evil government that just has to lie

- want to feel special

- generally believe in any CT, because those evil conspiracies excuse their own failures

- no matter what you explain to them, they will rather invent new conspiracies than admit they are wrong

Answer 14

Largely because they watched a really stupid "documentary" on FOX which put out a lot of misinformation about the Moon landings, and people are too ignorant of science to see the holes in that documentary, or too lazy to read the web sites where the arguments have been thoroughly demolished:

http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxap...

http://www.braeunig.us/space/hoax.htm

http://www.clavius.org/

There were six separate Moon landings in the years 1969 to 1972, but there have been none since because Congress cut the funding for the Apollo program, blaming a lack of public interest. NASA is currently ramping up to return to the Moon in the next few years.

Answer 15

Well I'm 25 and I'm not necessarily sure i believe it (although i'd like to, i think its an amazing accomplishment)...

I don't know the facts because i haven't looked into it that deeply but certain things i've heard make me go "what the f**k?". Like the news story a couple years back saying NASA lost some important footage or something to that regard evidencing the lunar landing.

You have to be honest, that's a little weird, you'd think something of the importance would have had several copies made and locked in a very secure vault or something....but no its lost and gone. (to be fair i don't remember the details or exactly what it was but i do remember what i felt when i saw it on the news)