Why were the Moon Landings fake?

Question

I believe they happened, so I want to know, what evidence and proof is there that the moon landings were billion dollar fakes? Why would the Americans fake it rather than go?

What evidence is there that NASA faked everything?

Answer 1

How did they fake the moon rocks which have been verified by the world wide scientific community? Can't have moon rocks without going to the moon, you know.

So, I agree with you. But, assuming it was fake, there were very obvious and good reasons to fake the whole ordeal. If we weren't able to get to the moon, then yes we would have faked it to make it seem we were the first to make it before the Russians, and bring Kennedy's dream to fruition.

But, they were real. The moon rocks were verified, and so on. While skeptics do bring up good points, its still trumped by the overwhelming evidence that we DID go.

Answer 2

One of your questions is easy to answer: Why would the Americans fake it rather than go? Well, the answer to that is very simple: during the Cold War, there was a space race between the Americans and the Russians - each country wanted to prove that it was superior and more advanced by being the first to place a human being on the moon. So, it is not unreasonable a priori to imagine that the Americans faked everything. A billion dollars is really nothing to the Americans (note how much has been spent on the "War on Terror".)

Now, what evidence is there? That's a much harder question. I have seen a picture of an astronaut on the moon holding a six-pack of coke or something like that, suggesting that everything was filmed in a studio. However, the picture was clearly a fake; it is easy to create these using Photoshop. Some "evidence" that the moon landing was fake is itself fake, and can't be trusted. There really isn't very much evidence, although you can find lots of info from a Google search.

One good argument that I've heard is that in the video of the moon landing, the flag is shown waving, but it should not since there is no wind on the moon. NASA's response is that the flag was specially designed to move like that.

Answer 3

no evidence of fakery is possible, since it all actually happened.

gross stupidity fills in the rest.

belief is irrelevant. these are matters of historical fact, and they are not subject to debate. please do not imply otherwise.

Answer 4

Paranoid conspiracy theorists start from the assumption that everything the government does is a lie. With that starting point, and very often a lack of understanding of the technical details about such things as physics (motion, gravity, light behavior), photography, engineering, etc - they grasp on the first "inconsistencies" they find as proof of the forgery.

The other class of person that pushes the staged landings scenario is a far worse individual, falling squarely within the realm of scumbag in my opinion: those who find such details they know the average layperson won't understand, and use them to deliberately fool people with a sensational whopper of a tale in order to make money through book / video sales, or just plain get attention.

Any details these sorts have provided have been thoroughly debunked / explained / discredited by both the scientific community as well as well-informed amateur enthusiasts who know about the disciplines involved in the "inaccuracies" depicted on the Moon.

So you can say that no evidence exists that it is faked, because it wasn't faked. Any "evidence" is either false or misleading.

A favorite novice detail is the "waving" flag on the Moon. They don't realize that the flag was hung in such a way that it wrinkled the flag causing it to appear to be waving while in still photos, or else the motion they see in videos is due to it being manipulated by the astronauts. Anyone who bothers to even scratch the surface on their own will easily find dozens of photos of the flag where it has the exact same ripples on it - impossible if it were really waving.

There are many many more flimsy arguements proposed, but they're all made from ignorance, unwillingness to face the fact that our government actually did something wonderful and truthful, or else malicious intent.

See clavius.org or badastronomy.com for fact-by-fact dismantling of the hoax "theory."

Answer 5

OK read this-- it's something Neil Armstrong left on the moon's surface that we still use today--

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2004/...

Answer 6

If you believe that it is real, then you probably believe that the Earth isn't flat and resting on a the back of a turtle.

Answer 7

Most people probably don't actually think its fake.  They just think if they say everything is a conspiracy they'll seem more interesting.  

Answer 8

The proof is "                                                  "... in other words... they were not fake.. they happened... so stop thinking they didn't...

Answer 9

Best thing I can do to answer is send you to my web site linked below.  It lays out most of the conspiracy theory claims and gives the scientific explanation.

EDIT 1:

Regarding Brant's reference to video from Apollo 15 apparently showing the flag moving as the astronaut passses, there are three hypotheses:

1. PLSS outgassing.  The outflow valve, like most such gadgets, is simply a PORV (pressure-operated relief valve) calibrated to a 4 (or so) psi maximum suit pressure.  As oxygen flows into the suit at a constant rate, the astronaut doesn't necessary consume it at the same rate.  Should constant inflow result in overpressure, the PORV trips to release a bit.  It can be a pretty explosive puff.

2. Actual contact.  Photogrammetric analysis cannot confirm that the astronaut is too far away from the flag not to have touched it directly.

3. Electrostatic attraction.  The lunar surface is notorious for electrostatic effects, and astronauts shuffling across the surface build up a fair amount of charge.  This is why they end up covered with dust.  Since many analysts believe they see the flag move slightly before the astronaut is abreast of it, they believe the flag is being attracted to the negatively-charged astronaut.

It's very odd that the one hypothesis that ISN'T supported by testing is the conspiracy theory.  Conspiracists say the "wake" of a passing astronaut in air would make the flag move that way, thus proving that the astronaut is walking in air.  The problem is that I can't get a flag to do that in air.  And I haven't yet seen a conspiracy theorist validate his belief that such a wake is in fact produced.

Answer 10

there was never a question as to the validity of the moon landings

before they made a movie suggesting they were faked.

1,people watch too many movies,and believe in these fantasys.

2,the cost of staging these events and covering it up would far excede

the cost of 'putting man on the moon'.

3,as a former aerospace engineer,I can assure you,they were real.

to date 21 astronauts/cosmonauts have given their lives in the quest

for space.if you doubt me, ask their survivors.

Answer 11

I am not aware of anything factual that anyone would consider evidence of fakery.  There is one segment of video, though, which I don't blame people for wondering about.  It's where one of the astronauts walks between the camera and the flag, and just as he does, the flag waves a little bit.  I couldn't come up with a good explanation for it until I wondered, "Hey, are there any air vents on the space suits?"  After doing some research, I found that there are ports for purging old air and they are on the sides, about elbow high.  This is right in a position where the slightest puff could have made that flag move a little as he walked by.

Now I can't *prove* that this is what caused the flag to move, but as long as a possibility like that exists, it would be extremely unreasonable to use it as evidence against the missions, especially with all the other evidence that we did go.

All the other flag "waving" claims are easily debunked.  All anyone has to do is watch the videos and it is clear that they only move when handled and twisted into the ground.  I can't believe people can watch these and actually believe the flag is blowing in the wind.  Also, the flags continue to swing slightly after being let go of, just like you would expect in a vacuum.

Answer 12

The Lunar Laser Ranging Equipment isn't just evidence to support a belief that we went to the moon and landed.  The Lunar Laser Ranging Equipment is proof that we went and landed on the moon.  Not to mention the Lunar rocks brought back, and the fact that the Russians with whom we were competing to first land on the moon never said they thought we faked the lunar landing (don't you think they would be the first to say something if there was any ACTUAL evidence to support the bogus theory of America faking the lunar landings?).