Debunked: “THE MOON LANDINGS WERE FAKED”
Discover the truth behind the conspiracy…
Nearly 50 years on from what is possibly humanity’s greatest achievement, conspiracy theorists have pored over the footage of the Moon landings from 1969 and they think it’s a set up. They believe NASA built a studio on Earth, attached actors to wires and simulated low gravity with slow-motion filming, all to trump their Soviet rivals in the space race. NASA says they put men on the Moon. So, what really happened? The lighting has been a topic of much debate, with conspiracy theorists claiming that one of the most iconic images of Buzz Aldrin could only be taken with an artificial light source. So computer graphics experts simulated real-time lighting properties at the Apollo 11 landing site. It turns out that Neil Armstrong’s spacesuit reflected the Sun’s light and was responsible for illuminating Aldrin in the iconic 1969 photo. Perhaps the best proof of the Moon landings is the trail of evidence left by the astronauts. The Apollo 11 mission brought Moon rocks back to 135 countries for their scientists to examine, and they have confirmed their lunar origin. The astronauts also planted reflective panels on the surface of the Moon; when other countries shot lasers at them, they pinged back a signal. If the Moon landings were a hoax, researchers from across the globe would have had to have been in on the conspiracy too.
1. “YOU CAN’T SEE THE STARS’”
The Moon has no atmosphere, so shouldn’t the stars be visible? Like spacesuits, Moon rock reflects sunlight. It is too bright on the surface to see the dim light from distant stars.
2. “THE ROCKS ARE PROPS”
This rock appears to have the letter ‘C’ on it, but it’s only present in enlarged images, not in the original NASA images, so it’s more likely to be a stray hair on the film.
3. “SHADOWS ARE DIFFERENT LENGTHS”
Some think the inconsistent shadows reveal many light sources, but they can be explained by the rocky, hilly terrain. The landscape of the Moon casts shadows at different lengths.
4. “THE FLAG IS FLAPPING”
There shouldn’t be any wind, but the flag waves as it’s planted. It’s just the astronauts twisting it to get it into the ground. It stays still later on.
5. “IT WAS FILMED IN SLOW MOTION”
Were the astronauts held up with wires and
filmed in slow motion? Look at the dust — it drops straight down to the ground. On Earth it would form clouds because of the air in the atmosphere.
This article was originally published in How It Works issue 108
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