The last of the 6 moon landings took place 45 years ago in December 1972. Since then there have been various unmanned moon landings, but no humans have landed on the moon for 45 years now. The moon landings were a huge deal – in scientific terms as well as historical terms. However, for some, the moon landings never happened at all. For the conspiracy theorists, the moon landings are a huge hoax; an elaborate fabrication. We look at some of the facts and top conspiracy theories of the moon landings.
It was a time when the Russians (then Soviet Union) were in fierce competition with the Americans over pretty much everything; especially space missions. Perhaps because the first man in space was Yuri Gagarin, a Russian and the first human made object to reach the surface of the moon was also Russian (the Luna 2 mission), the Americans determined to be the first humans to reach the surface of the moon.
The first moon landing was on 20th July 1969 on the Sea of Tranquility on the moon when Neil Armstrong and then Buzz Aldrin took their first steps on the surface of earth’s only natural satellite. The last of the moon landings were from 11 December to 14 December 1972 by Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt at the site called Taurus-Littrow.
Landing on the moon was so incredibly expensive and so very dangerous, that no one ever did it again after the initial moon landings. The ships burn up after one use, need to be 36 storey high, and have to carry oxidizers with them. None of these factors have essentially changed or improved significantly for the last five decades.
A significant number of people–an estimated 6% of Americans, 25% of Britons and 28% Russians believe that the manned moon landings were fake. Conspiracy theorists claim that NASA, along with other agencies perpetrated an elaborate hoax upon the people using sets similar to the training mockups that the astronauts used for training purposes.
Bill Kaysing was among the first and most famous moon landing deniers. He self published his book We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle. The Flat Earth Society also accused NASA of staging the landings with Disney sponsorship in 1980. Over the years, many books have been written, videos and documentaries made to discredit the landings.
The conspiracy theorists dispute that something like this was at all possible. Some dispute the moon's gravity, others point to the fluttering of the flag planted; which they say could not have happened on the moon and others say that since there is no independent verification of NASA claims; they felt, it's all a hoax. The hundred of moon rocks (independently verified) are also disputed. People say that the hoax was a way to get one-up on the Russians and to divert attention from the Vietnam War.
Why aren’t there any stars in the background of the pictures of the moon landings? Why does a moon rock have the letter C stamped on it? Why do the shadows appear to have different lengths? Weren’t these ‘actors’ wearing wires? Various such questions have been posed over the years.
A YouTube channel called StreeCap1 posted a video last month, about the reflection that is seen in the visor of one of the astronauts. Apparently the reflection is of a person with long hair; not wearing a space suit. Clearly it doesn’t take the conspiracy theorists much to make up their minds; no amount of evidence will convince the nay-sayers; even 45 years after the landings!
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