Was the Lunar Landing Faked? by Austin Russell

"I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth.” –John F. Kennedy, 1961.  In the beginning of the 1960s, Kennedy gave this challenge to ignite passion and inspire the space program to increase their efforts towards landing on the moon.  Through the mid-1900s, the United States and Soviet Union were in a race to the moon, however, in 1969, the United States beat the Soviets with the Apollo 11 mission.  Since then, it has been taught that we have gone to the moon and returned a few times.  There are, however, a handful of people who believe that the lunar landing was faked.  But Why?  Many believe the United States was out of money and could not afford to fund the project any long but still wanted to show superiority over the Soviets (Fuller).  Conspiracy theorist use some of the following argument to try to prove their point-

1.    The flag planted on the moon was blowing in the wind.

2.    There was no photographer in the reflection of an astronaut’s helmet.

3.    An astronaut was clearly visible despite being in the shadow of the landing module. (Than)

All these and more are used to say that the lunar landing was faked.  Are these arguments plausible? Can they be disproved?  Let us look at evidence so that these claims can be disproved.

Character Analysis:

Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon.  This is what he is most known for.  Armstrong was enthusiastic for aviation.  This enthusiasm helped him achieved several other accomplishments throughout his lifetime, such as becoming a famous astronaut.

His whole life he was obsessed with flying.  This love for flying would shape his life into becoming a great American hero.  He received a degree in aeronautical engineering from Purdue as well as a master’s degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Southern California (Dunbar).  He gained much flight experience in following years.  He flew a total of seventy-eight missions during the entirety of the Korean War (Neil Armstrong).  These experiences probably helped him the most with his future in the lunar landing.  Later he joined the space program.  His first mission was Gemini VIII with David Scott, but there were complications and they had to return to earth early (Neil Armstrong).  In 1969, however, he made his big claim to fame by embarking on the first successful lunar landing mission and being the first man to set foot on the moon.  As he took his first step on the moon’s surface, he famously proclaimed, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” (Neil Armstrong).  He had finally done it, all his years of constant drive and endless hours of hard work finally paid off.

After his career as an astronaut, he became a professor at the University of Cincinnati (Dunbar).  He later died on August 25, 2012 at the age of eighty-two (Neil Armstrong).  Following his death, Buzz Aldrin referred to Armstrong as, “a true American hero and the best pilot I ever knew” (Statements on the Passing of Neil Armstrong).  Still today, Neil Armstrong is the most widely known astronaut in history.  His relentless pursuit of the moon helped him overcome great odds to accomplish his goals.

The moon landing back in 1969 was the defining moment for American space exploration.  No bigger task has been accomplished since then.  But, is this achievement too big to be real?  Could the lunar landing have been faked just to deceive the world into believing we won the space race with the Soviet Union?  This conspiracy is one of the more well-known theories; however, only a small percentage of people believe in it.  A survey showed that about five percent people believe that we did not land on the moon.  Due to all the scientific evidence stating that we did land on the moon, the only two explanations for people’s disbelief could be that the distrust the government or the lack of knowledge about the physics of space.  Plus, there were way too many people involved in the lunar landing that keeping a faked lunar landing would be almost impossible.  There is much scientific and technological evidence pertaining to the moon landing, and they can disprove each claim made by the conspirators.

The first and probably the most well-known proof of an artificial lunar landing is the flag in the breeze theory.  In a photo taken of the flag planted supposedly on the moon, the banner has the appearance of being blown by the breeze (Than).  Since there is no air in space, there can be no wind.  If the flag is truly on the moon and in space, then the flag should not be waving.  While this may seem like a plausible argument, physics can easily disprove this theory.  More specifically, Newton’s first law of motion.  The flag was waving, but not because of wind.  When the flag was planted, it had to have been moved, and the first law of motion states that an object in motion wants to stay in motion unless acted on by another force.  Since the force acting on the flag is so little on the moon, the flag should have been in motion for a while after it was planted.  The picture of the flag was taken shortly after it was placed on the moon and the motion of the initial action was still affecting the flag when the picture was taken giving it the appearance of waving in the wind (1).

The second argument made by conspiracy theorist is that there was no photographer in the reflection in an astronaut’s helmet in a picture of Buzz Aldrin (Than).  This theory is probably the easiest to find its falsity.  Body cameras were put on each of the astronaut’s suits (1).  This would make the astronaut in the reflection the photographer, and there would be no need for a person to hold a camera to take pictures.  This is another popular theory, but it is very weak.  Again, the theorist’s claims are invalidated by simple facts.

The last “evidence” we will look at is that an astronaut is clearly visible and seems to be in the light even though he is in the shadow of the landing module (Than).  This may seem to be harder to disprove, and it is at first glance.  It is mind-boggling to understand how someone could appear to be well lit despite being surrounded by shadow.  Again, science can remove all confusion and invalidate this claim.  On earth, we are used to one light source and people are using that logic to try to understand the irregularity.  On the moon, however, there are multiple angles that the light is coming from (1).  There is light being reflected off the moon, lunar module, astronaut’s suit, and of course the light from the sun (1).  So, while a greater light source could be casting the larger shadow, a lesser light could be illuminating the astronaut.

Many of these theories are created because of the lack of knowledge of the Lunar Landing.  If people were more educated on the physics of space and what equipment was used, this conspiracy theory as a whole would be done with completely.

People’s distrust of the government has led to the unbelief of the United States putting a man on the moon.  The big arguments made by conspirators are:

1. The flag planted on the moon was blowing in the wind.
2. There was no photographer in the reflection of an astronaut’s helmet.
3. An astronaut was clearly visible despite being in the shadow of the landing module. (Than)

After examining these claims, one could become suspicious of the lunar landing.  However, once someone researches simple facts and how physics works on the moon, they could clearly know that we did in fact land on the moon.  Neil Armstrong loved aviation too much.  It would be hard to believe that he would agree to lie about such a feat.  Another thing is that there were way too many people involved.  If it was a truly faked endeavor, the number of people who believe it was faked would be significantly higher.  We did send men to the moon and will soon be able to reach farther planets.