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The Apollo hoax theories


Neil Armstrong/Keystone/Getty Images

9/11 and Kennedy aside, no event in world history has generated quite so many conspiracy theories than the Apollo moon landings. But do they stand up? Here are the best reasons why it couldn’t have happened, and the rebuttals. Of course, you may disagree.

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Van Allens Belt protects humans from the Sun
[info]corporeal4now wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 03:28 pm (UTC)

The earth has a magnetic shield, this is called Van Allens belt. It protects the earth from the plasma radation from the Sun. During corona mass ejection, there can be collosal amounts of radation thrown towards the earth. When this happens, in far northern countries, its possible for the filament in incandescent bulbs to glow without any power from the mains. The belt protects humans upto the edge of space (considered to be around 120 miles above sea level). Beyond this man would require a massive amount of lead shielding to survive from the radiation from the sun. This and many other supporting factors indicate that humans have not been to the moon yet.
Re: Van Allens Belt protects humans from the Sun
[info]rayamiles wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 09:15 pm (UTC)
Err 120 miles you say, the space station is at about 350km up, (about 200 miles) so that must be a fake as well, oh my god everything is made up!

Are you for real?
Re: Van Allens Belt protects humans from the Sun
[info]tomtom70 wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 09:54 pm (UTC)
hahaha and how do you explain the space sorties to fix the ISS ?? Are they robots??

Re: Van Allens Belt protects humans from the Sun - [info]corporeal4now - Tuesday, 7 July 2009 at 06:28 am (UTC) Expand
Of course we went to the Moon!
[info]arcane_af wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 04:16 pm (UTC)
Thousands of people were involved in getting the first humans to the Moon, I cannot recall any of them saying it was a hoax.

Conspiracy theories are very powerful, they give social invalids a sense of power from their bedroom comfort zones. The application of sense is generally enough to deal with this.

But the Moon landings were a great achievement, although one may question the point of spending millions on visiting a place with less life than Bridlington on a Thursday afternoon.

Around 20 men have walked on the Moon, and I applaud them.

I do not applaud no-marks who never leave their bedroom, who say that it is all a hoax.

Re: Of course we went to the Moon!
[info]longon007 wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 05:38 pm (UTC)


Exactly right, far too many people were involved for this to be hoax,I have always thought so. And yes, getting there despite the risks was a fantastic achievement, and those who attempt- for whatever reasons- to belittle their efforts do themselves, and the brave people who went to the Moon, no favours at all. I think they must be rather thick.
Unanswered question
[info]timonsays wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 05:24 pm (UTC)
While I DO believe that we went to the moon, there is one question which I have never heard properly answered. It is this:

The stills camera lenses had a little cross etched onto them (in the top left-hand corner) in order (I believe) to give the photos a sense of scale. The cross should therefore be ON TOP of the pictures. But in some pictures the cross is partly obscured by the subject. This should be an impossibility. So what happened?

Clearly this does not detract from the landing itself, but it seems that maybe the photos were manipulated in some way. Or is there another perfectly logical explanation?
Re: Unanswered question
[info]dogsolitude_v2 wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 05:33 pm (UTC)
I've not seen these pictures (tbh the moon conspiracy thing never really interested me - I can't see any reason why one couldn't get there given a large enough rocket and a bit of planning), but that got me curious. Do you have a link?
Re: Unanswered question - [info]corporeal4now - Friday, 3 July 2009 at 06:10 pm (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]longon007 - Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 12:56 am (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]longon007 - Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 01:36 am (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]corporeal4now - Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 09:54 am (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]whizzrt - Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 11:18 am (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]dogsolitude_v2 - Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 11:13 am (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]lima_charlie - Friday, 3 July 2009 at 11:35 pm (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]timonsays - Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 10:14 am (UTC) Expand
Re: Unanswered question - [info]uksnapper - Monday, 6 July 2009 at 06:29 pm (UTC) Expand
[info]dogsolitude_v2 wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 05:31 pm (UTC)
I've often thought that conspiracy theories need to be taken seriously. Not necessarily by believing them, but by seeing them as symptomatic of a gradual breakdown of trust in authority and Government.

I do believe it's healthy to question things that we are told by the media, however those responsible for running the country, Nasa, the media outlets etc must take stock of the fact that increasing numbers of people don't believe a word that comes out of the TV or papers.

The degree of alienation that lies between Government and the public certainly appears to be growing.

On another shoe I'd also suggest that the Global Conspiracy theories that abound, involving Illuminati plots to microchip the population, should serve as a pretty good warning against stuff that we simply *don't* want to happen. A bit like Orwell's 1984, say.

So whereas one may not consider it necessary to start wearing tinfoil hats or whatever, I still think it's worthwhile and interesting hearing out the claims of various conspiracy theorists, even if one doesn't agree with them.

The Psychology of Convincement: The Moon "Landing" Theory
[info]duzeduze wrote:
Friday, 3 July 2009 at 06:51 pm (UTC)
In order for one to understand philosophies that underpin convincement, one ought to first understand psychology. In this case of the moonlanding onspiracy theories and the counter theories, the psychology of fear must be first deeply understood in the process. If a power needed to avoid or rather prevent an attack because they were afraid of being attacked in the first place, that power would have had to present a tactic that employed the psychology of fear in order to effectively prevent that possibility to be real. We will then understand that the United States was desperate to prevent the USSR from attacking first and then applied the "Moon Strategy" as a psychological tool to stay on top of the cold war "game".

That psychology can be found primarily in the subject of numbers, where some members suggest and innocently argue that the large number of those involved in the moonlanding strategy proves that it was real and that it happened. This is where the application of psychology was best used and the nations "bought it for a pound". The large number of people involved might have been many but we do not see the large number of people on the picture, do we now? All the people "involved" were NOT ACTUALLY "involved" in the entire act, especially the landing bit. I thought people knew about cover-ups by now. The large number of people invlolved constitute a very tiny part of the cover up. Besides, no matter how much evidence we can provide to prove that the project of moon landing and walking was a fake, when people want to believe something because choosing to do so makes them happy and content, it is difficult to make them think otherwise until the relevant government or an indivudual invoved at the very high ranking level of the project comes out and confesses the truth. I however do not see anyone doing that soon
sdfasdf
[info]smoothop8388 wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 11:35 am (UTC)
rgfasdfb
Why no manned moon landings in past two decades?
[info]house_2005 wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 11:35 am (UTC)
Why have there been no manned moon landings after the Cold War?


Surely that would prove/disprove the Apollo landing and with new technology and digital photography and colour tv etc it would be an improved visual experience for the world.
Re: Why no manned moon landings in past two decades?
[info]adey_t wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 04:16 pm (UTC)
ermmm...... the cost maybe?? and people were over it, and this article is embarrassing. Exactly which bits of Apollo was a fake? All of it? Or just bits?
Shadows ?
[info]ajlennon wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 07:45 pm (UTC)

"The shadows may fall differently to how we expect, but this is not our planet ? things will be different there."

If you're billing this as an explanation then it won't do. Physics is _very_much_ the same on the moon. That's kind of the point of physics.... You're "there be dragons" explanations simply don't cut it.
[info]almasary wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 08:19 pm (UTC)
And who left the camera there in the first place? stanley kubrick was in charge of this project
Shadows
[info]alphasearcher wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 09:09 pm (UTC)
Watch the Mythbusters episode on the moon landings. They showed how the lay of the land can create the illusion that shadows are going in different directions. But, it is simply an optical illusion. Plus, if there were more than one light source the astronauts would have more tan one shadow. And they don't.

Any conspiracy to fake a moon landing would be harder to pull off than actually going there.
Re: Shadows - [info]longon007 - Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 10:11 pm (UTC) Expand
Moon man!
[info]kodak321 wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 10:53 pm (UTC)
Not really...I've been to the moon and had an egg and bacon butty...one of the locals told me he felt alienated....he's now living in my fridge....
Re: Moon man!
[info]longon007 wrote:
Saturday, 4 July 2009 at 11:52 pm (UTC)

Don't give hope yet
Moon man!
[info]kodak321 wrote:
Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 01:06 am (UTC)
I haven't...he's quite friendly...his name is corporeal4....a bit weird....he cleans the fridge but shits in a funny way....but there you go....
Re: Moon man!
[info]longon007 wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 12:56 am (UTC)


Ah, of course,well clocked, know what I mean; cororpeal4... kodka321, what could he be on
Re: Moon man! - [info]corporeal4now - Monday, 6 July 2009 at 10:34 am (UTC) Expand
False lighting
[info]claphamomnibus wrote:
Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 07:24 am (UTC)
Can SOMEONE please explain why the shadows are so divergent in this photo? If the sun at an infinite distance were the light source then the shadows would appear parallel - but they do not!
Re: False lighting
[info]greymick0203 wrote:
Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 10:11 am (UTC)
The shadows are so divergent for a very simple reason. What you are looking at is a 2 dimensional image of a 3 dimensional scene. Go to some flat land with a few features and take a photograph where the sun is the only illumination and you will see exactly the same effect. The ONLY thing that bothers me about the moon landings is the number on the bottom left of the big screen in mission control, specifically the Apollo 11 mission. The numbers which are very clear, are 51. It's like they were trying to create a conspiracy by having them there. check it out for yourself on any of the footage available, no kidding 51 in the bottom left.
moonies
[info]steviebabe wrote:
Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 10:02 am (UTC)
no way did they go... the Russians had a feasability study on costs, manpower expenditure, and what would be the positives and concluded that once leaving the Van Allan belt all bets would be off and the certainty of a lost crew to radiation sickness would be the result. The cold war period in which this scenario was played encouraged risks and the Americans were just as cautious but they went along with CIA directives. I mean. it wouldn't be the first time. cocked it all up on the back lot at Warner Bros, I mean nobody died and look at the PR they got out of it, but don't be fooled....
Re: moonies
[info]jon_0_0 wrote:
Sunday, 5 July 2009 at 02:51 pm (UTC)
The Soviet moon program during the 1960s wasn't just paper studies. On the contrary, they invested significant resources to the design and construction of their Saturn V competitor, the N1. Four N1 launch attempts were made between 1969 and 1972. The Russians kept the N1 program secret until 1990. In fact, the liquid-fuel engine technology the Russians developed for the N1 is still today the most advanced in the world. The Russians failed to beat the US to the moon for reasons that are well known and in the public domain.
Radiation issues and current situation
[info]scousefrog wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 09:24 am (UTC)
I was interested in the effects of various radiation on humans in space. Wiki appeared somehwat sparse but here we see a discussion of just why now we cannot go to Mars given the great risks which we still do not know much about!

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Manned-Mission-to-Mars-Grounded-Radiation-Risk-to-Great-82200.shtml

Note also that the Moon suffers from radiation so we would need much protection there.
As the article says "The first manned missions to the Moon were somehow fortunate, even NASA approves, as a dangerous burst of solar radiation would have put the astronauts in serious danger."

Fair bit of luck and risk taking since they knew less than we do now.

I thought to look at manned space stations and how they deal with Van Allen belts etc. Admittedly they look to longer periods in space than the Apollo missions.

Per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_station

"In the case of solar flares, all current habitats are protected by the Earth's magnetic field, and are below the Van Allen belts."

Van Allen Belts are too hot for space stations. They see spots before their eyes i see. What side effects did the Apollo pilots suffer if any? i noted reports that no human has been through the belts since.
Not conclusive articles but they clearly indicate that the trip to the Moon and Mars are not something we undertake lightly today. Indeed even low orbit satellites seem to have to contend with significant radiation damage.

Per
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apollo_Moon_Landing_hoax_conspiracy_theories
the aluminium hulls protected them. Why doesn't that solve problems now? Presumably it is time that is critical. It only works for a short period by reducing exposure to a level safe for a short period. This is the position
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Can_humans_pass_through_the_Van_Allen_radiation_belt&src=ansTT

Can you show that short term exposure is dangerous?

Perhaps a real issue is not the Van Allen Belts but the moon as Nasa say themselves here

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2005/08sep_radioactivemoon.htm

The surface of the Moon is baldly exposed to cosmic rays and solar flares, and some of that radiation is very hard to stop with shielding.

For people to live and work on the Moon safely, the radiation problem must be solved.
The lunar surface itself is radioactive!

The first global mapping of neutron radiation from the Moon was performed by NASA's Lunar Prospector probe in 1998-99. LEND will improve on the Lunar Prospector data by profiling the energies of these neutrons, showing what fraction are of high energy (i.e., the most damaging to people) and what fraction are of lower energies.

With such knowledge in hand, scientists can begin designing spacesuits, lunar habitats, Moon vehicles, and other equipment for NASA's return to the Moon knowing exactly how much radiation shielding this equipment must have to keep humans safe

--
They got really lucky in 1969 in a vacuum of knowledge. Or they were in and out so fast...
One has to have doubts.
Re: Radiation issues and current situation
[info]duzeduze wrote:
Monday, 13 July 2009 at 12:21 am (UTC)
Thank you scousefrog!! I laugh when I read some of these "theories" and the extent to which they ACTUALLY BELIEVE people have been to the moon. It shows how weak a human brain can actually be.
Re: Radiation issues and current situation - [info]scousefrog - Monday, 13 July 2009 at 06:11 am (UTC) Expand
Re: The Moon
[info]arcane_af wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 09:30 am (UTC)
Upon considered reflection, hoaxing a Moon-landing 40 years ago would be a lot more difficult than actually flying to it!
Re: The Moon
[info]corporeal4now wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 02:59 pm (UTC)

The Nasa hoax 40 years ago wasn't water tight, it was shabby, hence all the postings...

kodak321, whats you're mode of transportation?, are you travelling in physical form or have you shed your baggage and moving as energy found in the pockets at the boundary of the covalent threshold? If you are still peeing, then you must be in human form...
Re: Moon man!
[info]kodak321 wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 01:38 pm (UTC)
Corporeal4, why did you choose me....you're inside my head...I know you're there...I've left the solar system...I'm now entering the Omega zone....it's very pretty...I need a pee...
Re: Moon man!
[info]kodak321 wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 03:13 pm (UTC)
Corporeal4...alien technology...I found it when I was excavating my fish pond....I don't know if my form is human or otherwise....but I can feel your presence in my mind....the begazoid galaxy bekons...I now need a shit...pretty urgently...
USA ON The Moon
[info]maulderfoxmoo wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 07:34 pm (UTC)
Who Is Zooming Who Here The Van Allen Radiation Belt The Solar Flares From The Sun & The Temperature On The Moon 280 Degrees... Like Duh.. Nothing Could Have Survived That Now Really

Uh We Have The Hubble Up Running Again $$$$$$ Many Dollars Cost To Our Broke Country..
And The LRO I Have Asked NASA Many Times!!!!!!! To SHOW The Pictures of The Moon Landings Hm Have They Done It....NO!!

Uh If It Ain't A Hoax..
Why Can't They Show Us The Landings Folks Hubble Can Take A Pic Of A BB On An 8 Lane Freeway No Excuses!!!!! NOW!!!!
Here we go again...
[info]johnrd wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 07:37 pm (UTC)
It really is shocking to see this many conspiracy theorists come out of the woodwork to support the hoax theory, after it has been so thoroughly debunked. These people probably also believe that aliens built the pyramids. Humans are pretty clever - you don't give us nearly enough credit.

ALL of the hoax arguments have been shot down (including the radiation belt "problem") by others who took the time, particularly Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy.

Sending humans to the moon and back is not that difficult. It is ridiculously expensive and requires an enormous amount of man-hours and industrial resources, but the technology needed is in no way exotic (we knew how to build rockets, we were capable of doing orbital calculations with or without computers, we could build an airtight capsule, carbon dioxide scrubbers, etc.), hence the relatively short development time of less than a decade.

In 1960, two men touched down at the bottom of Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, more than 6 miles beneath the surface of the Pacific, in an environment FAR more dangerous than the vacuum of space - so dangerous that we have not returned, and there are no plans to ever attempt it again. Was that trip hoaxed too?

It really comes down to Occam's Razor. For the U.S. government of the 60's, pulling off a hoax of that magnitude would be far more difficult than actually going to the moon - and considering that the landings would have been impossible to fake for reasons already given, and that the evidence for the landings is overwhelming, the only conclusion that any intelligent person can come to is that we went to the moon.

We haven't gone back because it's expensive and because it's a low priority. For what it's worth, we could likely have sent people to Mars and back for the cost of the Iraq war. Of course we'll be accused of faking the Mars trip, too, even though we have the technology to do it now.
Re: USA ON the moon
[info]kodak321 wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 07:49 pm (UTC)
Agent maulder, have you been infected?
Re: Here we go again...
[info]kodak321 wrote:
Monday, 6 July 2009 at 07:58 pm (UTC)
johnrd, how do we know you're not a plant?....an alien sent to stop us investigating....why should we trust you?
Re: Here we go again...
[info]tommytcg wrote:
Tuesday, 7 July 2009 at 12:02 am (UTC)
Of course if you step outside the box, and open www.theyfly.com, you realise the hoax on us is that they try keep the et/UFO reality a secret, whilst wasting tax dollars for..prestige?? Then again, if you study the Hasselblad moon phtots, ypu would notice the very ancient, much degraded, massive alien glass (?) structures, from the archives of www.enterprisemission.com. That maybe why they didnt give all the evidence of the landings. Anti.grav may have been used, as no dust was shown to be blown when the lander took off. Its fun exploring out of the box before they censor the net.
They went there...
[info]hidflect wrote:
Tuesday, 7 July 2009 at 05:13 pm (UTC)
My mentor is an electronics and radar veteran of the US Navy and was in the service during the moon shot. As practice aboard their ships amongst the fleet they triangulated the radio emissions coming from the moon and confirmed their precise location. They were on the moon when and where they said they were. But some (maybe many) of the photos WERE faked.

For PR purposes. NASA and the military industrial complex were afraid that many of the shots might be disappointing or even ruined so they set up a "B" unit of photo reels. This was deemed necessary for funding purposes and for the cold war propaganda effort. A rather boring conspiracy but if you want one, there it is. The whole incident is an embarrassment to NASA which is why they always irritably "down" the talk when it arises.
Re: They went there...
[info]duzeduze wrote:
Monday, 13 July 2009 at 12:15 am (UTC)
what is the bus no?
I think hidflect is correct
[info]timsmith31 wrote:
Wednesday, 8 July 2009 at 08:51 pm (UTC)
I think they went, but sexed the whole thing up big time to make more impact. Without all the fakes and enhancements it would probably have been a bit of a damp squib... Visually anyway...
Who has been to the moon?
[info]beprecise wrote:
Thursday, 9 July 2009 at 12:19 pm (UTC)
Well while one cannot be sure about the Apollo missions, it is a certain fact that we can all trust that Wallace and Grommit both went . . . . . . . and came back. It was on the BBC . . and we all trust the BBC . . .
Re: Of course we went to the Moon!
[info]spacemansd wrote:
Saturday, 11 July 2009 at 11:35 am (UTC)
Off course we put a man on the moon...

"Thousands of people were involved in getting the first humans to the Moon".

"and those who attempt- for whatever reasons- to belittle their efforts do themselves, and the brave people who went to the Moon, no favours at all. I think they must be rather thick".

Last year I went sailing and didn't fall off the planet, must tell Darwin the good news and not to give up on the crazy ideas about natural selection.

But I'm rather thick - I build duck houses for MPs. MPs need these things to help their efforts and those who attempt- for whatever reasons- to belittle their efforts do themselves, and the brave ducks, no favours at al.

I'm off now to follow the herd and jump off that 200,000 mile cliff!!! whoooooooooosh!!
Re: Who has been to the moon? - [info]whole2th - Monday, 20 July 2009 at 02:45 am (UTC) Expand

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