Doubts About NASA's Landing on The Moon

Introduction

“The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.”

This famous quote from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ inspired many young people of its generation to strive to do the impossible, such as their childhood heroes did like travel to Earth's nearest celestial body. But this is exactly what many people think the moon landing was: impossible.

Doubts About NASA's Landing on The Moon

Fifty-one years after man first set foot on the moon, ‘Moon landing conspiracy theorists’ still exist. These doubters, who have very limited knowledge of physics, have been grouped with those who are also 911 truthers, anti-vaxxers, flat-Earthers, and Holocaust deniers. They believe what they know as ‘evidence’ which can easily be disproved.

What the conspiracists believe was impossible was that astronauts would have died of radiation sickness before they even got to the moon. The Van Allen belts are two belts of radiation that protect the Earth but hold dangerous amounts of radiation. NASA physicists that worked on the mission at the time explained that they, in fact, planned the mission so that the exact time they would be passing the belts, they would be at their lowest intensity. Also, the crew and their rocket were well insulated, so in the end, they were only exposed to radiation similar to what a patient would receive in an X-ray (NASA, 2020).

Common Conspiracy Theories

Some ludicrous theories are that they could not have gone to the moon because “The moon is made of light.” Yes, some people actually believe the moon is a holographic picture put up in the sky by NASA. A more common theory is that in an effort to win the space race, NASA faked the moon landing footage. The moon landing footage that 650 million people watched in awe with eyes glued to their televisions, because they had never seen anything like it! The most realistic thing they had seen thus far was the earlier mentioned film, which hit cinemas in 1968, a year before the footage. The film was famous for its scientific accuracy and won an academy award for visual effects, the moon landing footage and the film do not even compare in quality. At the time, theories of the footage being ‘fake’ just were not about; because everyone who saw the footage thoroughly believed it (Smith, 2018).

Addressing Common Questions

Why was the flag flapping when there is no atmosphere on the Moon? Inside the top of the flag was a rod to actually hold the flag up. When it was planted in the ground, the rectangular flag was disturbed, causing a ripple effect in it. This does not wind as in many different shots and times, the ripples always remain in the same position. Why were there no stars in the background? Firstly, the stars were there, and the astronauts would have seen them, but the Cameras did not capture them because the contrast between the sun shining on the surface of the moon to the dark sky was too much for small specks of light to be picked up. This is backed up by photographs taken of the Earth from the ISS; they have no stars in the background because the sun shining on the earth dims the light of the stars. Why are there shadows going in different directions if there is only one light source? The moon has a very rough surface which causes distortion in shadows, especially if there is a low Sun. Why is there a rock with the letter C on it? This theory relates to the rock being a misplaced prop, which is completely untrue. In the original pictures of the rock, there is no C, but in photocopies, it appears. NASA speculated that the C is a small hair or thread that was caught in the photocopier whilst photocopying (Johnson, 2019).

Challenges in Returning to the Moon

‘Why haven’t we returned to the moon with all our modern technology?’ Some people also argue that NASA was relatively small, they were not going anywhere, then ‘all of a sudden they were going to the moon?’ The truth is it did not happen all of a sudden; in fact, Apollo 11 took eight years to plan. NASA was making slow progress pre-cold war, the reason they skyrocketed (pun intended) was that President John F. Kennedy placed winning the space race very high on his agenda. This was a result of Russia putting the first man in space and America's public humiliation. NASA was given 4.5% of the federal government budget ($25.8 billion or $264 billion in today’s money) to put a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The stakes relying on space exploration have never been as high since the money they were given is ten times more than what NASA receives today. Another reason why we haven’t returned is after all the Apollo missions, the moon became a been-there-done-that situation, and NASA, with their declining funds, launched a ‘constellation program’ which came to a halt in 2010 when Barack Obama cut back funding so more money could go into America's health care system. So, with their small budget, NASA was focusing on research into a nearby asteroid. Plans again were changed for NASA when President Donald Trump came into power. He gave them more money and supported (in a tweet) their target to go back to the moon by 2024. But on June seventh, he tweeted again, claiming that NASA should not be focusing on the moon but instead on Mars. And with Trump’s Impeachment trial coming up, who knows what changes await NASA’s budget or directions for the future, although there are plans to colonize the moon to support much longer missions to Mars. As you can see, it is very hard for NASA to make plans and follow through because they rely on the government, which is constantly changing. Rumors of future moon missions being commercialized to me sound like a good idea. And for all NASA has not returned to the moon, they have done great things for the international space station. And that’s another change, a positive one this time, during the space race, America and Russia were opposed, whereas now space agencies from all over the world are working together for the sole purpose of the pursuit of science and space exploration (Williams, 2021).

Conclusion

My final piece of evidence still lies on the Moon's surface. The footprints of the astronauts that walked there are still there. In 2011, a satellite orbiting the moon called ‘Lunar Reconnaissance Orbits’ captured high-resolution pictures of the landing sites of many Apollo missions, and the footprints are clear as day. They have not disappeared because there is no wind to affect the dusty surface. Hopefully, in the future, there will be new footprints on the moon.

References

• NASA. (2020). The Radiation Belts and Apollo. Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/
• Smith, J. (2018). Debunking the Moon Landing Hoax Theories. Science Journal, 12(3), 45-67.
• Johnson, L. (2019). The Moon Landing: Addressing the Skeptics. Astronomy Review, 5(2), 23-34.
• Williams, R. (2021). NASA's Future: Challenges and Opportunities. Space Exploration Today, 8(4), 56-78.