View source for Moon landing conspiracy theories

{{Short description|Claims that the Apollo Moon landings were faked}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|Moon hoax|Great Moon Hoax}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use American English|date=August 2020}}
[[File:Apollo 11 Crew During Training Exercise - GPN-2002-000032.jpg|thumb|[[Astronaut]]s [[Buzz Aldrin]] and [[Neil Armstrong]] in NASA's training [[mockup]] of the Moon and the [[Apollo Lunar Module]]. Conspiracy theorists say that the films of the missions were made using sets similar to this training mockup.]]

[[Conspiracy theories]] claim that some or all elements of the [[Apollo program]] and the associated [[Moon landing]]s were [[hoax]]es staged by [[NASA]], possibly with the aid of other organizations. The most notable claim of these conspiracy theories is that the [[List of Apollo missions#Crewed missions|six crewed landings (1969–1972)]] were faked and that [[List of Apollo astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|twelve Apollo astronauts]] did not actually land on the [[Moon]]. Various groups and individuals have made claims since the mid-1970s that NASA and others knowingly misled the public into believing the landings happened, by manufacturing, tampering with, or destroying evidence including photos, [[telemetry]] tapes, radio and TV transmissions, and [[Moon rock]] samples.

Much [[third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings|third-party evidence for the landings]] exists, and detailed rebuttals to the hoax claims have been made.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 154–173</ref> Since the late 2000s, high-definition photos taken by the [[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]] (LRO) of the Apollo landing sites have captured the [[Apollo Lunar Module#Descent stage|Lunar Module descent stages]] and the tracks left by the astronauts.<ref name="NASA LRO">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html |title=NASA Spacecraft Images Offer Sharper Views of Apollo Landing Sites |last1=Neal-Jones |first1=Nancy |last2=Zubritsky |first2=Elizabeth |last3=Cole |first3=Steve |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |date=September 6, 2011 |publisher=NASA |id=Goddard Release No. 11-058 (co-issued as NASA HQ Release No. 11-289) |access-date=September 22, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/620-Question-Answered!.html |title=LRO slewed 19° down-Sun allowing the illuminated side of the still standing American flag to be captured at the Apollo 17 landing site. M113751661L |last=Robinson |first=Mark |publisher=LROC News System |date=July 27, 2012 |type=Caption |access-date=April 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024061649/http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?%2Farchives%2F620-Question-Answered%21.html |archive-date=October 24, 2012 }}</ref> In 2012, images were released showing five of the six Apollo missions' [[Lunar Flag Assembly|American flags erected on the Moon]] still standing. The exception is that of [[Apollo 11]], which has lain on the lunar surface since being blown over by the Lunar Module [[Ascent Propulsion System]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Apollo Moon flags still standing, images show |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19050795 |work=[[BBC News]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |location=London |date=July 30, 2012 |access-date=April 29, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/07/american-flags-from-apollo-missions-still-standing/ |title=American Flags From Apollo Missions Still Standing |last=Abbey |first=Jennifer |work=[[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] |publisher=[[American Broadcasting Company|ABC]] |location=New York |type=Blog |date=July 31, 2012 |access-date=April 29, 2013}}</ref>

Reputable experts in science and astronomy regard the claims as [[pseudoscience]] and demonstrably false.<ref name="badastronomy">{{Cite book| last=Plait| first=Philip C.| author-link=Philip Plait | title=Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax"| year=2002| publisher=[[John Wiley & Sons]]| location=New York| isbn=0-471-40976-6| ref=Plait}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Howell |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Dobrijevic |first2=Daisy |date=2022-01-25 |title=Moon-landing hoax still lives on. But why? |url=https://www.space.com/apollo-11-moon-landing-hoax-believers.html |access-date=2024-12-06 |website=Space.com |language=en}}</ref> Opinion polls taken in various locations between 1994 and 2009 have shown that between 6% and 20% of Americans, 25% of Britons, and 28% of Russians surveyed believe that the crewed landings were faked. Even as late as 2001, the [[Fox Broadcasting Company|Fox television network]] documentary ''Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?'' claimed NASA faked the first landing in 1969 to win the [[Space Race]].<ref name="greatmoonhoax">{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast23feb_2/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100410011250/http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2001/ast23feb_2/ |archive-date=April 10, 2010 |title=The Great Moon Hoax |last=Phillips |first=Tony |date=February 23, 2001 |work=Science@NASA |publisher=[[NASA]] |access-date=July 30, 2012}}</ref>

== Origins ==
An early and influential book about the subject of a Moon-landing conspiracy, ''We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle'', was [[Self-publishing|self-published]] in 1976 by [[Bill Kaysing]], a former [[U.S. Navy|US Navy]] officer with a Bachelor of Arts in English.<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]]</ref> Despite having no knowledge of rockets or technical writing,<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], p. 30</ref> Kaysing was hired as a senior [[technical writer]] in 1956 by [[Rocketdyne]], the company that built the [[F-1 (rocket engine)|F-1]] engines used on the [[Saturn V]] rocket.<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], p. 80</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://billkaysing.com/biography.php |title=A brief biography of Bill Kaysing |last=Kaysing |first=Wendy L. |publisher=BillKaysing.com |access-date=February 28, 2013}}</ref> He served as head of the technical publications unit at the company's Propulsion Field Laboratory until 1963. The many allegations in Kaysing's book effectively began discussion of the Moon landings being faked.<ref name=k-pg7 /><ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], p. 157</ref> The book claims that the chance of a successful crewed landing on the Moon was calculated to be 0.0017%, and that despite close monitoring by the [[Soviet Union|USSR]], it would have been easier for NASA to fake the Moon landings than to really go there.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://braeunig.us/space/hoax.htm |title=Did we land on the Moon? |last=Braeunig |first=Robert A. |date=November 2006 |website=Rocket and Space Technology |publisher=Robert Braeunig |access-date=May 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522183404/http://www.braeunig.us/space/hoax.htm |archive-date=May 22, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billkaysing.com/hoaxtheory.php |last=Galuppini |first=Albino |title=Hoax Theory |publisher=BillKaysing.com |access-date=May 3, 2013}}</ref>

In 1980, the [[International Flat Earth Research Society|Flat Earth Society]] accused NASA of faking the landings, arguing that they were staged by Hollywood with [[Walt Disney]] sponsorship, based on a script by [[Arthur C. Clarke]] and directed by [[Stanley Kubrick]].{{efn|In 1968, Clarke and Kubrick had collaborated on the film ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', which realistically portrayed a Moon mission.}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Schadewald |first=Robert J. |author-link=Robert Schadewald |date=July 1980 |title=The Flat-out Truth: Earth Orbits? Moon Landings? A Fraud! Says This Prophet |journal=[[Science Digest]] |location=New York |publisher=[[Hearst Corporation|Hearst Magazines]] |url=http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/fe-scidi.htm |access-date=April 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128101904/http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/fe-scidi.htm |archive-date=January 28, 2013}}</ref> Folklorist [[Linda Dégh]] suggests that writer-director [[Peter Hyams]]' film ''[[Capricorn One]]'' (1978), which shows a hoaxed journey to [[Mars]] in a [[spacecraft]] that looks identical to the Apollo craft, might have given a boost to the hoax theory's popularity in the post-[[Vietnam War]] era. Dégh sees a parallel with other attitudes during the post-[[Watergate scandal|Watergate]] era, when the American public were [[Credibility gap|inclined to distrust official accounts]]. Dégh writes: "The mass media catapult these half-truths into a kind of twilight zone where people can make their guesses sound as truths. Mass media have a terrible impact on people who lack guidance."<ref name="wired">{{cite magazine |url=https://www.wired.com/wired/archive/2.09/moon.land.html?pg=5 |title=The Wrong Stuff |volume=2 |last=van Bakel |first=Rogier |magazine=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |publisher=[[Condé Nast Publications]] |location=New York |issue=9 |date=September 1994 |page=5 |access-date=August 13, 2009}}</ref> In ''[[A Man on the Moon]]'',<ref>[[#Chaikin|Chaikin 2007]] (page needed)</ref> first published in 1994, [[Andrew Chaikin]] mentions that at the time of [[Apollo 8]]'s [[Lunar orbit|lunar-orbit]] mission in December 1968,<ref>[[#Attivissimo|Attivissimo 2013]], p. 70</ref> similar conspiracy ideas were already in circulation.<ref>[[#Dick & Launius|Dick & Launius 2007]], pp. 63–64</ref>

== Claimed motives of the United States and NASA ==
Those who believe the Moon landings were faked offer several theories about the motives of NASA and the [[Federal government of the United States|United States government]]. The three main theories are below.

=== Space Race ===
Motivation for the United States to engage the [[Soviet Union]] in a [[Space Race]] can be traced to the  [[Cold War]]. Landing on the Moon was viewed as a national and technological accomplishment that would generate world-wide acclaim. But going to the Moon would be risky and expensive, as exemplified by President [[John F. Kennedy#Space policy|John F. Kennedy]] famously stating in [[We choose to go to the Moon|a 1962 speech]] that the United States chose to go {{em|because}} it was hard.<ref>[[#Chaikin|Chaikin 2007]], p. 2, "We choose to go to the Moon! We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things – not because they are easy, but because they are ''hard.''" — Kennedy speaking at [[Rice University]], September 12, 1962.</ref>

Hoax theory debunker [[Phil Plait]] says in his 2002 book ''[[Bad Astronomy]]''{{efn|He does this in [http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html his site] as well}} that the Soviets – with [[Soviet crewed lunar programs|their own competing Moon program]], an [[nuclear espionage|extensive intelligence network]] and a formidable scientific community able to analyze NASA data – would have "cried foul" if the United States tried to fake a Moon landing,<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], p. 173</ref> especially since their own program had failed. Proving a hoax would have been a huge propaganda win for the Soviets. Instead,  the third edition (1970–1979) of the ''[[Great Soviet Encyclopedia]]'' contained many articles reporting the landings as factual, such as its article on Neil Armstrong.<ref name=GSE-01a>{{cite news|url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Neil+Armstrong|title="Neil Armstrong." ''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', 3rd Edition. 1970–1979. The Gale Group, Inc. |publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com|The Free Dictionary [Internet]]]|author=|date=|access-date=February 25, 2021|quote= ... Armstrong made the historic first flight to the moon with E. Aldrin and M. Collins, from July 16 to 24, 1969, serving as commander of the spacecraft Apollo 11. A lunar module with Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the moon in the area of the Sea of Tranquility on July 20, 1969. Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon (July 21, 1969); he spent two hours, 21 minutes and 16 seconds outside the spacecraft. After successfully completing its program, the crew of Apollo II returned to earth. ...''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', 3rd Edition (1970–1979). 2010 The Gale Group, Inc.}}</ref> Their article on [[space exploration]] describes the Apollo 11 landing as "the third historic event" of the [[space age]], following the launch of [[Sputnik]] in 1957, and [[Yuri Gagarin]]'s flight in 1961.<ref name=GSE-02a>{{cite news|url=https://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/space+exploration|title="space exploration." ''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', 3rd Edition. 1970–1979. The Gale Group, Inc. |publisher=[[TheFreeDictionary.com|The Free Dictionary [Internet]]]|author=|date=|access-date=February 25, 2021|quote=... The space age. Oct. 4, 1957, the date on which the USSR launched the first artificial earth satellite, is considered the dawn of the space age. A second important date is Apr. 12, 1961, the date of the first manned space flight, by Iu. A. Gagarin, the start of man's direct penetration into space. The third historical event is the first lunar expedition, by N. Armstrong, E. Aldrin, and M. Collins (USA), July 16–24, 1969.. ...''The Great Soviet Encyclopedia'', 3rd Edition (1970–1979). 2010 The Gale Group, Inc.}} (Warning to avoid possible confusion: At the same cited web address the Soviet-era article is preceded by a 2013 article on space exploration from ''[[The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia]]'')</ref>

Conspiracist [[Bart Sibrel]] responded, incorrectly asserting that, "the Soviets did not have the capability to track deep space craft until late in 1972, immediately after which, the last three Apollo missions were abruptly canceled."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moonmovie.com/faq.htm |title=Moon Hoax Moonmovie.com Frequently Asked Questions |work=Moonmovie.com |publisher=AFTH, LLC |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080212134517/http://www.moonmovie.com/faq.htm |archive-date=February 12, 2008 |access-date=August 26, 2009}}</ref> [[Canceled Apollo missions|Those missions]] were canceled, not abruptly, but for cost-cutting reasons. The announcements were made in January and September 1970,<ref>{{Cite magazine | url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,902767,00.html | title=Science: Waning Moon Program| magazine=Time| date=September 14, 1970}}</ref> two full years before the "late 1972" claimed by Sibrel.<ref name="Cancelled Apollos">"[http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo_18_20.html Apollo 18 through 20 – The Canceled Missions]", Dr. David R. Williams, NASA, accessed July 19, 2006.</ref> (See [[#Vietnam War|Vietnam War]] below.)

In fact, the Soviets had been sending [[uncrewed spacecraft]] to the Moon since 1959,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/SpaceRace/sec300/sec361.htm |title=Soviet Lunar Programs |website=Space Race |publisher=[[National Air and Space Museum]] |location=Washington, D.C. |type=Online version of exhibition on view in Gallery 114 |access-date=November 13, 2010 |archive-date=May 10, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510120502/http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/gal114/spacerace/sec300/sec361.htm }}</ref> and "during 1962, deep space tracking facilities were introduced at IP-15 in [[Ussuriysk|Ussuriisk]] and IP-16 in [[Yevpatoria|Evpatoria]] (Crimean Peninsula), while Saturn communication stations were added to IP-3, 4 and 14,"<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.russianspaceweb.com/kik.html |title=Russia's space command and control infrastructure |last=Zak |first=Anatoly |website=RussianSpaceWeb.com |publisher=Anatoly Zak |access-date=November 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100708063431/http://www.russianspaceweb.com/kik.html |archive-date=July 8, 2010}}</ref> the last of which having a {{Convert|100|e6km|abbr=unit}} range.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/articles/sovstems.htm |title=Soviet Space Tracking Systems |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |publisher=Mark Wade |access-date=November 13, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101101224934/http://www.astronautix.com/articles/sovstems.htm |archive-date=November 1, 2010}}</ref> The Soviet Union tracked the Apollo missions at the Space Transmissions Corps, which was "fully equipped with the latest intelligence-gathering and surveillance equipment."<ref>[[#Scheaffer|Scheaffer 2004]], p. 247</ref> [[Vasily Mishin]], in an interview for the article "The Moon Programme That Faltered," describes how the Soviet Moon program dwindled after the Apollo landings.<ref>{{cite journal |date=March 1991 |title=The Moon Programme That Faltered |journal=[[Spaceflight (magazine)|Spaceflight]] |volume=33 |pages=2–3 |location=London |publisher=[[British Interplanetary Society]]|bibcode=1991SpFl...33....2.}}</ref>

In May 2023&nbsp;[[Dmitry Rogozin]], former director general of the Russian space agency, [[Roscosmos]], expressed doubt that U.S. astronauts landed on the Moon. He complained of not receiving a satisfactory answer when he asked his agency to provide evidence. He said his colleagues at Roscosmos were angry about his questions and did not want to undermine cooperation with NASA.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Berger |first1=Eric |title=Former head of Roscosmos now thinks NASA did not land on the Moon |url=https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/05/former-head-of-roscosmos-now-thinks-nasa-did-not-land-on-the-moon/ |website=Ars Technica |access-date=12 May 2023 |date=May 8, 2023}}</ref>

=== NASA funding and prestige ===
Conspiracy theorists claim that NASA faked the landings to avoid humiliation and to ensure that it continued to get funding. NASA raised "about US$30 billion" to go to the Moon, and [[Bill Kaysing|Kaysing]] claimed in his book that this could have been used to "pay off" many people.<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], p. 71</ref> Since most conspiracists believe that sending men to the Moon was impossible at the time,<ref>[[#Attivissimo|Attivissimo 2013]], p. 163</ref> they argue that landings had to be faked to fulfill Kennedy's 1961 goal, "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth."<ref name="Special Message">{{cite AV media |people=Kennedy, John F. |date=May 25, 1961 |title=Special Message to Congress on Urgent National Needs |medium=Motion picture (excerpt) |url=http://www.jfklibrary.org/Asset-Viewer/xzw1gaeeTES6khED14P1Iw.aspx |access-date=August 1, 2013 |publisher=John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum |location=Boston, MA |id=Accession Number: TNC:200; Digital Identifier: TNC-200-2}}</ref> In fact, NASA accounted for the cost of Apollo to the US Congress in 1973, totaling US$25.4 billion.<ref>{{cite book |author=Congress, House of Representatives, Committee on Science and Astronautics |title=1974 NASA Authorization Hearings |type=Hearing on H.R. 4567 |year=1973 |publisher=[[93rd United States Congress|93rd Congress]], first session |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=23229007 |ref=93rd Congress}}</ref>

Mary Bennett and David Percy claimed in the 2001 book ''Dark Moon: Apollo and the Whistle-Blowers'', that, with all the known and unknown hazards,<ref>[[#Bennett & Percy|Bennett & Percy 2001]], p. 77</ref> NASA would not risk broadcasting an astronaut getting sick or dying on live television.<ref>[[#Bennett & Percy|Bennett & Percy 2001]], pp. 330–331</ref> The counter-argument generally given is that NASA in fact ''did'' incur a great deal of public humiliation and potential political opposition to the program by losing an entire crew in the [[Apollo 1]] fire during a ground test, leading to its upper management team being questioned by Senate and House of Representatives space oversight committees.<ref>{{Citation
  |last = Anderson
  |first = Clinton P.
  |author-link = Clinton Presba Anderson
  |title = Apollo 204 Accident: Report of the Committee on Aeronautical and Space Sciences, United States Senate, with Additional Views
  |volume = Senate Report 956
  |place = Washington, D.C.
  |publisher = U.S. Government Printing Office
  |date=January 30, 1968
  |url = http://klabs.org/richcontent/Reports/Failure_Reports/as-204/senate_956/index.htm
  |ref = Anderson
  |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141220043317/http://klabs.org/richcontent/Reports/Failure_Reports/as-204/senate_956/index.htm
  |archive-date=December 20, 2014
  }}</ref> There was in fact no video broadcast during either the landing or takeoff because of technological limitations.<ref>{{cite book
  |last         = Steven-Boniecki
  |first        = Dwight
  |title        = Live TV From the Moon
  |year         = 2010
  |publisher    = Apogee Books
  |location     = Burlington, Ontario
  |isbn         = 978-1-926592-16-9
  |url          = http://www.livetvfromthemoon.com/
  |access-date  = September 14, 2014
  |archive-date = November 5, 2018
  |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20181105224828/http://www.livetvfromthemoon.com/
  }}</ref>

=== Vietnam War ===
The American Patriot Friends Network claimed in 2009 that the landings helped the United States government distract public attention from the unpopular [[Role of the United States in the Vietnam War#Americanization|Vietnam War]], and so crewed landings suddenly ended about the same time that the United States ended its involvement in the war.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm |title=Was The Apollo Moon Landing Fake? |date=July 21, 2009 |website=American Patriot Friends Network (APFN) |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516174114/http://www.apfn.org/apfn/moon.htm |archive-date=May 16, 2018 }}</ref> In fact, the ending of the landings was not "sudden" (see [[#Space Race|Space Race]] above). The war was one of several federal budget items with which NASA had to compete; NASA's budget peaked in 1966, and fell by 42% by 1972.<ref>U.S. Office of Management and Budget</ref> This was the reason the final flights were cut, along with plans for even more ambitious follow-on programs such as a permanent [[space station]] and crewed flight to Mars.<ref>Hepplewhite, T.A. [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4221/sp4221.htm ''The Space Shuttle Decision: NASA's Search for a Reusable Space Vehicle''], chapter 4. Washington, DC: National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 1999.</ref>

==Hoax claims and rebuttals==
Many Moon-landing conspiracy theories have been proposed, alleging that the landings either did not occur and NASA staff lied, or that the landings did occur but not in the way that has been reported. Conspiracists have focused on perceived gaps or inconsistencies in the historical record of the missions. The foremost idea is that the whole crewed landing program was a hoax from start to end. Some claim that the technology did not exist to send men to the Moon or that the [[Van Allen radiation belt]]s, [[solar flare]]s, [[solar wind]], [[coronal mass ejection]]s, and [[cosmic ray]]s made such a trip impossible.<ref name=k-pg7>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], pp. 7–8</ref>

Scientists Vince Calder and Andrew Johnson have given detailed answers to conspiracists' claims on the [[Argonne National Laboratory]] website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01278.htm |last1=Calder |first1=Vince |last2=Johnson |first2=Andrew, P.E. |last3=ProfHoff 503 |title=Ask A Scientist |date=October 12, 2002 |work=Newton |publisher=[[Argonne National Laboratory]] |access-date=August 14, 2009 |display-authors=2 |archive-date=July 30, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730143047/http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/gen01/gen01278.htm }}</ref> They show that NASA's portrayal of the Moon landing is fundamentally accurate, allowing for such common mistakes as mislabeled photos and imperfect personal recollections. Using the [[scientific process]], any hypothesis may be rejected if it is contradicted by the observable facts. The "real landing" hypothesis is a single story since it comes from a single source, but there is no unity in the hoax hypothesis because hoax accounts vary between conspiracists.<ref>[[#Ramsay|Ramsay 2006]] {{page needed|date=July 2021}}</ref>

=== Number of conspirators involved ===
According to [[James Longuski]], the conspiracy theories are impossible because of their size and complexity. The conspiracy would have to involve more than 400,000 people who worked on the Apollo project for nearly ten years, the twelve men who walked on the Moon, the six others who flew with them as [[Apollo command and service module|command module]] pilots, and another six astronauts who orbited the Moon.{{efn|This number includes the crews of Apollos 8, [[Apollo 10|10]], and [[Apollo 13|13]], though the last technically only performed a fly-by. These three missions account for only six additional astronauts because James Lovell orbited the Moon twice (Apollos 8 and 13), while John Young and Gene Cernan orbited on Apollo 10, and both later landed on the Moon.}} Hundreds of thousands of people would have had to keep the secret, including astronauts, scientists, engineers, technicians, and skilled laborers. Longuski argues that it would have been much easier to really land on the Moon than to generate such a huge conspiracy to fake the landings.<ref>[[#Longuski|Longuski 2006]], p. 102</ref><ref>[[#Aaronovitch|Aaronovitch 2010]], pp. 1–2, 6</ref> To date, nobody from the United States government or NASA linked to the Apollo program has said that the Moon landings were hoaxes. [[Penn Jillette]] made note of this in the "Conspiracy Theories" episode of his television show ''[[Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]]'' in 2005.<ref name="bullshit">{{cite episode |title=Conspiracy Theories |series=[[Penn & Teller: Bullshit!]] |network=[[Showtime (TV channel)|Showtime]] |air-date=May 9, 2005 |season=3 |number=3}}</ref> Physicist [[David Robert Grimes]] estimated the time that it would take for a conspiracy to be exposed based on the number of people involved.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barajas |first1=Joshua |date=15 February 2016 |title=How many people does it take to keep a conspiracy alive? |url=https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/math-formula-charts-the-lifespan-of-hoaxes |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171013022744/http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/math-formula-charts-the-lifespan-of-hoaxes/ |archive-date=13 October 2017 |access-date=22 July 2016 |website=PBS NEWSHOUR |publisher=Public Broadcasting Service (PBS)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Grimes |first1=David R |author-link1=David Robert Grimes |date=26 January 2016 |title=On the Viability of Conspiratorial Beliefs |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=11 |issue=1 |article-number=e0147905 |bibcode=2016PLoSO..1147905G |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0147905 |pmc=4728076 |pmid=26812482 |doi-access=free|issn=1932-6203}}</ref> His calculations used data from the [[PRISM (surveillance program)|PRISM surveillance program]], the [[Tuskegee syphilis experiment]], and the [[FBI Laboratory#21st century controversies|FBI forensic scandal]]. Grimes estimated that a Moon landing hoax would require the involvement of 411,000 people and would be exposed within 3.68 years. His study did not consider exposure by sources outside of the alleged conspiracy; it only considered exposure from within through whistleblowers or incompetence.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Steven |last1=Novella |first2=Bob |last2=Novella |first3=Cara |last3=Santa Maria |first4=Jay |last4=Novella |first5=Evan |last5=Bernstein |title=The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe: How to Know What's Really Real in a World Increasingly Full of Fake |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |year=2018 |pages=209–210 |isbn=978-1-5387-6053-6}}</ref>

=== Photographic and film oddities ===

Moon-landing conspiracists focus heavily on NASA photos, pointing to oddities in photos and films taken on the Moon. Photography experts (including those unrelated to NASA) have replied that the oddities are consistent with what should be expected from a real Moon landing, and are not consistent with manipulated or studio imagery. Some main arguments (set in plain text) and counter-arguments (set in italics) are listed below.

1. In some photos, the [[Reticle|crosshairs]] appear to be behind objects. The cameras were fitted with a [[Réseau plate]] (a clear glass plate with a reticle etched on), making it impossible for any photographed object to appear in front of the grid. Conspiracists often use this evidence to suggest that objects were "pasted" over the photographs, and hence obscure the reticle.

:* ''This effect only appears in copied and scanned photos, not any originals. It is caused by overexposure: the bright white areas of the emulsion "bleed" over the thin black crosshairs. The crosshairs are only about 0.004 inches thick (0.1 mm) and emulsion would only have to bleed about half that much to fully obscure it. Furthermore, there are many photos where the middle of the crosshair is "washed-out" but the rest is intact. In some photos of the American flag, parts of one crosshair appear on the red stripes, but parts of the same crosshair are faded or invisible on the white stripes. There would have been no reason to "paste" white stripes onto the flag.''<ref name="clavius-crosshairs">{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/photoret.html |title=Clavius: Photography – Crosshairs |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|File:Apollo 11 1998 scan cropped.jpg|Enlargement of a poor-quality 1998 scan; both the crosshair and part of the red stripe have "bled out"<!-- Do NOT replace this with a different/better version. This version is used to illustrate what is discussed in the article. -->
|File:Apollo 11 2004 scan cropped.jpg|Enlargement of a higher-quality 2004 scan, crosshair and red stripe visible
|File:Scott Gives Salute - GPN-2000-001114.jpg|[[David Scott]] salutes the American flag during the [[Apollo 15]] mission. The arms of the crosshair are washed-out on the white stripes of the flag (Photo ID: AS15-88-11863).
|File:Apollo 15 flag crop.jpg|Close-up of the flag, showing washed-out crosshairs
}}

2. Crosshairs are sometimes rotated or in the wrong place.

:* ''This is a result of popular photos being cropped or rotated for aesthetic impact.''<ref name="clavius-crosshairs" />

3. The quality of the photographs is implausibly high.

:* ''There are many poor quality photos taken by the Apollo astronauts. NASA chose to publish only the best examples.''<ref name="clavius-crosshairs" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/photoqual.html | title=Clavius: Photography – image quality |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=September 5, 2009}}</ref>
:* ''The Apollo astronauts used high-resolution [[Hasselblad]] 500 EL cameras with [[Carl Zeiss AG|Carl Zeiss optics]] and a 70&nbsp;mm [[Medium format (film)|medium format]] film magazine.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/photography/ |title=Apollo 11 Mission Photography |publisher=[[Lunar and Planetary Institute]] |access-date=July 23, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hasselblad.com/about-hasselblad/hasselblad-in-space/space-cameras.aspx |title=Space Cameras |website=Hasselblad in Space |publisher=Victor Hasselblad AB |access-date=May 6, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510154205/http://www.hasselblad.com/about-hasselblad/hasselblad-in-space/space-cameras.aspx |archive-date=May 10, 2013}}</ref>

4. There are no stars in any of the photos; the Apollo 11 astronauts also stated in post-mission press conferences that they did not remember seeing any stars during [[extravehicular activity]] (EVA).<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], pp. 20, 21, 22, 23</ref> Conspiracists contend that NASA chose not to put the stars into the photos because astronomers would have been able to use them to determine whether the photos were taken from the Earth or the Moon, by means of identifying them and comparing their celestial position and [[parallax]] to what would be expected for either observation site.

:* ''The astronauts were talking about naked-eye sightings of stars during the lunar daytime. They regularly sighted stars through the spacecraft navigation optics while aligning their inertial reference platforms, the [[Apollo PGNCS]].''<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-AOTNavStarsDetents.html |title=Navigation Stars used in the AOT |last1=Jones |first1=Eric M. |date=January 21, 2012 |website=Apollo Lunar Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=September 28, 2014}}</ref>

:* ''Stars are rarely seen in [[Space Shuttle]], [[Mir]], Earth observation photos, or even photos taken at sporting events held at night. The light from the Sun in outer space in the Earth-Moon system is at least as bright as the sunlight that reaches the Earth's surface on a clear day at noon, so cameras used for imaging subjects illuminated by sunlight are set for a [[Sunny 16 rule|daylight exposure]]. The dim light of the stars simply does not provide enough exposure to record visible images. All crewed landings happened during the lunar daytime. Thus, the stars were outshone by the Sun and by sunlight reflected off the Moon's surface. The astronauts' eyes were adapted to the sunlit landscape around them so that they could not see the relatively faint stars.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/blogs/earthmatters/2011/09/28/where-are-the-stars/ |title=Where are the stars? |last=Carlowicz |first=Mike |date=September 28, 2011 |work=[[NASA Earth Observatory]] |publisher=NASA |type=Blog |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 158–160</ref> The astronauts could see stars with the naked eye only when they were in the shadow of the Moon.''<ref>[[#Woods|Woods 2008]], pp. 206–207</ref><ref>[[#Harrison|Harrison 2012]], pp. 95–96</ref>

:* ''Camera settings can turn a well-lit background to black when the foreground object is brightly lit, forcing the camera to increase shutter speed so that the foreground light does not wash out the image. A demonstration of this effect is here.<ref>[[:File:Lamp-and-moon-example-2.JPG]]</ref> The effect is similar to not being able to see stars from a brightly lit parking lot at night; the stars only become visible when the lights are turned off.''

:* ''The Far Ultraviolet Camera was taken to the lunar surface on [[Apollo 16]] and operated in the shadow of the [[Apollo Lunar Module]] (LM). It took photos of Earth and of many stars, some of which are dim in visible light but bright in the ultraviolet. These observations were later matched with observations taken by orbiting ultraviolet telescopes. Furthermore, the positions of those stars with respect to Earth are correct for the time and location of the Apollo 16 photos.''<ref>{{cite journal |last=Keel |first=William C. |date=July 2007 |title=The Earth and Stars in the Lunar Sky |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=47–50 |location=Amherst, NY |publisher=Committee for Skeptical Inquiry}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.astr.ua.edu/keel/space/Apollo16EarthID.gif |title=Apollo16EarthID.gif |last=Keel |first=William C. |website=UA Astronomy Home Page|format=[[Graphics Interchange Format|GIF]] |access-date=May 8, 2013}} Base image: AS16-123-19657; Earth image start: 1233 CDT 21 April 1972; Field shown: 18.9 degrees.</ref>

:* ''Photos of the solar corona that included the planet [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]] and some background stars were taken from lunar orbit by Apollo 15 Command Module Pilot [[Al Worden]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/luceneweb/caption_direct.jsp?photoId=AS15-98-13311 |title=Solar corona photographed from Apollo 15 one minute prior to sunrise |date=July 31, 1971 |work=JSC Digital Image Collection |publisher=[[Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center]] |id=Photo ID: AS15-98-13311 |access-date=April 26, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130217205048/http://images.jsc.nasa.gov/luceneweb/caption_direct.jsp?photoId=AS15-98-13311 |archive-date=February 17, 2013}}</ref>

:* ''Photos of the planet [[Venus]] were taken from the Moon's surface by astronaut [[Alan Shepard]] during the Apollo 14 mission.''<ref name="venusovera14">{{cite web |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14Venus.html |title=Venus over the Apollo 14 LM |last1=Lunsford |first1=Danny Ross |last2=Jones |first2=Eric M. |year=2007 |work=Apollo Lunar Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=May 8, 2013|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080506204733/http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a14/a14Venus.html |archive-date= May 6, 2008}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|File:213177main s122e010982 hires.jpg|Short-exposure photo of the [[International Space Station]] (ISS) taken from {{OV|104}} in February 2008 during [[STS-122]] – one of many photos taken in space where no stars are visible
|File:Earth & Mir (STS-71).jpg|Earth and ''[[Mir]]'' in June 1995, an example of how sunlight can outshine the stars, making them invisible
|File:Apollo16EarthID.png|Long-exposure photo taken from the Moon's surface by [[Apollo 16]] astronauts using the Far Ultraviolet Camera. It shows the Earth with the correct background of stars, which are named.
|File:Space Shuttle Atlantis in the sky on July 21, 2011, to its final landing.jpg|Long-exposure photo (1.6 seconds at f-2.8, [[Film speed#ISO|ISO]] 10000) from the ISS in July 2011 of Space Shuttle ''Atlantis'' re-entry in which some stars are visible.
In this image, the Earth is lit by moonlight, not sunlight.
}}

5. The angle and color of shadows are inconsistent. This suggests that artificial lights were used.

:* ''Shadows on the Moon are complicated by reflected light, uneven ground, wide-angle lens distortion, and [[lunar dust]]. There are several light sources: the Sun, sunlight reflected from the Earth, sunlight reflected from the Moon's surface, and sunlight reflected from the astronauts and the Lunar Module. Light from these sources is scattered by lunar dust in many directions, including into shadows. Shadows falling into craters and hills may appear longer, shorter, and distorted.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 167–172</ref> Furthermore, shadows display the properties of [[vanishing point]] perspective, leading them to converge to a point on the horizon.''
:* This theory was further debunked on the 2008 ''[[MythBusters]]'' episode "[[MythBusters (2008 season)#Episode 104 – "NASA Moon Landing"|NASA Moon Landing]]".

6. There are identical backgrounds in photos which were allegedly taken miles apart. This suggests that a painted background was used.

:* ''Backgrounds were not identical, just similar. What appear as nearby hills in some photos are actually mountains many miles away. On Earth, objects that are farther away appear fainter, paler, bluer and less detailed, due to [[aerial perspective]]. On the Moon, there is no atmosphere or [[haze]] to obscure faraway objects, thus they appear clearer and nearer; a large object far away and a small object nearby are difficult to distinguish.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iangoddard.com/moon01.htm |title=Goddard's Journal: Are Apollo Moon Photos Fake? |last=Goddard |first=Ian Williams |date=February 26, 2001 |website=Iangoddard.com |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref> Furthermore, there are very few objects such as trees to help judge distance. One such case is debunked in "Who Mourns For Apollo?" by Mike Bara.''<ref name="whomourns">{{cite web|url=http://www.studyphysics.ca/apollo2.pdf |title=Who Mourns For Apollo? Part II |last1=Bara |first1=Michael |last2=Troy |first2=Steve |website=Mr. Clintberg's Studyphysics! |publisher=LunarAnomalies.com |access-date=November 13, 2010 }} Part I with Steve Troy and Richard C. Hoagland is available [http://www.studyphysics.ca/apollo1.pdf here] (PDF). Part III by Steve Troy has been archived from the original by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20090610025602/http://www.lunaranomalies.com/rad.htm Wayback Machine] on June 10, 2009.</ref>

7. The number of photos taken is implausibly high—up to one photo per 50 seconds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aulis.com/skeleton.htm |title=The skeleton in NASA's spacesuit |last=White |first=Jack |year=2005 |website=AULIS Online |publisher=AULIS Publishing |location=London |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref>

:* ''Simplified gear with fixed settings allowed two photos a second. Many were taken immediately after each other as stereo pairs or panorama sequences. The calculation (one per 50 seconds) was based on a lone astronaut on the surface, and does not take into account that there were two astronauts sharing the workload and simultaneously taking photographs during an [[Extra-vehicular activity]] (EVA).''

8. The photos contain artifacts like the two seemingly matching "C"s on a rock and on the ground. These may be labeled studio props.

:* ''The C-shaped objects are most likely printing imperfections and do not appear in the original film from the camera. It has been suggested that the "C" is a coiled hair.''<ref name="whomourns" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/rover1.html |title=Clavius: Photo Analysis – lunar rover |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=September 5, 2009}}</ref>

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|File:Apollo 16 rocks.jpg|Original AS16-107-17445 photograph
|File:Duke on the Descartes - GPN-2000-001123.jpg|Original AS16-107-17446 photograph
|Image:Apollo16CRock.jpg|Close-up of later generation prints of AS16-107-17446<!-- do NOT replace this by a different/better version. This version is used to illustrate what is discussed in the article. -->
}}

9. A woman named Una Ronald (a pseudonym created by the authors of the source<ref>[[#Bennett & Percy|Bennett & Percy 2001]], p. 321</ref>) from Perth, Australia, said that she saw a [[Coca-Cola]] bottle roll across the lower right quadrant of her television screen that was displaying the live broadcast of the Apollo 11 EVA. She also said that several letters appeared in ''[[The West Australian]]'' discussing the Coca-Cola bottle incident within ten days of the lunar landing.<ref>[[#Bennett & Percy|Bennett & Percy 2001]], pp. 319–320</ref>

:* ''No such newspaper reports or recordings have been found.<ref name="cokebottle">{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/bibcoke.html |title=Clavius: Bibliography – una ronald and the coke bottle |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=May 23, 2013}}</ref> Ronald's claims have only been relayed by one source.<ref name="ReferenceA">[[#Bennett & Percy|Bennett & Percy 2001]]</ref> There are also flaws in the story, such as the statement that she had to stay up late to watch the Moon landing live, which is easily discounted by many witnesses in Australia who watched the landing in the middle of the daytime.''<ref>[[#Bennett & Percy|Bennett & Percy 2001]], p. 319</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.webwombat.com.au/careers_ed/education/fly-to-moon.htm |title=Fly Me to the Moon |last=Anthony |first=James |work=Web Wombat |publisher=Web Wombat Pty Ltd |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref>

10. The 1994 book ''[[Moon Shot]]''<ref>[[#Shepard & Slayton|Shepard & Slayton 1994]] {{page needed|date=July 2021}}</ref> contains an obviously fake composite photo of Alan Shepard hitting a golf ball on the Moon with another astronaut.

:* '' It was used instead of the only existing real images from the TV monitor, which the editors seemingly felt were too grainy for their book. The book publishers did not work for NASA, although the authors were retired NASA astronauts.''

11. There appear to be "hot spots" in some photos which look as though a large spotlight was used in place of the Sun.

:* '' Pits on the Moon's surface focus and reflect light like the tiny glass spheres used in the coating of street signs, or dewdrops on wet grass. This creates a glow around the photographer's own shadow when it appears in a photograph (see [[Heiligenschein]]).''
:* ''If the astronaut is standing in sunlight while photographing into shade, light reflected off his white spacesuit yields a similar effect to a spotlight.<ref name="bootspot">{{cite web|url=http://www.clavius.org/bootspot.html |title=Clavius: Photo Analysis – buzz's hot spot |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=June 25, 2009}}</ref>''
:* ''Some widely published Apollo photos were high-contrast copies. Scans of the original transparencies are generally much more evenly lit. An example is shown below:''

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|File:A Man on the Moon, AS11-40-5903 (cropped).jpg|Original photo of Buzz Aldrin during [[Apollo 11]]
|File:Aldrin Apollo 11.jpg|The more famous edited version. The contrast has been increased, yielding the "spotlight effect", and a black band has been pasted at the top.
}}

12. Who filmed Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon?
[[File:ApolloTVCameraOnLunarModule.jpg|right|thumb|upright=0.6|The Apollo TV camera as it was mounted on the side of the Lunar Module]]
:* ''Cameras on the Lunar Module did. The [[Apollo TV camera]] mounted in the Modularized Equipment Stowage Assembly (MESA) of the [[Apollo Lunar Module]] gave a view from the exterior. While still on the Module's ladder steps, Armstrong deployed the MESA from the side of the Lunar Module, unpacking the TV camera. The camera was then powered on and a signal transmitted back to Earth. This meant that upwards of 600 million people on Earth could watch the live feed with only a very slight delay. Similar technology was also used on subsequent Apollo missions.''<ref>{{cite book |last = Steven-Boniecki |first= Dwight |title= Live TV From the Moon |year= 2010 |publisher=[[Apogee Books]] |location= Burlington, Ontario |isbn= 978-1-926592-16-9}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=A Detailed Look at the Camera Gear Behind the Historical Apollo 11 Moon Landing |url=https://petapixel.com/2014/07/29/a-detailed-look-at-the-camera-tech-behind-the-historical-apollo-11-moon-landing/ |website=petapixel.com |date=July 29, 2014 |access-date=March 11, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Photography During Apollo |url=https://www.history.nasa.gov/apollo_photo.html |website=www.history.nasa.gov |access-date=March 11, 2019 |archive-date=February 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200226104037/https://www.history.nasa.gov/apollo_photo.html }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Teitel |first1=Amy Shira |title=How NASA Broadcast Neil Armstrong Live from the Moon |url=https://www.popsci.com/how-nasa-broadcast-neil-armstrong-live-from-moon |access-date=March 11, 2019 |work=Popular Science |date=February 5, 2016 }}</ref> ''It was also filmed from an automatic 16mm movie camera mounted in a window of the Lunar Module.''

=== Environment ===
1. The astronauts could not have survived the trip because of exposure to radiation from the [[Van Allen radiation belt]] and galactic ambient radiation (see [[Acute radiation syndrome|radiation poisoning]] and [[health threat from cosmic rays]]). Some conspiracists have suggested that the temporary [[List of artificial radiation belts|artificial radiation belt]] caused by [[Starfish Prime]] (a [[High-altitude nuclear explosion|high-altitude nuclear test]] in 1962) would have proved perilous to the astronauts.<ref name="envrad"/>

:* ''There are two main Van Allen belts – the inner belt and the outer belt – and a transient third belt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/28feb_thirdbelt/ |title=Van Allen Probes Discover a New Radiation Belt |work=Science@NASA |publisher=NASA |date=February 28, 2013 |editor-last=Phillips |editor-first=Tony |access-date=May 8, 2013 |archive-date=December 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207154753/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/28feb_thirdbelt/ }}</ref> The inner belt is the more dangerous one, containing energetic protons. The outer one has less-dangerous low-energy electrons ([[Beta particle]]s).<ref name="vanallenbelts">{{cite web |url=http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/tour/AAvan.html |title=The Van Allen Belts |website=IMAGE Science Center |publisher=NASA |access-date=May 6, 2013 |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220163500/https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/tour/AAvan.html }}</ref><ref name="woods109">[[#Woods|Woods 2008]], p. 109</ref> The Apollo spacecraft passed through the inner belt in a matter of minutes and the outer belt in about {{frac|1|1|2}} hours.<ref name="woods109" /> The astronauts were shielded from the ionizing radiation by the aluminum hulls of the spacecraft.<ref name="woods109" /><ref name="plait162">[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], p. 162</ref> Furthermore, the orbital transfer trajectory from Earth to the Moon through the belts was chosen to lessen radiation exposure.<ref name="plait162" /> Even [[James Van Allen]], the discoverer of the Van Allen belt, rebutted the claims that radiation levels were too harmful for the Apollo missions.<ref name="envrad">{{cite web|url=http://www.clavius.org/envrad.html |title=Clavius: Environment – radiation and the van allen belts |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=September 8, 2009}}</ref> [[Phil Plait]] cited an average dose of less than 1&nbsp;[[Röntgen equivalent man|rem]] (10&nbsp;[[Sievert|mSv]]), which is equivalent to the ambient radiation received by living at sea level for three years.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 160–162</ref> The total radiation received on the trip was about the same as allowed for workers in the nuclear energy field for a year''<ref name="woods109" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/s2ch3.htm |title=Radiation Protection and Instrumentation |last=Bailey |first=J. Vernon |year=1975 |publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |id=NASA SP-368 |access-date=May 17, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515020144/http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/S2ch3.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2013}} Section II, Chapter 3, of NASA SP-368, [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-368/sp368.htm ''Biomedical Results of Apollo'']. See "[http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/Resize-jpg/ts2c3-2.jpg Table 2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221125347/http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/Resize-jpg/ts2c3-2.jpg |date=February 21, 2013 }}: Average Radiation Doses of the Flight Crews for the Apollo Missions."</ref> ''and not much more than what Space Shuttle astronauts received.''<ref name="vanallenbelts" />

2. Film in the cameras would have been fogged by this radiation.

:* ''The film was kept in metal containers that stopped radiation from fogging the emulsion.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 162–163</ref> Furthermore, film was not fogged in lunar probes such as the [[Lunar Orbiter program|Lunar Orbiter]] and [[Luna 3]] (which used on-board film development processes).''

3. The Moon's surface during the daytime is so hot that camera film would have melted.

:* ''There is no atmosphere to efficiently bind lunar surface heat to devices that are not in direct contact with it. In a vacuum, only radiation remains as a heat transfer mechanism. The physics of radiative heat transfer are thoroughly understood, and the proper use of passive optical coatings and paints was enough to control the temperature of the film within the cameras; Lunar Module temperatures were controlled with similar coatings that gave them a gold color. The Moon's surface does get very hot at lunar noon, but every Apollo landing was made shortly after lunar sunrise at the landing site; the [[Lunar day|Moon's day]] is about {{frac|29|1|2}} Earth days long, meaning that one Moon day (dawn to dusk) lasts nearly fifteen Earth days. During the longer stays, the astronauts did notice increased cooling loads on their spacesuits as the sun and surface temperature continued to rise, but the effect was easily countered by the passive and active cooling systems.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 165–167</ref> The film was not in direct sunlight, so it was not overheated.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clavius.org/envheat.html |title=Clavius: Environment – heat |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref>

4. The Apollo 16 crew could not have survived a big [[solar flare]] firing out when they were on their way to the Moon.

:* ''No large solar flare occurred during the flight of Apollo 16. There were large solar flares in August 1972, after Apollo 16 returned to Earth and before the flight of [[Apollo 17]].''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/27jan_solarflares/ |title=Sickening Solar Flares |last=Phillips |first=Tony |date=January 27, 2005 |work=Science@NASA |publisher=NASA |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615021549/http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/27jan_solarflares/ |archive-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Predicting Solar Eruptions |first=Selby |last=Cull |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3422566.html?page=1&c=y |work=News from Sky & Telescope |publisher=Sky Publishing |date=July 12, 2006 |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829171703/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3422566.html?page=1&c=y |archive-date=August 29, 2012 }}</ref>

5. The [[Lunar Flag Assembly|flag]] placed on the surface by the astronauts fluttered despite there being no wind on the Moon. This suggests that it was filmed on Earth and a breeze caused it to flutter. Sibrel said that it may have been caused by indoor fans used to cool the astronauts, since their spacesuit cooling systems would have been too heavy on Earth.

:* ''The flag was fastened to an ''Г-''shaped rod (see [[Lunar Flag Assembly]]) so that it did not hang down. It only seemed to flutter when the astronauts were moving it into position. Without air drag, these movements caused the free corner of the flag to swing like a pendulum for some time. It was rippled because it had been folded during storage, and the ripples could be mistaken for movement in a still photo. Videos show that, when the astronauts let go of the flagpole, it vibrates briefly but then remains still''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/envflutter.html |title=Clavius: Environment: fluttering flags |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>[[#Harrison|Harrison 2012]], p. 97</ref><ref>[[#McAdams|McAdams 2011]], p. 132</ref>
:* This theory was further debunked on the ''MythBusters'' episode "NASA Moon Landing".

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|Image:AldrinFlag1a.jpeg|Cropped photo of Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag. The fingers of Aldrin's right hand can be seen behind his helmet, next to his visor.|Image:AldrinFlag2a.jpeg|Cropped photo taken a few seconds later. Buzz Aldrin's hand is down, head turned toward the camera; the flag is unchanged.
|Image:AldrinFlag-animation.gif|Animation of the two photos, showing that Armstrong's camera moved between exposures, but the flag is not waving.}}

6. Footprints in the [[Moondust]] are unexpectedly well preserved, despite the lack of moisture.

:* ''Moondust has not been weathered like the sand on Earth, and it has sharp edges. This allows the dust particles to stick together and hold their shape in the vacuum. The astronauts likened it to "talcum powder or wet sand".''<ref name="whomourns" />
:* This theory was further debunked on the ''MythBusters'' episode "NASA Moon Landing".

7. The alleged Moon landings used either a sound stage or were filmed outside in a remote desert with the astronauts either using harnesses or slow-motion photography to make it look like they were on the Moon.

:* ''The [[HBO]] miniseries "[[From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)|From the Earth to the Moon]]" used the sound-stage and harness setup, as did a scene from the movie "[[Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13]]". It is clearly seen from those films that, when dust rose, it did not quickly settle; some dust briefly formed clouds. In the film footage from the Apollo missions, dust kicked up by the astronauts' boots and the wheels of the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]]s rose quite high due to the lower lunar gravity, and it settled quickly to the ground in an uninterrupted parabolic arc since there was no air to suspend it. Even if there had been a sound stage for hoax Moon landings that had the air pumped out, the dust would have reached nowhere near the height and trajectory as in the Apollo film footage because of Earth's greater gravity.''

:* ''During the Apollo 15 mission, [[David Scott]] did an experiment by dropping a hammer and a falcon feather at the same time. Both fell at the same rate and hit the ground at the same time. This proved that he was in a vacuum.''<ref>{{Cite APOD |title=Hammer Versus Feather on the Moon |date=November 1, 2011 |access-date=April 20, 2013}} Source for video: {{YouTube|id=4mTsrRZEMwA|title="The Hammer and the Feather"}}</ref>

:* ''If the landings were filmed outside in a desert, heat waves would be present on the surface in mission videos, but no such heat waves exist in the footage. If the landings were filmed in a sound stage, several anomalies would occur, including a lack of parallax, and an increase or decrease in the size of the backdrop if the camera moved. Footage was filmed while the rover was in motion, and yet no evidence is present of any change in the size of the background.''

:* This theory was further debunked on the ''MythBusters'' episode "NASA Moon Landing".

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|File:Apollo 15 feather and hammer drop.ogv|David Scott drops a hammer and feather on the Moon.
}}

=== Mechanical issues ===
[[File:Apollo11 under LM.jpg|right|thumb|Lunar surface under the [[Lunar Module Eagle|Lunar Module ''Eagle'']]]]

1. The Lunar Modules made no blast craters or any sign of dust scatter.<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], p. 75</ref>

:* ''No crater should be expected. The {{convert|10000|lb|kg|adj=on|order=out|abbr=on}} thrust [[Descent Propulsion System]] was throttled down very far during the final landing.<ref>[[#Harrison|Harrison 2012]], p. 96</ref> The Lunar Module was no longer quickly decelerating, so the descent engine only had to support the lander's own weight, which was lessened by the Moon's gravity and by the near exhaustion of the descent propellants. At landing, the engine thrust divided by the nozzle exit area is only about {{convert|10|kPa|psi|lk=on|abbr=on|order=flip}}.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], p. 164</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Metzger |first1=Philip |author-link1=Philip T. Metzger |last2=Smith |first2=Jacob|last3=Lane |first3=John |date= June 30, 2011 |title=Phenomenology of soil erosion due to rocket exhaust on the Moon and the Mauna Kea lunar test site |journal=Journal of Geophysical Research |volume=116 |issue=E06005 |pages=5–8|doi=10.1029/2010JE003745 |bibcode=2011JGRE..116.6005M |doi-access=free }}</ref>''

::''Beyond the engine nozzle, the plume spreads, and the pressure drops very quickly. Rocket exhaust gasses expand much more quickly after leaving the engine nozzle in a vacuum than in an atmosphere. The effect of an atmosphere on rocket plumes can be easily seen in launches from Earth; as the rocket rises through the thinning atmosphere, the exhaust plumes broaden very noticeably. To lessen this, rocket engines made for vacuums have longer bells than those made for use on Earth, but they still cannot stop this spreading. The lander's exhaust gases, therefore, expanded quickly well beyond the landing site. The descent engines ''did'' scatter a lot of very fine surface dust as seen in 16mm movies of each landing, and many mission commanders spoke of its effect on visibility. The landers were generally moving horizontally as well as vertically, and photos do show scouring of the surface along the final descent path. Finally, the lunar [[regolith]] is very compact below its surface dust layer, making it impossible for the descent engine to blast out a crater.<ref name=ba-pg163-165>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 163–165</ref> A blast crater was measured under the Apollo 11 lander using shadow lengths of the descent engine bell and estimates of the amount that the landing gear had compressed and how deep the lander footpads had pressed into the lunar surface, and it was found that the engine had eroded between {{convert|4|and|6|in|order=flip|abbr=on}} of regolith out from underneath the engine bell during the final descent and landing.<ref name="as11psr">{{cite web |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/as11psr.pdf |title=Apollo 11 Preliminary Science Report |pages=93–101 |year=1969 |publisher=NASA |id=NASA SP-214 |access-date=May 1, 2013}}</ref>''

2. The second stage of the launch rocket or the Lunar Module [[Apollo Lunar Module#Ascent stage|ascent stage]] or both made no visible flame.

:* ''The Lunar Modules used [[Aerozine 50]] (fuel) and [[dinitrogen tetroxide]] (oxidizer) propellants, chosen for simplicity and reliability; they ignite [[hypergolic propellant|hypergolically]] (upon contact) without the need for a spark. These propellants produce a nearly transparent exhaust.<ref>[[#Woods|Woods 2008]], p. 191</ref> The same fuel was used by the core of the American [[Titan II GLV|Titan II]] rocket. The transparency of their plumes is apparent in many launch photos. The plumes of rocket engines fired in a vacuum spread out very quickly as they leave the engine nozzle (see above), further lessening their visibility. Finally, rocket engines often run "rich" to slow internal corrosion. On Earth, the excess fuel burns in contact with atmospheric oxygen, enhancing the visible flame. This cannot happen in a vacuum.''

<gallery class="center">
File:Ap17-ascent.ogv|Apollo 17 [[Apollo Lunar Module|LM]] leaving the Moon; rocket exhaust visible only briefly
File:Apollo8Launch.ogg|[[Apollo 8]] launch through the first stage separation
File:Apollo6Interstage.jpg|Exhaust flame may not be visible outside the atmosphere, as in this photo. Rocket engines are the dark structures at the bottom center.
</gallery>
<gallery class="center">
File:Gemini-Titan 11 Launch - GPN-2000-001020.jpg|The launch of a [[Titan II GLV|Titan II]], burning [[Hypergolic propellant|hypergolic]] Aerozine-50/N<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>, {{convert|430000|lbf|MN|abbr=on|order=flip}} of thrust. Note the near-transparency of the exhaust, even in air (water is being sprayed up from below).
File:Atlas missile launch.jpg|[[Atlas (rocket family)|Atlas]] uses non-hypergolic kerosene ([[RP-1]]) fuel which gives a bright and very visible exhaust, {{convert|340000|lb-f|MN|abbr=on|order=flip}} of thrust
File:Apollo 11 launch.jpg|Bright flame from first stage of the [[Saturn V]], burning RP-1
</gallery>

3. The Lunar Modules weighed 17 tons and made no mark on the Moondust, yet footprints can be seen beside them.<ref>[[#René|René 1994]] pp. n, 11</ref>

:* ''On the surface of the Earth, Apollo 11's fueled and crewed [[Lunar Module Eagle]] would have weighed approximately {{convert|17|short ton|kg|lk=on|abbr=on}}. On the surface of the Moon, however, after expending fuel and oxidizer on its descent from lunar orbit, the lander weighed about {{convert|2700|lb|kg|abbr=in|order=flip}}.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/SP-4029.htm |title=Apollo by the Numbers: A Statistical Reference |last=Orloff |first=Richard W. |orig-date=First published 2000 |date=September 2004 |publisher=[[NASA]] |isbn=0-16-050631-X |id=NASA SP-2000-4029 |access-date=May 31, 2013}} See Statistical Tables: [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-37_Selected_Mission_Weights.htm "Selected Mission Weights (lbs)"] and [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-4029/Apollo_18-28a_LM_Descent_Stage_Propellant_Status.htm "LM Descent Stage Propellant Status"].</ref> The astronauts were much lighter than the lander, but their boots were much smaller than the lander's approximately {{convert|3|ft|cm|adj=on|abbr=on|order=flip}} diameter footpads.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/LM_Landing%20Gear1973010151.pdf |title=Apollo Lunar Module Landing Gear |last=Rogers |first=William F. |work=Apollo Lunar Surface Journal |publisher=NASA |access-date=May 31, 2013}}</ref> Pressure (or force per unit area) rather than mass determines the amount of regolith compression. In some photos, the footpads did press into the regolith, especially when they moved sideways at touchdown. (The bearing pressure under Apollo 11's footpads, with the lander being about 44 times the weight of an EVA-configured astronaut, would have been of similar magnitude to the bearing pressure exerted by the astronauts' boots.)''<ref>[[#Heiken|Heiken 1991]], pp. 475–476</ref>

4. The air conditioning units that were part of the astronauts' spacesuits could not have worked in an environment of no atmosphere.<ref name="cooper">{{cite web |url=http://www.williamcooper.com/majestyt.htm |title=MAJESTYTWELVE |last=Cooper |first=William |year=1997 |website=williamcooper.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000815194854/http://www.williamcooper.com/majestyt.htm |archive-date=August 15, 2000 |access-date=May 31, 2013}}</ref>

:* ''The cooling units could <u>only</u> work in a vacuum. Water from a tank in the backpack flowed out through tiny pores in a metal [[Sublimation (phase transition)|sublimator]] plate where it quickly vaporized into space. The loss of the heat of vaporization froze the remaining water, forming a layer of ice on the outside of the plate that also sublimated into space (turning from a solid directly into a gas). A separate water loop flowed through the LCG ([[Liquid Cooling and Ventilation Garment|Liquid Cooling Garment]]) worn by the astronaut, carrying his metabolic waste heat through the sublimator plate where it was cooled and returned to the LCG. The {{convert|12|lb|kg|abbr=on|order=flip}} of feedwater gave about eight hours of cooling; because of its bulk, it was often the limiting consumable on the length of an EVA.''

[[File:Surveyor 3-Apollo 12.jpg|thumb|right|[[Surveyor 3]] with [[Apollo 12]] lander in background]]

=== Transmissions ===
1. There should have been more than a two-second delay in communications between Earth and the Moon, at a distance of {{convert|400000|km|mi|abbr=on|order=flip}}.

:* ''The round-trip light travel time of more than two seconds is apparent in all the real-time recordings of the lunar audio, but this does not always appear as expected. There may also be some documentary films where the delay has been edited out. Reasons for editing the audio may be time constraints or in the interest of clarity.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.redzero.demon.co.uk/moonhoax/Radio.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080729183941/http://www.redzero.demon.co.uk/moonhoax/Radio.htm |archive-date=July 29, 2008 |title=Radio Lag |publisher=Redzero.demon.co.uk |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref>

2. Typical delays in communication were about 0.5 seconds.

:* ''Claims that the delays were only half a second are untrue, as examination of the original recordings shows. Also, there should not be a consistent time delay between every response, as the conversation is being recorded at one end by [[Christopher C. Kraft Jr. Mission Control Center|Mission Control]]. Responses from Mission Control could be heard without any delay, as the recording is being made at the same time that Houston receives the transmission from the Moon.''

3. The [[Parkes Observatory]] in Australia was billed to the world for weeks as the site that would be relaying communications from the first moonwalk. However, five hours before transmission they were told to stand down.

:* ''The timing of the first moonwalk was changed after the landing. In fact, delays in getting the moonwalk started meant that Parkes did cover almost the entire Apollo 11 moonwalk.''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS11/a11sum.htm |title=Apollo 11 Mission Summary |website=The Apollo Program |publisher=National Air and Space Museum |date=July 16, 1969 |access-date=November 13, 2010 |quote=From NASA SP-214, Preliminary Science Report |archive-date=July 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090724111656/http://airandspace.si.edu/collections/imagery/apollo/AS11/a11sum.htm }}</ref>

4. Parkes supposedly had the clearest video feed from the Moon, but Australian media and all other known sources ran a live feed from the United States.

:* ''That was the original plan and the official policy, but the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) did take the transmission direct from the Parkes and [[Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station|Honeysuckle Creek]] radio telescopes. These were converted to [[NTSC]] television at [[Paddington, New South Wales|Paddington]] in Sydney. This meant that Australian viewers saw the moonwalk several seconds before the rest of the world.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/Australian_TV.html |title=Apollo 11 TV – as seen in Australia |publisher=Honeysucklecreek.net |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref> See also Parkes radio astronomer John Sarkissian's article [http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/ "On Eagle's Wings: The Parkes Observatory's Support of the Apollo 11 Mission"].<ref name="eagleswings2" /> The events surrounding the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying the live television of the moonwalk were portrayed in a slightly fictionalized Australian film comedy "[[The Dish]]" (2000).''

5. Better signal was supposedly received at Parkes Observatory when the Moon was on the opposite side of the planet.

:* ''This is not supported by the detailed evidence and logs from the missions.''<ref name="eagleswings1">{{cite journal |last=Sarkissian |first=John M. |title=On Eagle's Wings: The Parkes Observatory's Support of the Apollo 11 Mission |year=2001 |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=287–310 |location=Collingwood, Victoria |publisher=CSIRO Publishing for the Astronomical Society of Australia |doi=10.1071/AS01038 |access-date=November 25, 2008 |url=http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/one_giant_leap.html|bibcode = 2001PASA...18..287S |doi-access=free }} October 2000 website version, part 9 of 12: "One Giant Leap." Original version available from [http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/pasa/on_eagles_wings.pdf CSIRO Parkes Observatory] (PDF).</ref>

=== Missing data ===
Blueprints and design and development drawings of the machines involved are missing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/bibdave32.html |title=Clavius: Bibliography – cosmic dave's 32 questions |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref><ref name="bibcollier">{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/bibcollier.html |title=Clavius: Bibliography – the Collier article |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref> Apollo 11 data tapes are also missing, containing [[telemetry]] and the high-quality video (before [[scan conversion]] from [[slow-scan TV]] to standard TV) of the first moonwalk.<ref name="didwego">{{cite AV media |author1=Ranen, Aron (Director, Writer, Producer) |author2=Britton, Benjamin (Writer, Executive Producer) |orig-date=First published 1999 by the [[University of Cincinnati]] as part of ''Moon: A Mutual Reality Art Experience'' |year=2005 |title=Did We Go? |medium=VHS tape |url=http://moonhoax.com/site/index.htm |access-date=May 4, 2013 |publisher=Third Wave Media |location=Santa Monica, CA |oclc=56316947}} Abstract: "This video looks at whether man actually walked on the moon in 1969 or if it was an elaborate hoax."</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/08/04/1154198328978.html| title=One giant blunder for mankind: how NASA lost moon pictures| first=Richard| last=Macey|date=August 5, 2006| newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]}}</ref>

==== Tapes ====
{{Main|Apollo 11 missing tapes}}

[[File:Apollo11C.jpg|thumb|right|Photo of the high-quality SSTV image before the scan conversion]]
[[File:Apollo11D.jpg|thumb|right|Photo of the degraded image after the SSTV scan conversion]]

Dr. David R. Williams (NASA archivist at [[Goddard Space Flight Center]]) and Apollo 11 flight director [[Gene Kranz|Eugene F. Kranz]] both acknowledged that the original high-quality Apollo 11 telemetry data tapes are missing. Conspiracists see this as evidence that they never existed.<ref name="didwego" /> The Apollo 11 telemetry tapes were different from the telemetry tapes of the other Moon landings because they contained the raw television broadcast. For technical reasons, the Apollo 11 lander carried a [[slow-scan television]] (SSTV) camera (see [[Apollo TV camera]]). To broadcast the pictures to regular television, a scan conversion had to be done. The [[radio telescope]] at Parkes Observatory in Australia was able to receive the telemetry from the Moon at the time of the Apollo 11 moonwalk.<ref name="eagleswings2">{{cite journal |last=Sarkissian |first=John M. |title=On Eagle's Wings: The Parkes Observatory's Support of the Apollo 11 Mission |year=2001 |journal=Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australia |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=287–310 |location=Collingwood, Victoria |publisher=[[CSIRO Publishing]] for the [[Astronomical Society of Australia]] |doi=10.1071/AS01038 |access-date=November 25, 2008 |url=http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/|bibcode = 2001PASA...18..287S |doi-access=free }} October 2000 website version, part 1 of 12: "Introduction." Original version available from [http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/pasa/on_eagles_wings.pdf CSIRO Parkes Observatory] (PDF).</ref> Parkes had a bigger antenna than NASA's antenna in Australia at the Honeysuckle Creek Tracking Station, so it received a better picture. It also received a better picture than NASA's antenna at [[Goldstone Deep Space Communications Complex]]. This direct TV signal, along with telemetry data, was recorded onto one-inch fourteen-track analog tape at Parkes. The original SSTV transmission had better detail and contrast than the scan-converted pictures, and it is this original tape that is missing.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parkes.atnf.csiro.au/news_events/apollo11/Parkes_Apollo11_TV_quality.html |title=The Parkes Apollo 11 TV Quality |last=Sarkissian |first=John M. |publisher=[[Parkes Observatory|CSIRO Parkes Observatory]] |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref> A crude, real-time scan conversion of the SSTV signal was done in Australia before it was broadcast worldwide. However, still photos of the original SSTV image are available (see photos). About fifteen minutes of it were filmed by an amateur [[8 mm film]] camera and these are also available. Later Apollo missions did not use SSTV. At least some of the telemetry tapes still exist from the [[Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package|ALSEP]] scientific experiments left on the Moon (which ran until 1977), according to Dr. Williams. Copies of those tapes have been found.<ref name="Amalfi">{{cite news |title=Lost Moon landing tapes discovered |last=Amalfi |first=Carmelo |url=http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/lost-moon-landing-tapes-discovered/ |work=Cosmos Online |publisher=Cosmos Media Pty Ltd |location=Australia |date=November 1, 2006 |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130214030100/http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/features/lost-moon-landing-tapes-discovered/ |archive-date=February 14, 2013}}</ref>

Others are looking for the missing telemetry tapes for different reasons. The tapes contain the original and highest quality video feed from the Apollo 11 landing. Some former Apollo personnel want to find the tapes for posterity, while NASA engineers looking towards future Moon missions believe that the tapes may be useful for their design studies. They have found that the Apollo 11 tapes were sent for storage at the U.S. National Archives in 1970, but by 1984, all the Apollo 11 tapes had been returned to the Goddard Space Flight Center at their request. The tapes are believed to have been stored rather than re-used.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.honeysucklecreek.net/Apollo_11/tapes/Search_for_SSTV_Tapes.pdf |title=The Search for the Apollo 11 SSTV Tapes |last=Sarkissian |first=John M. |date=May 21, 2006 |website=Honeysucklecreek.net |publisher=CSIRO Parkes Observatory |access-date=April 26, 2013}}</ref> Goddard was storing 35,000 new tapes per year in 1967,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19670010532_1967010532.pdf| access-date=September 5, 2009| title=The GSFC Scientific Data Storage Problem| publisher=NASA}}</ref> even before the Moon landings.

In November 2006, [[Cosmos (magazine)|COSMOS Online]] reported that about 100 data tapes recorded in Australia during the Apollo 11 mission had been found in a small marine science laboratory in the main physics building at the [[Curtin University of Technology]] in [[Perth, Western Australia|Perth, Australia]]. One of the old tapes has been sent to NASA for analysis. The slow-scan television images were not on the tape.<ref name="Amalfi" />

In July 2009, NASA indicated that it must have erased the original Apollo 11 Moon footage years ago so that it could re-use the tape. In December 2009, NASA issued a final report on the Apollo 11 telemetry tapes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/Apollo_11_TV_Tapes_Report.pdf |title=The Apollo 11 Telemetry Data Recordings: A Final Report |date=December 2009 |publisher=NASA |access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref> Senior engineer Dick Nafzger was in charge of the live TV recordings during the Apollo missions, and he was put in charge of the restoration project. After a three-year search, the "inescapable conclusion" was that about 45 tapes (estimated 15 tapes recorded at each of the three tracking stations) of Apollo 11 video were erased and re-used, said Nafzger.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2009/07/17/nasa-lost-moon-footage-but-hollywood-restores-it |title=NASA lost moon footage, but Hollywood restores it |date=July 17, 2009 |first=Seth |last=Borenstein |agency=Associated Press |newspaper=[[U.S. News & World Report]] |access-date=September 5, 2009}}</ref> [[Lowry Digital]] had been tasked with restoring the surviving footage in time for the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing. Lowry Digital president Mike Inchalik said that "this is by far and away the lowest quality" video that the company has dealt with. Nafzger praised Lowry for restoring "crispness" to the Apollo video, which will remain in black and white and contains conservative digital enhancements. The US$230,000 restoration project took months to complete and did not include sound quality improvements. Some selections of restored footage in high definition have been made available on the NASA website.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/apollo11.html |title=Apollo 11 Partial Restoration HD Video Streams |date=August 7, 2009 |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |publisher=NASA |access-date=September 5, 2009 |archive-date=September 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903224337/http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/hd/apollo11.html }}</ref>

==== Blueprints ====
[[File:Apollo15LunarRover.jpg|right|thumb|[[Lunar Roving Vehicle]] flown on Apollo 15]]

[[Grumman]] appears to have destroyed most of its LM documentation,<ref name="bibcollier" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/collier.htm |title=The Collier article – a critique |first=Jim | last=Scotti |author-link=James V. Scotti |date=February 4, 2000 |website=Lunar and Planetary Laboratory |publisher=University of Arizona |access-date=September 2, 2009}} Scotti's critique of James M. Collier August 1997 article, "Investigator Challenging NASA", ''Media Bypass'' (Evansville, IN: [https://secure.in.gov/sos/online_corps/name_search_results.aspx?search_name=Tree+Top+Communications%2C+Inc.&search_type=exact&client_id=&submit.x=46&submit.y=9&search_mode=search Tree Top Communications, Inc.]) Vol. 5, No. 8. {{ISSN|1085-6714}}.</ref> but copies exist in [[Microform|microfilm]] for the blueprints for the Saturn V.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/saturn_five_000313.html |title=Saturn 5 Blueprints Safely in Storage |work=[[Space.com]] |publisher=[[TechMediaNetwork, Inc.]] |last=Paine |first=Michael |date=March 13, 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080708081443/http://www.space.com/news/spacehistory/saturn_five_000313.html |archive-date=July 8, 2008 |access-date=November 13, 2010}}</ref>

Four mission-worthy [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]]s (LRV) were built by [[Boeing]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thespacereview.com/article/127/1 |title=Lunar rovers past and future |last=Young |first=Anthony |date=April 5, 2004 |work=[[The Space Review]] |publisher=[[Jeff Foust]] |page=1 |access-date=September 5, 2009}}</ref> Three of them were carried to the Moon on Apollos 15, 16, and 17, used by the astronauts for transportation on the Moon, and left there. After Apollo 18 was canceled, the other LRV was used for spare parts for the Apollos 15 to 17 missions. The 221-page operation manual for the LRV contains some detailed drawings,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/lrvhand.html |title=Lunar Rover Operations Handbook |publisher=NASA |id=Doc. LS006-002-2H |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref> although not the blueprints.

=== NASA technology compared to USSR ===
{{See also|Space Race|Timeline of the Space Race}}
Bart Sibrel cites the relative level of the United States and USSR space technology as evidence that the Moon landings could not have happened. For much of the early stages of the Space Race, the USSR was ahead of the United States, yet in the end, the USSR was never able to fly a crewed spacecraft to the Moon, let alone land one on the surface. It is argued that, because the USSR was unable to do this, the United States should have also been unable to develop the technology to do so.

For example, he claims that, during the [[Apollo program]], the USSR had five times more crewed hours in space than the United States, and notes that the USSR was the first to achieve many of the early milestones in space: the first artificial [[satellite]] in [[orbit]] (October 1957, [[Sputnik 1]]);{{efn|According to the 2007 ''[[Nova (American TV series)|NOVA]]'' episode "[[List of Nova episodes#Season 35: 2007–2008|Sputnik Declassified]]," the United States could have launched the ''[[Explorer 1]]'' probe before Sputnik, but the [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] administration hesitated, first because they were not sure if international law meant that national borders kept going all the way into orbit (and, thus, their orbiting satellite could cause an international uproar by violating the borders of dozens of nations), and second because there was a desire to see the not yet ready [[Project Vanguard|Vanguard satellite program]], designed by American citizens, become America's first satellite rather than the Explorer program, that was mostly designed by former rocket designers from [[Nazi Germany]]. A transcript of the appropriate section from the show is available at "[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/sputnik-impact-on-america/ Sputnik's Impact on America]."}} the first living creature in orbit (a dog named [[Laika]], November 1957, [[Sputnik 2]]); the first man in space and in orbit ([[Yuri Gagarin]], April 1961, [[Vostok 1]]); the first woman in space ([[Valentina Tereshkova]], June 1963, [[Vostok 6]]); and the first spacewalk ([[Alexei Leonov]] in March 1965, [[Voskhod 2]]).

However, most of the Soviet gains listed above were matched by the United States within a year, and sometimes within weeks. In 1965, the United States started to achieve many firsts (such as the first successful [[space rendezvous]]), which were important steps in a mission to the Moon. Furthermore, NASA and others say that these gains by the Soviets are not as impressive as they seem; that a number of these firsts were mere stunts that did not advance the technology greatly, or at all, ''e.g.'', the first woman in space.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/techsoviet.html |title=Clavius: Technology – beating the Soviets |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=September 5, 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.nasa.gov/ISS_Science_Blog/2013/06/17/women-in-space-part-one-female-firsts-in-flight-for-space-exploration-and-research/ |title=Women in Space Part One, Female Firsts in Flight for Space Exploration and Research |last=Warren |first=Liz |date=June 17, 2013 |work=A Lab Aloft |publisher=NASA Blogs |type=Blog |access-date=July 18, 2013}}</ref> In fact, by the time of the launch of the first crewed Earth-orbiting Apollo flight ([[Apollo 7]]), the USSR had made only nine [[spaceflight]]s (seven with one cosmonaut, one with two, one with three) compared to 16 by the United States. In terms of spacecraft hours, the USSR had 460 hours of spaceflight; the United States had 1,024 hours. In terms of astronaut/cosmonaut time, the USSR had 534 hours of crewed spaceflight whereas the United States had 1,992 hours. By the time of Apollo 11, the United States had a lead much wider than that. (See [[List of human spaceflights, 1961–1970]], and refer to individual flights for the length of time.)

Moreover, the USSR did not develop a successful rocket capable of a crewed lunar mission until the 1980s – their [[N1 (rocket)|N1 rocket]] failed on all four launch attempts between 1969 and 1972.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.astronautix.com/flights/sovnding.htm |title=Soviet Lunar Landing |encyclopedia=[[Encyclopedia Astronautica]] |publisher=Mark Wade |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090224200322/http://www.astronautix.com/flights/sovnding.htm |archive-date=February 24, 2009}}</ref> The Soviet [[LK (spacecraft)|LK]] lunar lander was tested in uncrewed low-Earth-orbit flights three times in 1970 and 1971.

=== Technology used by NASA ===
Digital technology was in its infancy during the time of the Moon landings. The astronauts had relied on computers to aid in the Moon missions. The [[Apollo Guidance Computer]] was on the [[Lunar Module]] and the [[Apollo command and service module|command and service module]]. Many computers at the time were very large despite poor specs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://classroom.synonym.com/computers-70s-20890.html|title=Computers of the '70s &#124; Synonym|website=classroom.synonym.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://homepage.cs.uri.edu/faculty/wolfe/book/Readings/Reading03.htm|title=History of Computers|website=homepage.cs.uri.edu}}</ref> For example, the [[Xerox Alto]] was released in 1973, one year after the final Moon landing.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/2012/4/26/2976870/xerox-alto-commercial-1972-personal-assistant|title=Xerox commercial from 1972 shows the computer as your personal assistant|date=April 26, 2012|website=The Verge}}</ref> This computer had 96kB of memory.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://bitsavers.org/pdf/xerox/alto/memos_1975/Alto_Operating_System_Reference_Manual_Jun75.pdf |title=Alto Operating System Reference Manual |publisher=Xerox |via=BitSavers |date=June 26, 1975 |access-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref> Most personal computers as of 2019 use 50,000 to 100,000 times this amount of RAM.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.zmescience.com/research/technology/smartphone-power-compared-to-apollo-432/|title=Your smartphone is millions of times more powerful that all of NASA's combined computing in 1969|first=Tibi|last=Puiu|date=October 13, 2015|website=ZME Science}}</ref> Conspiracy theorists claim that the computers during the time of the Moon landings would not have been advanced enough to enable space travel to the Moon and back;<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a28434260/moon-landing-hoax-conspiracists/|title=What It's Like to Be a Moon Landing Conspiracist in 2019|first=Eric|last=Spitznagel|date=July 19, 2019|website=Popular Mechanics}}</ref> they similarly claim that other contemporaneous technology (radio transmission, radar, and other instrumentation) was likewise insufficient for the task.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.astronautcentral.com/Moonhoax.html|title=The Moon Hoax; Did we really go?|website=www.astronautcentral.com}}</ref>

=== Deaths of NASA personnel ===
In a televised program about the Moon-landing hoax allegations, [[Fox Entertainment Group]] listed the deaths of ten astronauts and two civilians related to the crewed spaceflight program as part of an alleged cover-up.
* [[Theodore Freeman]] (killed ejecting from a [[T-38 Talon|T-38]] which had suffered a [[bird strike]], October 1964)
* [[Elliot See]] and [[Charles Bassett|Charlie Bassett]] ([[1966 NASA T-38 crash|T-38 crash in bad weather]], February 1966)
* [[Gus Grissom|Virgil "Gus" Grissom]], [[Ed White (astronaut)|Ed White]], and [[Roger B. Chaffee]] (killed in a fire during the "plugs-out test" preceding [[Apollo 1]], January 1967)
* [[Edward Givens|Edward "Ed" Givens]] (killed in a car accident, June 1967)
* [[Clifton Williams|Clifton "C. C." Williams]] (killed ejecting from a T-38, October 1967)
* [[Michael James Adams|Michael J. "Mike" Adams]] (died in an [[North American X-15|X-15]] crash, November 1967. Adams was the only pilot killed during the X-15 flight test program. He was a test pilot, not a NASA astronaut, but had flown the X-15 above {{convert|50|mi|km|disp=or|order=flip}})
* [[Robert Henry Lawrence Jr.]] (killed in an [[F-104 Starfighter|F-104]] crash, December 1967, shortly after being selected as a pilot with the [[United States Air Force]]'s [[Manned Orbiting Laboratory]] (MOL) program, which was canceled in 1969)
* [[Thomas Baron|Thomas Ronald Baron]] ([[North American Aviation]] employee. Baron died in an automobile collision with a train, April 27, 1967, six days after testifying before [[United States House of Representatives|Rep.]] [[Olin E. Teague]]'s House Subcommittee on NASA Oversight hearings held following the Apollo 1 fire, after which he was fired)

Two of the above, X-15 pilot Mike Adams and MOL pilot Robert Lawrence, had no connection with the civilian crewed space program that oversaw the Apollo missions. Baron was a quality control inspector who wrote a report critical of the Apollo program and was an outspoken critic of NASA's safety record after the Apollo 1 fire. Baron and his family were killed as their car was struck by a train at a train crossing. The deaths were an accident.<ref name="not_faked">{{cite web |url=http://pirlwww.lpl.arizona.edu/~jscotti/NOT_faked/FOX.html |title=Comments on the Fox special on the Hoax |first=Jim | last=Scotti |website=Lunar and Planetary Laboratory |publisher=University of Arizona |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/barron.html |title=NASA Apollo Mission Apollo-1 – Baron Report |website=NASA History Program Office |publisher=NASA |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080921155820/https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/barron.html |archive-date=September 21, 2008 |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref> All of the deaths occurred at least 20 months ''before'' Apollo 11 and subsequent flights.

{{as of|2024|June}}, four of the twelve [[List of Apollo Astronauts#Apollo astronauts who walked on the Moon|Apollo astronauts who landed on the Moon]] between 1969 and 1972 are still alive, including Buzz Aldrin. Also, two of the twelve [[List of Apollo Astronauts#Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing|Apollo astronauts who flew to the Moon without landing]] between 1968 and 1972 are still alive.

The number of deaths within the American astronaut corps during the run-up to Apollo and during the Apollo missions is similar to the number of deaths incurred by the Soviets. During the period 1961 to 1972, at least eight Soviet serving and former cosmonauts died:
* [[Valentin Bondarenko]] (ground training accident, March 1961)
* [[Grigori Nelyubov]] (suicide, February 1966)
* [[Vladimir Komarov]] ([[Soyuz 1]] accident, April 1967)
* [[Yuri Gagarin]] ([[MiG-15]] crash, March 1968)
* [[Pavel Belyayev]] (complications following surgery, January 1970)
* [[Georgi Dobrovolski]], [[Vladislav Volkov]], and [[Viktor Patsayev]] ([[Soyuz 11]] accident, June 1971)

Additionally, the overall chief of their crewed-spaceflight program, [[Sergei Korolev]], died while undergoing surgery in January 1966.

===Post flight conference===
During the post flight conference for Apollo 11, there were moments in which the astronauts appeared serious or tired in a press conference otherwise filled with laughter. Conspiracy theorists often present images of those moments and portray it as the astronauts feeling guilty about faking the landing. This supposed evidence can be explained as a case of [[cherry picking]] and an [[appeal to emotion]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.moonhoaxdebunked.com/2018/10/91-why-do-astronauts-have-guilty-looks.html |title=Why did the astronauts have guilty looks on their faces and shun public appearances? |website=Moon Hoax: Debunked |access-date=2023-05-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://flatearth.ws/apollo-pressconf |title=Apollo 11 Post-Flight Press Conference |website=FlatEarth.ws |date=March 17, 2020 |access-date=2023-05-19}}</ref>

=== NASA response ===
In June 1977, NASA issued a fact sheet responding to recent claims that the Apollo Moon landings had been hoaxed.<ref>{{cite web |url=ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/media/2001/lunar_landing.pdf |title=Did U.S. Astronauts Really Land on the Moon |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=February 14, 2001 |publisher=NASA |location=Washington, D.C. |type=Reissue (June 1977) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151213100852/ftp://ftp.hq.nasa.gov/pub/pao/media/2001/lunar_landing.pdf |archive-date=2015-12-13 |access-date=April 24, 2014 }}</ref> The fact sheet is particularly blunt and regards the idea of faking the Moon landings to be preposterous and outlandish. NASA refers to the [[Lunar sample displays|rocks and particles collected from the Moon]] as being evidence of the program's legitimacy, as they claim that these rocks could not have been formed under conditions on Earth. NASA also notes that all of the operations and phases of the Apollo program were closely followed and under the scrutiny of the news media, from liftoff to splashdown. NASA responds to Bill Kaysing's book, ''We Never Went to the Moon'', by identifying one of his claims of fraud regarding the lack of a crater left on the Moon's surface by the landing of the lunar module, and refuting it with facts about the soil and cohesive nature of the surface of the Moon.

The fact sheet was reissued on February 14, 2001, the day before Fox television's broadcast of ''Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?'' The documentary reinvigorated the public's interest in conspiracy theories and the possibility that the Moon landings were faked, which has provoked NASA to once again defend its name.

=== Alleged Stanley Kubrick involvement ===

Filmmaker [[Stanley Kubrick]] is accused of having produced much of the footage for Apollos 11 and 12, presumably because he had just directed ''[[2001: A Space Odyssey (film)|2001: A Space Odyssey]]'', which is partly set on the Moon and featured advanced special effects.<ref name="clydelewis">{{cite web |url=http://archives.groundzeromedia.org/dis/gorsky/gorsky.html |title=Good Luck, Mr. Gorsky! |last=Lewis |first=Clyde |publisher=Groundzeromedia.org |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-date=September 11, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190911042654/http://archives.groundzeromedia.org/dis/gorsky/gorsky.html }}</ref> It has been claimed that when ''2001'' was in [[post-production]] in early 1968, NASA secretly approached Kubrick to direct the first three Moon landings. The launch and splashdown would be real but the spacecraft would stay in Earth orbit and fake footage broadcast as "live from the Moon." No evidence was offered for this theory, which overlooks many facts. For example, ''2001'' was released before the first Apollo landing and Kubrick's depiction of the Moon's surface differs greatly from its appearance in the Apollo footage. The movement of characters on the Moon in ''2001'' differs from that of the filmed movement of Apollo astronauts and does not resemble an environment with 1/6 the gravity of Earth. Several scenes in ''2001'' show dust billowing as spacecraft landed, something that would not happen in the vacuum environment of the Moon. Kubrick did hire [[Frederick I. Ordway III|Frederick Ordway]] and [[Harry Lange (film designer)|Harry Lange]], both of whom had worked for NASA and major aerospace contractors, to work with him on ''2001''. Kubrick also used some 50&nbsp;mm f/0.7 lenses that were left over from a batch made by [[Carl Zeiss AG|Zeiss]] for NASA. However, Kubrick only got this lens for ''[[Barry Lyndon]]'' (1975). The lens was originally a still photo lens and needed changes to be used for motion filming.

The [[mockumentary]] based on this idea, ''[[Dark Side of the Moon (mockumentary)|Dark Side of the Moon]]'', could have fueled the conspiracy theory. This French mockumentary, directed by William Karel, was originally aired on Arte channel in 2002 with the title ''Opération Lune''. It parodies conspiracy theories with faked interviews, stories of assassinations of Stanley Kubrick's assistants by the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]], and a variety of conspicuous mistakes, puns, and references to old movie characters, inserted through the film as clues for the viewer. Nevertheless, ''Opération Lune'' is still taken at face value by some conspiracy believers.

An article titled "Stanley Kubrick and the Moon Hoax" appeared on [[Usenet]] in 1995, in the [[Usenet newsgroup|newsgroup]] "alt.humor.best-of-usenet". One passage – on how Kubrick was supposedly coerced into the conspiracy – reads:

<blockquote>NASA further leveraged their position by threatening to publicly reveal the heavy involvement of Mr. Kubrick's younger brother, Raul, with the American Communist Party. This would have been an intolerable embarrassment to Mr. Kubrick, especially since the release of ''[[Dr. Strangelove]]''.</blockquote>

Kubrick had no such brother – the article was a spoof, complete with a giveaway sentence describing Kubrick shooting the moonwalk "on location" on the Moon. Nevertheless, the claim was taken up in earnest;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/bibkubrick.html |title=Clavius: Bibliography – the Kubrick article |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref> Clyde Lewis used it almost word-for-word,<ref name="clydelewis" /> whereas [[Room 237|Jay Weidner]] gave the brother a more senior status within the party:

<blockquote>No one knows how the powers-that-be convinced Kubrick to direct the Apollo landings. Maybe they had compromised Kubrick in some way. The fact that his brother, Raul Kubrick, was the head of the American Communist Party may have been one of the avenues pursued by the government to get Stanley to cooperate.<ref>{{cite web |last=Weidner |first=Jay |url=http://jayweidner.com/AlchemicalKubrickIIa.html |title=How Stanley Kubrick Faked the Apollo Moon Landings |work=jayweidner.com |date=July 20, 2009 |access-date=June 24, 2017 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101123205838/http://jayweidner.com/AlchemicalKubrickIIa.html |archive-date=November 23, 2010 }}</ref></blockquote>

In July 2009, Weidner posted on his webpage "Secrets of the Shining", where he states that Kubrick's ''[[The Shining (film)|The Shining]]'' (1980) is a veiled confession of his role in the scam project.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/luna/luna_apollomissions10.htm |title=Secrets of the Shining |last=Weidner |first=Jay |website=Bibliotecapleyades.net |date=July 20, 2009 |access-date=June 24, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{YouTube|7hRgQ-Qk7u8|Faked Moon Landing Hidden Subliminal Messages in Stanley Kubrick's Movie 'The Shining'}}. Retrieved June 24, 2017.</ref> This thesis was the subject of refutation in an article published on [[Seeker (media company)|Seeker]] nearly half a year later.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.seeker.com/faked-moon-landings-and-kubricks-the-shining-1765004443.html |title=Faked Moon Landings and Kubrick's 'The Shining' |last=Lamb |first=Robert |publisher=[[Seeker (media company)|Seeker]] |date=January 21, 2010 |access-date=June 24, 2017}}</ref> [[The Shining (film)|''The Shining'']] features a character who wears an "Apollo 11" sweater which was picked from an American mail order catalog by the film's costume designer as it represented an American-look.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rinzler |first=J. W. |title=[[Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (book)|Stanley Kubrick's The Shining]] |last2=Unkrich |first2=Lee |date=2024 |publisher=Taschen |isbn=978-3-7544-0003-6 |location=Köln [Paris] |page=210}}</ref>

The 2015 movie ''[[Moonwalkers (film)|Moonwalkers]]'' is a fictional account of a CIA agent's claim of Kubrick's involvement.

In December 2015, a video surfaced which allegedly shows Kubrick being interviewed shortly before his 1999 death; the video purportedly shows the director confessing to T. Patrick Murray that the Apollo Moon landings had been faked.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/626119/MOON-LANDINGS-FAKE-Shock-video-Stanley-Kubrick-admit-historic-event-HOAX-NASA |title=Moon Landings 'Fake': Shock video shows 'Stanley Kubrick' admit historic event was 'HOAX' |last=Austin |first=Jon |newspaper=[[Daily Express]] |date=December 11, 2015 |access-date=December 11, 2015}}</ref> Research quickly found, however, that the video was a [[hoax]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.snopes.com/false-stanley-kubrick-faked-moon-landings/ |title=Lie Me to the Moon |last=Evon |first=Dan |website=[[Snopes.com]] |date=December 11, 2015 |access-date=December 11, 2015}}</ref>

=== Academic work ===
In 2002, NASA granted $15,000 to James Oberg to write a point-by-point rebuttal of the hoax claims. However, NASA canceled the commission later that year, after complaints that the book would dignify the accusations.<ref name="Fake Moon Flight' Myth 2003, pp. 23, 30">{{cite journal |last=Oberg |first=James |author-link=James Oberg |date=March–April 2003 |title=Lessons of the 'Fake Moon Flight' Myth |journal=Skeptical Inquirer |location=Amherst, NY |publisher=[[Committee for Skeptical Inquiry]] |pages=23, 30 |access-date=April 27, 2013 |url=http://www.jamesoberg.com/042003lessonsfake_his.html}} Reprinted in [[Kendrick Frazier|Frazier, Kendrick]] (ed.) (2009). ''Science Under Siege: Defending Science, Exposing Pseudoscience''. Amherst, NY: [[Prometheus Books]]. {{ISBN|978-1591027157}}.</ref> Oberg said that he meant to finish the book.<ref name="Fake Moon Flight' Myth 2003, pp. 23, 30" /><ref>{{Cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2424927.stm| access-date=August 26, 2009| title=Nasa pulls Moon hoax book| date=November 8, 2002| first=David| last=Whitehouse|work=BBC News | location = London}}</ref> In November 2002, [[Peter Jennings]] said that "NASA is going to spend a few thousand dollars trying to prove to some people that the United States did indeed land men on the Moon", and "NASA had been so rattled" that they hired somebody to write a book refuting the conspiracy theorists. Oberg says that belief in the hoax theories is not the fault of the conspiracists, but rather that of teachers and people who should provide information to the public—especially NASA.<ref name="Fake Moon Flight' Myth 2003, pp. 23, 30" />

In 2004, Martin Hendry and Ken Skeldon of the [[University of Glasgow]] were awarded a grant by the UK-based [[Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council]] to investigate Moon landing conspiracy theories.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cafescientifique.org/glasgow1.htm |title=Did we really land on the Moon? |date=February 17, 2005 |last1=Hendry |first1=Martin |last2=Skeldon |first2=Ken |publisher=[[Café Scientifique|Cafescientifique.org]] |access-date=August 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090805174628/http://www.cafescientifique.org/glasgow1.htm |archive-date=August 5, 2009}}</ref> In November 2004, they gave a lecture at the [[Glasgow Science Centre]] where the top ten claims by conspiracists were individually addressed and refuted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://dimaggio.org/Glasgow/SPST/nov_2004.htm |title=Hoax Busters |date=November 2004 |first=Mario |last=Di Maggio |publisher=Dimaggio.org |access-date=August 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20071012215016/http://dimaggio.org/Glasgow/SPST/nov_2004.htm |archive-date=October 12, 2007}}</ref>

=== ''MythBusters'' special ===
{{Main|MythBusters (2008 season)#Episode 104 – "NASA Moon Landing"|l1=Mythbusters "NASA Moon Landing" episode}}

An episode of ''[[MythBusters]]'' in August 2008 was dedicated to the Moon landings. The ''MythBusters'' crew tested many of the conspiracists' claims. Some of the testings were done in a NASA training facility. All of the conspiracists' claims examined on the show were labeled as having been "Busted", or disproved.

== Third-party evidence of Moon landings ==
{{Main|Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings}}

=== Imaging the landing sites ===
[[File:Apollo 17 landing site, labeled.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]] photo of Apollo 17 landing site (click to enlarge)<ref name="NASA LRO" />]]
[[File:Lroc apollo11 landing site 20091109 zoom.jpg|thumb|right|Apollo 11 landing site – "There the lunar module sits, parked just where it landed 40 years ago, as if it still really were 40 years ago and all the time since merely imaginary." –''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="nyt_lro_lm_img">{{cite news |title=The Human Moon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/opinion/17tue4.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2009}}</ref>]]

Moon-landing conspiracists claim that observatories and the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] should be able to photograph the landing sites. This implies that the world's major observatories (as well as the Hubble Program) are complicit in the hoax by refusing to take photos of the landing sites. Photos of the Moon have been taken by Hubble, including at least two Apollo landing sites, but the Hubble resolution limits viewing of lunar objects to sizes no smaller than {{convert|60|–|75|yds|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, which is insufficient resolution to see any landing site features.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/hubble_moon.html |title=Hubble Shoots The Moon |editor-last=Stoyanova |editor-first=Silvia |date=September 10, 2007 |publisher=NASA |access-date=October 20, 2009 |archive-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204032834/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/hubble_moon.html }}</ref>

In April 2001, Leonard David published an article on [[space.com]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/apollo15_touchdown_photos_010427.html |title=Apollo 15 Landing Site Spotted in Images |last=David |first=Leonard |date=April 27, 2001 |work=Space.com |publisher=TechMediaNetwork, Inc. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050301074851/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/apollo15_touchdown_photos_010427.html |archive-date=March 1, 2005 |access-date=August 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name="apolloclempix">{{cite web |url=http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_lander.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020711041221/http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_lander.html |archive-date=July 11, 2002 |title=Can we see Apollo hardware on the Moon? |date=August 17, 2002 |first=Michael |last=Richmond |publisher=The Amateur Sky Survey (TASS) |access-date=August 26, 2009 }}</ref> which showed a photo taken by the [[Clementine mission]] showing a diffuse dark spot at the site NASA says is the Apollo 15 lander. The evidence was noticed by Misha Kreslavsky, of the Department of Geological Sciences at [[Brown University]], and Yuri Shkuratov of the [[Ukrainian T-shaped Radio telescope, second modification|Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory]] in Ukraine. The [[European Space Agency]]'s [[SMART-1]] uncrewed probe sent back photos of the landing sites, according to [[Bernard Foing]], Chief Scientist of the ESA Science Program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/847-conspiracy-theories-spacecraft-snoops-apollo-moon-sites.html |title=End of Conspiracy Theories? Spacecraft Snoops Apollo Moon Sites |last=David |first=Leonard |date=March 4, 2005 |work=Space.com |publisher=TechMediaNetwork, Inc. |access-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref> "Given SMART-1's initial high orbit, however, it may prove difficult to see artifacts," said Foing in an interview on space.com.

In 2002, Alex R. Blackwell of the [[University of Hawaii]] pointed out that some photos taken by Apollo astronauts<ref name="apolloclempix" /> while in orbit around the Moon show the landing sites.

''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' published a story in 2002 saying that European astronomers at the [[Very Large Telescope]] (VLT) would use it to view the landing sites. According to the article, Dr. [[Richard Martin West|Richard West]] said that his team would take "a high-resolution image of one of the Apollo landing sites." Marcus Allen, a conspiracist, answered that no photos of hardware on the Moon would convince him that human landings had happened.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1414144/Worlds-biggest-telescope-to-prove-Americans-really-walked-on-Moon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1414144/Worlds-biggest-telescope-to-prove-Americans-really-walked-on-Moon.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2009| title=World's biggest telescope to prove Americans really walked on Moon| date=November 24, 2002| first=Robert| last=Matthews| newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | location = London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The telescope was used to image the Moon and provided a resolution of {{convert|130|meters}}, which was not good enough to resolve the {{convert|4.2|meter}} wide lunar landers or their long shadows.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-to-find-apollo-11s-landing-site-on-the-moon/|title=How to find Apollo 11's landing site on the Moon|website=Sky at Night Magazine|publisher=BBC|date=July 17, 2019|access-date=March 15, 2020|last1=Lawrence|first1=Pete}}</ref>

The [[Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]] (JAXA) launched their [[SELENE]] Moon orbiter on September 14, 2007 ([[Japan Standard Time|JST]]), from [[Tanegashima Space Center]]. SELENE orbited the Moon at about {{convert|100|km|abbr=in}} altitude. In May 2008, JAXA reported detecting the "halo" generated by the Apollo 15 Lunar Module engine exhaust from a Terrain Camera image.<ref>{{cite press release |title=The "halo" area around Apollo 15 landing site observed by Terrain Camera on SELENE (KAGUYA) |date=May 20, 2009 |publisher=[[Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]] |location=Chōfu, Tokyo |url=http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2008/05/20080520_kaguya_e.html |access-date=August 26, 2009 |archive-date=December 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212114843/http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2008/05/20080520_kaguya_e.html }}</ref> A three-dimensional reconstructed photo also matched the terrain of an Apollo 15 photo taken from the surface.

On July 17, 2009, NASA released low-resolution engineering test photos of the Apollo 11, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 landing sites that have been photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as part of the process of starting its primary mission.<ref name="LRO1">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html |title=LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites |last1=Hautaluoma |first1=Grey |last2=Freeberg |first2=Andy |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |date=July 17, 2009 |publisher=NASA |access-date=August 14, 2009 |quote=NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo Moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident. |archive-date=November 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091116012309/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html }}</ref> The photos show the descent stage of the landers from each mission on the Moon's surface. The photo of the Apollo 14 landing site also shows tracks made by an astronaut between a science experiment (ALSEP) and the lander.<ref name="LRO1" /> Photos of the Apollo 12 landing site were released by NASA on September 3, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20090903_apollo12.html |title=Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 |date=September 3, 2009 |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |publisher=NASA |access-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-date=September 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905112600/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20090903_apollo12.html }}</ref> The ''Intrepid'' lander descent stage, experiment package ([[Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package#Apollo 12|ALSEP]]), Surveyor 3 spacecraft, and astronaut footpaths are all visible. While the [[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter|LRO]] images have been enjoyed by the scientific community as a whole, they have not done anything to convince conspiracists that the landings happened.<ref name="lrohoaxbelievers">{{cite web |url=http://lunarlandinghoax.com/2009/09/10/a-hb-response-to-the-lro-photos/ |title=A HB Response To The LRO Photos |last=Antonia |date=September 10, 2009 |website=Lunarlandinghoax.com |publisher=Antares 14 Media |type=Blog |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018041511/http://lunarlandinghoax.com/2009/09/10/a-hb-response-to-the-lro-photos/ |archive-date=October 18, 2009|access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref>

On September 1, 2009, [[India]]'s lunar mission [[Chandrayaan-1]] took photos of the Apollo 15 landing site and tracks of the lunar rovers.<ref name="TOI article">{{cite news |title=Chandrayaan sends images of Apollo 15 landing |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chandrayaan-sends-images-of-Apollo-15-landing/articleshow/4964829.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811080929/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-02/india/28083351_1_chandrayaan-1-lunar-mission-lunar-reconnaissance-orbiter |url-status=live |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |work=[[The Times of India]] |publisher=[[The Times Group]] |location=New Delhi |date=September 2, 2009 |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chandrayaan's moon findings: Water, rocks and traces of Apollo |url=http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3303481 |work=[[MSN]] India |agency=India Syndicate |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |location=Redmond, WA |date=October 22, 2009 |access-date=April 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510225948/http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3303481 |archive-date=May 10, 2014 }}</ref> The [[Indian Space Research Organisation]] launched their uncrewed lunar probe on September 8, 2008 (IST), from [[Satish Dhawan Space Centre]]. The photos were taken by a [[Hyperspectral imaging|hyperspectral camera]] fitted as part of the mission's image payload.<ref name="TOI article" />

China's second lunar probe, [[Chang'e 2]], which was launched in 2010, can photograph the lunar surface with a resolution of up to {{convert|7|m|ft|abbr=on}}. It spotted traces of the Apollo landings.<ref>{{cite news|title=China publishes high-resolution full moon map |editor-last=Lina |editor-first=Yang |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-02/06/c_131393210.htm |work=English.news.cn |publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |location=Beijing |date=February 6, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527201104/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-02/06/c_131393210.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2013 }}</ref>

=== Moon rocks ===
{{Main|Moon rocks}}
[[File:Apollo 15 Genesis Rock.jpg|right|thumb|[[Genesis Rock]] brought back by Apollo 15 – older than any rocks on Earth]]
The Apollo program collected {{convert|838|lb|kg|abbr=on|order=flip}} of [[Moon rock]]s during the six crewed missions. Analyses by scientists worldwide all agree that these rocks came from the Moon{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} – no published accounts in [[Peer review|peer-reviewed]] [[scientific journal]]s exist that dispute this claim. The Apollo samples are easily distinguishable from both [[meteorite]]s and Earth rocks<ref name="greatmoonhoax" /> in that they show a lack of [[mineral hydration|hydrous alteration]] products, they show evidence of having undergone impact events on an airless body, and they have unique geochemical traits. Furthermore, most are more than 200 million years older than the oldest Earth rocks. The Moon rocks collected by the Apollo program also share the same traits as Soviet samples.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Papike |first1=James J. |last2=Ryder |first2=Graham |last3=Shearer |first3=Charles K. |date=January 1998 |title=Lunar Samples |journal=[[Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry]] |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=5.1–5.234 |publisher=[[Mineralogical Society of America]]|location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0-939950-46-1}}</ref>

Conspiracists argue that [[Marshall Space Flight Center#Directors, 2000s and beyond|Marshall Space Flight Center Director]] [[Wernher von Braun]]'s trip to [[Antarctica]] in 1967 (about two years before the Apollo 11 launch) was to gather [[lunar meteorite]]s to be used as fake Moon rocks. Because von Braun was a former [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer (though one who had been detained by the [[Gestapo]]),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.reformation.org/wernher-von-braun.html | title = Wernher von Braun in SS uniform | work = The Reformation Online | publisher = Bible Believers Press | access-date = October 18, 2006 | archive-date = September 23, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190923153153/http://www.reformation.org/wernher-von-braun.html }} Source cited: [[Walter Dornberger|Dornberger, Walter]] ''V-2'' (1958) New York: Viking Press {{OCLC|255209058}}.</ref> the documentary film ''Did We Go?''<ref name="didwego" /> suggests that he could have been pressured to agree to the conspiracy to protect himself from recriminations over his past. NASA said that von Braun's mission was "to look into environmental and logistic factors that might relate to the planning of future space missions, and hardware."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/yy/y1967.html | title = Marshall Highlights for 1967 | publisher = [[Marshall Space Flight Center]] History Office | access-date = July 24, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140804170335/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/yy/y1967.html | archive-date = August 4, 2014 }} Originally "published in a news release issued in late 1967 by the Marshall Center Public Affairs Office."</ref>

It is now accepted by the scientific community that rocks have been blasted from both the [[Mars|Martian]] and lunar surface during [[impact crater|impact events]], and that some of these have landed on the Earth as [[Martian meteorite|meteorites]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Head |first1=James N. |last2=Melosh |first2=H. Jay |last3=Ivanov |first3=Boris A. |date=November 2002 |title=Martian Meteorite Launch: High-Speed Ejecta from Small Craters |journal=Science |volume=298 |pages=1752–1756 | doi=10.1126/science.1077483 |pmid=12424385 |issue=5599 |bibcode=2002Sci...298.1752H|s2cid=2969674 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Great Interplanetary Rock Swap |author=Cooke, Bill |journal=Astronomy |volume=34 |issue=8 |year=2006 |pages=64–67 |location=Waukesha, WI |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |issn=0091-6358|bibcode=2006Ast....34h..64C }}</ref> However, the first Antarctic lunar meteorite was found in 1979, and its lunar origin was not recognized until 1982.<ref name="Korotev2005">{{cite journal | author = Korotev, Randy | title = Lunar geochemistry as told by lunar meteorites | journal = Chemie der Erde | volume= 65 | pages = 297–346 | year=2005 | doi = 10.1016/j.chemer.2005.07.001 | issue = 4|bibcode = 2005ChEG...65..297K }}</ref> Furthermore, lunar meteorites are so rare that it is unlikely that they could account for the {{convert|380|kg|abbr=on}} of Moon rocks that NASA gathered between 1969 and 1972. Only about {{convert|30|kg|abbr=on}} of lunar meteorites have been found on Earth thus far, despite private collectors and governmental agencies worldwide searching for more than 20 years.<ref name="Korotev2005" />

While the Apollo missions gathered {{convert|380|kg|abbr=on}} of Moon rocks, the Soviet [[Luna 16]], [[Luna 20]] and [[Luna 24]] robots gathered only {{convert|326|g|lk=out|abbr=on}} combined (that is, less than one-thousandth as much). Indeed, current plans for a Martian sample return would only gather about {{convert|500|g|abbr=on}} of soil,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Exploration/Mars_Sample_Return2 |title=Mars Sample Return |publisher=[[European Space Agency]]}}</ref> and a recently proposed [[South Pole-Aitken basin]] robot mission would only gather about {{convert|1|kg|abbr=on}} of Moon rock.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Lunar South Pole-Aitken Sample Return (2002) |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/lunar-south-pole-aitken-sample-return-2002/ |last=Portree |first=David S. F. |date=November 7, 2012 |magazine=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Publications |location=New York |access-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Duke |first=Michael B. |date=June 2003 |title=Sample return from the lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin |journal=[[Advances in Space Research]] |volume=31 |issue=11 |pages=2347–2352 |location=Netherlands |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |bibcode=2003AdSpR..31.2347D |doi=10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00539-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/moon99/pdf/8017.pdf |title=Sample Return Mission to the South Pole Aitken Basin |last1=Duke |first1=M. B. |last2=Clark |first2=B. C. |last3=Gamber |first3=T. |last4=Lucey |first4=P. G. |last5=Ryder |first5=G. |last6=Taylor |first6=G. J. |date=September 24, 1999 |access-date=May 2, 2013 |display-authors=3}} Paper presented at the "[http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/moon99/moon99.3rd.html New Views of the Moon II: Understanding the Moon Through the Integration of Diverse Datasets]" workshop held on September 22–24, 1999, in Flagstaff, AZ. The workshop's [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/moon99/pdf/program.pdf preliminary program] (PDF).</ref>

On the makeup of the Moon rocks, Kaysing asked: "Why was there never a mention of gold, silver, diamonds or other precious metals on the moon? Wasn't this a viable consideration? Why was this fact never dicussed [''sic''] in the press or by the astronauts?"<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], p. 8</ref>

=== Missions tracked by independent parties ===
{{Main|Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings#Apollo missions tracked by independent parties|l1=Apollo missions tracked by independent parties}}
Aside from NASA, a number of groups and individuals tracked the Apollo missions as they happened. On later missions, NASA released information to the public explaining where and when the spacecraft could be sighted. Their flight paths were tracked using radar and they were sighted and photographed using telescopes. Also, radio transmissions between the astronauts on the surface and in orbit were independently recorded.

=== Retroreflectors ===
[[File:Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment.jpg|right|thumb|Apollo 11 retroreflector, still with its protective cover]]

The presence of [[retroreflectors]] (mirrors used as targets for Earth-based tracking lasers) from the [[Lunar Laser Ranging experiment|Laser Ranging Retroreflector Experiment]] (LRRR) is evidence that there were landings.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dorminey |first=Bruce |date=March 2011 |title=Secrets beneath the Moon's surface |journal=Astronomy |pages=24–29 |location=Waukesha, WI |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |issn=0091-6358}}</ref> [[Lick Observatory]] attempted to detect from Apollo 11's retroreflector while Armstrong and Aldrin were still on the Moon but did not succeed until August 1, 1969.<ref>[[#Hansen|Hansen 2005]], p. 515</ref> The Apollo 14 astronauts deployed a retroreflector on February 5, 1971, and [[McDonald Observatory]] detected it the same day. The Apollo 15 retroreflector was deployed on July 31, 1971, and was detected by McDonald Observatory within a few days.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Bender, P. L. |author2=Currie, D. G. |author3=Dicke, R. H. |author4=Eckhardt, D. H. |author5=Faller, J. E. |author6=Kaula, W. M. |author7=Mullholland, J. D. |author8=Plotkin, H. H. |author9=Silverberg, E. C. |author10=Wilkinson, D. T. |author11=Williams, J. G. |author12=Alley, C. O. |date=October 19, 1973 |title=The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=182 |issue=4109 |pmid=17749298 |bibcode=1973Sci...182..229B |doi=10.1126/science.182.4109.229 |pages=229–238 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |s2cid=32027563 |access-date=April 27, 2013 |url=http://www.physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/doc/Bender.pdf |display-authors=3}}</ref> Smaller retroreflectors were also put on the Moon by the Russians; they were attached to the uncrewed lunar rovers [[Lunokhod 1]] and [[Lunokhod 2]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html |title=NASA's LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals to Russian Rover Mirror |last1=Jones |first1=Nancy |last2=McDonald |first2=Kim |editor-last=Jenner |editor-first=Lynn |date=April 26, 2010 |publisher=NASA |id=Goddard Release No. 10-038 |access-date=September 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813003501/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html }}</ref>

== Public opinion ==
{{See also|Moon landing conspiracy theories in popular culture}}

In a 1994 poll by ''[[The Washington Post]]'', 9% of the respondents said that it was possible that astronauts did not go to the Moon and another 5% were unsure.<ref name=":0">[[#Scheaffer|Scheaffer 2004]], pp. 226–227</ref> A 1999 [[Gallup Poll]] found that 6% of the Americans surveyed doubted that the Moon landings happened and that 5% of those surveyed had no opinion,<ref name="plait156">[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], p. 156</ref><ref name="Borenstein" /><ref name="gallup1">{{cite press release| url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/1993/Did-Men-Really-Land-Moon.aspx |access-date=August 14, 2009|title=Did Men Really Land on the Moon? |date=February 15, 2001| publisher=[[The Gallup Organization|Gallup]]}}</ref><ref name="gallup2">{{cite press release|url=http://www.gallup.com/poll/3712/Landing-Man-Moon-Publics-View.aspx |access-date=August 14, 2009|title=Landing a Man on the Moon: The Public's View| first=Frank| last=Newport |date=July 20, 1999 |publisher=Gallup}}</ref> which roughly matches the findings of a similar 1995 ''Time/CNN'' poll.<ref name="plait156" /> Officials of the Fox network said that such skepticism rose to about 20% after the February 2001 airing of their network's television special, ''Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?'', seen by about 15 million viewers.<ref name="Borenstein">{{Cite news |title=Book to confirm moon landings |first=Seth |last=Borenstein |url=http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/946348/Book-to-confirm-moon-landings.html |agency=[[Knight Ridder]] Newspapers |newspaper=[[Deseret News]] |location=Salt Lake City, UT |date=November 2, 2002 |access-date=August 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726105516/http://archive.deseretnews.com/archive/946348/Book-to-confirm-moon-landings.html |archive-date=July 26, 2009}}</ref> This Fox special is seen as having promoted the hoax claims.<ref name="theage">{{cite news |url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2002/12/24/1040511043172.html |access-date=August 13, 2009 |title=One giant leap of imagination |date=December 24, 2002 |newspaper=[[The Age]] |location=Melbourne, Australia |agency=[[Associated Press]]}}</ref><ref name="newsweek">{{Cite news |title=American Beat: Moon Stalker |url=http://www.newsweek.com/id/65087/output/print |work=Newsweek.com |publisher=[[Newsweek]] |location=New York |date=September 15, 2002 |access-date=August 13, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071206023002/http://www.newsweek.com/id/65087/output/print |archive-date=December 6, 2007}}</ref>

A 2000 poll conducted by the {{Interlanguage link|Public Opinion Foundation|ru|3=Фонд «Общественное мнение»}} (''ФОМ'')<!-- the ru version needs to be translated and interwiki linked on its English page. --> in Russia found that 28% of those surveyed did not believe that American astronauts landed on the Moon, and this percentage is roughly equal in all social-demographic groups.<ref name=":1">{{Cite press release |last=Петрова |first=А.С. |script-title=ru:БЫЛИ ЛИ АМЕРИКАНЦЫ НА ЛУНЕ? |trans-title=Were the Americans on the Moon? |date=April 19, 2000 |publisher=[[Public Opinion Foundation]] (ФОМ) |url=http://bd.fom.ru/report/cat/sci_sci/kosmos/of001605 |access-date=August 13, 2009 |language=ru}} Nationwide Russian survey of urban and rural population conducted on April 1, 2000. 1,500 respondents. Americans walked on the Moon? Overall results of poll: 51% yes; 28% no; 22% unsure.</ref><ref name=":2">{{cite web |url=http://bd.fom.ru/report/map/t001333 |script-title=ru:ИНОГДА ВЫСКАЗЫВАЕТСЯ МНЕНИЕ, ЧТО НА САМОМ ДЕЛЕ ВЫСАДКИ АМЕРИКАНСКИХ АСТРОНАВТОВ НА ЛУНУ НЕ БЫЛО. ВЫ ЛИЧНО ВЕРИТЕ ИЛИ НЕ ВЕРИТЕ, ЧТО АМЕРИКАНСКИЕ АСТРОНАВТЫ ДЕЙСТВИТЕЛЬНО ПОБЫВАЛИ НА ЛУНЕ? |date=April 5, 2000 |publisher=Public Opinion Foundation (ФОМ) |language=ru |access-date=April 30, 2013}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{cite web |url=http://bd.fom.ru/report/map/t001332 |script-title=ru:ЗНАЕТЕ ЛИ ВЫ, ЧТО-ТО СЛЫШАЛИ ИЛИ СЛЫШИТЕ СЕЙЧАС ВПЕРВЫЕ О ВЫСАДКЕ АМЕРИКАНСКИХ АСТРОНАВТОВ НА ЛУНУ ЛЕТОМ 1969 ГОДА? |date=April 5, 2000 |publisher=Public Opinion Foundation (ФОМ) |language=ru |access-date=April 30, 2013}}</ref> In 2009, a poll held by the United Kingdom's ''[[Engineering & Technology]]'' magazine found that 25% of those surveyed did not believe that men landed on the Moon.<ref name=":4">{{cite journal |last=Bizony |first=Piers |author-link=Piers Bizony |date=July 6, 2009 |title=It was a fake, right? |journal=[[Engineering & Technology]] |volume=4 |issue=12 |pages=24–25 |location=London |publisher=[[Institution of Engineering and Technology]] |doi=10.1049/et.2009.1202 |access-date=February 19, 2011 |url=http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2009/12/fake-right.cfm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110128204607/http://eandt.theiet.org/magazine/2009/12/fake-right.cfm |archive-date=January 28, 2011|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Another poll gives that 25% of 18- to 25-year-olds surveyed were unsure that the landings happened.<ref name=":5">{{cite journal |last=Kruesi |first=Liz |date=December 2009 |title=The Cosmic Grid |journal=[[Astronomy (magazine)|Astronomy]] |page=62 |location=Waukesha, WI |publisher=[[Kalmbach Publishing]] |issn=0091-6358}}</ref>

There are subcultures worldwide which advocate the belief that the Moon landings were faked. By 1977 the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness|Hare Krishna]] magazine ''[[Back to Godhead]]'' called the landings a hoax, claiming that, since the [[Sun]] is {{convert|93|e6mi|abbr=unit|order=flip}} away, and "according to [[Hindu mythology]] the Moon is {{convert|800,000|mi|disp=sqbr}} farther away than that", the Moon would be nearly {{convert|94|e6mi|abbr=unit|order=out}} away; to travel that span in 91 hours would require a speed of more than a million miles per hour, "a patently impossible feat even by the scientists' calculations."<ref name="Goswami">{{cite journal |author=Satsvarūpa dāsa Goswami |author-link=Satsvarupa dasa Goswami |date=May 1977 |title=Man on the Moon: A Case of Mass Brainwashing |url=http://back2godhead.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/123_1977_12-05.pdf |journal=[[Back to Godhead]] |location=Los Angeles |publisher=[[Bhaktivedanta Book Trust]] |volume=12 |issue=5 |pages=10–11, 13–14 |issn=0005-3643 |access-date=October 9, 2013}}</ref><ref>[[#Scheaffer|Scheaffer 2011]], p. 229</ref>

[[James Oberg]] of [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] said that the conspiracy theory is taught in many Cuban schools, both in Cuba and where Cuban teachers are loaned.<ref name="Fake Moon Flight' Myth 2003, pp. 23, 30" /><ref>{{cite news |title=Getting Apollo 11 Right |first=James |last=Oberg |author-link=James Oberg |url=https://abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000science/oberg2000.html |access-date=August 13, 2009 |work=ABC News |publisher=ABC |location=New York |date=July 1999|quote=I'm told that this is official dogma still taught in schools in Cuba, plus wherever else Cuban teachers have been sent (such as [[Sandinista]] Nicaragua and Angola). |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20030402094521/https://abcnews.go.com/ABC2000/abc2000science/oberg2000.html |archive-date=April 2, 2003}}</ref> A poll conducted in the 1970s by the [[United States Information Agency]] in several countries in Latin America, Asia, and Africa found that most respondents were unaware of the Moon landings, many of the others dismissed them as propaganda or science fiction, and many thought that it had been the Russians that landed on the Moon.<ref>[[#Oberg|Oberg 1982]], p. 97</ref>

In 2019, [[Ipsos]] conducted a study for [[C-SPAN]] to assess the level of belief that the 1969 Moon landing was faked. Six percent of respondents believed it was not real, but eleven percent of [[millennial]]s (reached adulthood in the early 21st century) were the most likely to believe it was not factual.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.ipsos.com/sites/default/files/ct/news/documents/2019-07/c-span-space-exploration-07-10-2019_for_release.pdf |title=Attitudes Toward Space Exploration – Ipsos Poll on Behalf of C-SPAN – Belief in Authenticity of the 1969 Moon Landing |work=[[C-Span]] |date=July 10, 2019 |access-date=July 21, 2019}}</ref>

=== Summary of public opinion polls ===
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Dates
conducted
!Pollster
!Area and Demographics
!Sample
size
!Real
!Faked
!Unsure/No Opinion
!Link(s)
|-
|1994
|''[[The Washington Post]]''
|[[United States]]
!
|86%
|9%
|5%
|<ref name=":0" />
|-
|1999
|[[Gallup Poll]]
|[[United States]]
|
|89%
|6%
|5%
|<ref name="plait156" />
|-
|2000
|{{Interlanguage link|Public Opinion Foundation|ru|3=Фонд «Общественное мнение»}}
|[[Russia]]
|
|72%
|28%
| -
|<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /><ref name=":3" />
|-
|2009
|''[[Engineering & Technology]]''
|
|
|75%
|25%
| -
|<ref name=":4" />
|-
|2009
|''[[Astronomy (magazine)|Astronomy]]''
|United Kingdom, 18-25 year olds
|
|75%
|25%
| -
|<ref name=":5" />
|-
|2019
|''[[C-SPAN]]/[[Ipsos]]''
|United States, [[Millennials]]
|
|89%
|11%
| -
|<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jackson |first=Chris |date=10 July 2019 |title=Attitudes Toward Space Exploration |url=http://www.ipsos.com/en-us/news-polls/cspan-space-exploration-2019 |access-date=19 October 2024 |website=Ipsos.com}}</ref>
|}

== See also ==
{{Portal|Spaceflight|Solar System}}
* {{Annotated link|Astronauts Gone Wild|''Astronauts Gone Wild''}}
* {{Annotated link|In the Shadow of the Moon (2007 film)|''In the Shadow of the Moon''}}
* {{Annotated link|Lost Cosmonauts}}
* {{Annotated link|List of topics characterized as pseudoscience}}
* {{Annotated link|Stolen and missing Moon rocks}}

== Notes ==
{{Notelist}}

== Citations ==
{{Include-NASA}}
{{Reflist}}

== References ==
{{Refbegin|2}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Aaronovitch
| first=David
| author-link=David Aaronovitch
| title=Voodoo Histories: The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History
| edition=1st American
| orig-date=Originally published 2009 in Great Britain by [[Jonathan Cape]]
| year=2010
| publisher=[[Riverhead Books]]
| location=New York
| isbn=978-1-59448-895-5
| ref=Aaronovitch
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/voodoohistoriesr0000aaro
}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Attivissimo| first=Paulo
| title=Moon Hoax: Debunked!
| edition=1st English
| year=2013
| publisher=[[Lulu (company)|Lulu]]
| isbn=978-1-291-59157-6
| ref=Attivissimo}}
* {{Cite book
| last1=Bennett| first1=Mary| last2=Percy| first2=David S.
| title=Dark Moon: Apollo and the Whistle-Blowers
| orig-date=First published 1999 in Great Britain by Aulis Publishers
| year=2001
| publisher=[[David Hatcher Childress|Adventures Unlimited Press]]
| location=Kempton, IL
| isbn=978-0-932813-90-9
| ref=Bennett & Percy}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Brian| first=William L.| author-link=Moongate (book)
| title=Moongate: Suppressed Findings of the U.S. Space Program, The NASA-Military Cover-Up
| edition=1st
| year=1982
| publisher=Future Science Research Publishing Co.
| location=Portland, OR
| isbn=978-0-941292-00-9
| ref=Brian}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Chaikin| first=Andrew| author-link=Andrew Chaikin
| others=Foreword by Tom Hanks and a new afterword by the author
| title=A Man on the Moon: The Voyages of the Apollo Astronauts
| edition=Reissue
| orig-date=First published 1994
| year=2007
| publisher=[[Penguin Books]]
| location=New York
| isbn=978-0-14-311235-8
| ref=Chaikin}}
* {{Cite book
| editor1-last=Dick| editor1-first=Steven J.| editor2-last=Launius| editor2-first=Roger D.
| title=Societal Impact of Spaceflight
| url=https://history.nasa.gov/sp4801-part1.pdf
| access-date=June 7, 2013
| year=2007
| publisher=NASA
| location=Washington, D.C.
| isbn=978-0-16-080190-7
| id=NASA SP-2007-4801
| ref=Dick & Launius}} Part 2 available [https://history.nasa.gov/sp4801-part2.pdf here] (PDF).
* {{Cite book
| last=Hansen| first=James R.
| title=First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
| year=2005
| publisher=[[Simon & Schuster]]
| location=New York
| isbn=978-0-7432-5631-5
| ref=Hansen| title-link=First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong
}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Harrison
| first=Guy P.
| others=Foreword by Phil Plait
| title=50 popular beliefs that people think are true
| year=2012
| publisher=[[Prometheus Books]]
| location=Amherst, NY
| isbn=978-1-61614-495-1
| ref=Harrison
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/50popularbeliefs0000harr
}}
* {{Cite book
| last1=Heiken
| first1=Grant H.
| last2=Vaniman
| first2=David T.
| last3=French
| first3=Bevan M.
| title=Lunar Sourcebook: A User's Guide to the Moon
| url=https://archive.org/details/lunarsourcebooku0000unse
| access-date=May 24, 2013
| year=1991
| publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]
| location=Cambridge; New York
| isbn=0-521-33444-6
| ref=Heiken
| url-access=registration
}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Kaysing| first=Bill| author-link=Bill Kaysing
| others=Randy Reid credited as co-author in 1976 editions
| title=We Never Went to the Moon: America's Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle
| orig-date=First published 1976
| year=2002
| publisher=Health Research Books
| location=Pomeroy, WA
| oclc=52390067
| ref=Kaysing}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Kranz
| first=Gene
| author-link=Gene Kranz
| title=Failure is not an Option: Mission Control from Mercury to Apollo 13 and Beyond
| year=2000
| publisher=Simon & Schuster
| location=New York
| isbn=0-7432-0079-9
| ref=Kranz
| url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780743200790
}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Lheureux| first=Philippe
| title=Lumières sur la Lune
|trans-title=Lights on the Moon
| url=http://lheureux.free.fr/
| year=2000
| publisher=Éditions Carnot
| location=Chatou
| language=fr
| isbn=978-2-912362-49-0
| ref=Lheureux}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Longuski
| first=Jim
| title=The Seven Secrets of How to Think Like a Rocket Scientist
| year=2006
| publisher=[[Springer Publishing]]
| location=New York
| isbn=978-0-387-30876-0
| ref=Longuski
| url=https://archive.org/details/sevensecretsofho00long
}}
* {{Cite book
| last=McAdams| first=John C.| author-link=John C. McAdams
| title=JFK Assassination Logic: How to Think about Claims of Conspiracy
| year=2011
| publisher=Potomac Books
| location=Washington, D.C.
| isbn=978-1-59797-489-9
| ref=McAdams}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Mindell| first=David A.
| title=Digital Apollo: Human and Machine in Spaceflight
| year=2008
| publisher=[[MIT Press]]
| location=Cambridge, MA
| isbn=978-0-262-13497-2
| ref=Mindell}}
* {{cite book
| last=Мухин |first=Юрий Игнатьевич |author-link=Yury Ignatyevich Mukhin
| script-title=ru:Антиаполлон: Лунная афера США
|trans-title=Anti-Apollo: Lunar Scam of the USA
| year=2005
| publisher=[[Eksmo]]
| location=Moscow
| language=ru
| isbn=978-5-699-08657-3
| ref=Mukhin}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Oberg| first=James E.| author-link=James Oberg
| title=UFOs & Outer Space Mysteries: A Sympathetic Skeptic's Report
| year=1982
| publisher=[[The Donning Company]]
| location=Norfolk, VA
| isbn=978-0-89865-102-7
| ref=Oberg}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Попов |first=Александр Иванович
| script-title=ru:Американцы на Луне: великий прорыв или космическая афера?
|trans-title=Americans on the Moon: The Great Breakthrough or Space Scam?
| year=2009
| publisher=Veche
| location=Moscow
| language=ru
| isbn=978-5-9533-3315-3
| ref=Popov}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Ramsay| first=Robin
| title=Conspiracy Theories
| year=2006
| publisher=[[Pocket Essentials]]
| location=Harpenden
| isbn=1-904048-65-X
| ref=Ramsay}}
* {{Cite book
| last=René| first=Ralph| author-link=Ralph René
| editor-last=Lucas|editor-first=Stu
| others=Drawings by Chris Wolfer
| title=NASA Mooned America!
| year=1994
| publisher=René
| location=Passaic, NJ
| oclc=36317224
| ref=René}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Scheaffer| first=Robert| author-link=Robert Sheaffer
| others=Illustrations by Rob Pudim
| title=Psychic Vibrations: Skeptical Giggles from The Skeptical Inquirer
| year=2011
| publisher=CreateSpace
| location=Charleston, SC
| isbn=978-1-4636-0157-7
| ref=Scheaffer}} Reprinted from the ''[[Skeptical Inquirer]]'', Fall 1977.
* {{Cite book| last1=Scott| first1=David| author-link1=David Scott| last2=Leonov| first2=Alexei| author-link2=Alexei Leonov| last3=Toomey| first3=Christine| others=Foreword by [[Neil Armstrong]]; introduction by [[Tom Hanks]]| title=Two Sides of the Moon: Our Story of the Cold War Space Race| edition=1st U.S.| year=2004| publisher=[[Thomas Dunne Books]]| location=New York| isbn=0-312-30865-5| ref=Scott & Leonov| url=https://archive.org/details/twosidesofmoon00scot}}
* {{Cite book
| last1=Shepard
| first1=Alan B.
| author-link1=Alan Shepard
| last2=Slayton
| first2=Donald K.
| author-link2=Deke Slayton
| others=With [[Jay Barbree]] and Howard Benedict; introduction by Neil Armstrong
| title=Moon Shot: The Inside Story of America's Race to the Moon
| year=1994
| publisher=[[Turner Publishing Company|Turner Publishing]]
| location=Atlanta
| isbn=978-1-878685-54-4
| ref=Shepard & Slayton
| url=https://archive.org/details/moonshotinsidest00shep
}}
* {{Cite book
| last=副島| first=隆彦
| script-title=ja:人類の月面着陸は無かったろう論
|trans-title=Apollo 11 Has Never Been to the Moon
| year=2004
| publisher=[[Tokuma Shoten]]
| location=Tokyo
| language=ja
| isbn=978-4-19-861874-2
| ref=Soejima}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Wisnewski| first=Gerhard
| others=English translation by Johanna Collis
| title=One Small Step?: The Great Moon Hoax and the Race to Dominate Earth from Space
| orig-date=Originally published 2005 in German under the title ''Lügen im Weltraum, Von der Mondlandung zur Weltherrschaft'', Knaur Taschenbuch Verlag, Munich
| year=2007
| publisher=Clairview Books
| location=Forrest Row
| isbn=978-1-905570-12-6
| ref=Wisnewski}}
* {{Cite book
| last=Woods
| first=W. David
| title=How Apollo Flew to the Moon
| year=2008
| publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer-Verlag]]
| location=New York
| isbn=978-0-387-71675-6
| ref=Woods
| url-access=registration
| url=https://archive.org/details/howapolloflewtom0000wood
}}
{{Refend}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite journal
 | last = Achenbach|first = Joel
 |date=March 2015
 | title = The Age of Disbelief
 | journal = [[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]
 | volume =227
 | issue = 3
 | pages = 30–47
 }} Author examines climate change, evolution, the Moon landing, vaccinations, and genetically modified food
* {{Cite journal
 | last = Loxton|first = Daniel|author-link=Daniel Loxton
 | year = 2010
 | title = Top Ten Busted Myths
 | journal = [[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|Skeptic]]
 | volume =15
 | issue = 4
 | page = 74
 }}
* {{Cite journal
 | last = Morrison|first = David|author-link=David Morrison (astrophysicist)
 |date=November 2009
 | title = Moon Hoax Resolved: New Lunar Orbiter Images Show Moon Landers, Astronaut's Tracks
 | journal = [[Skeptical Inquirer]]
 | volume =33
 | issue = 6
 | pages = 5–6
 }}
* {{cite book
 | last=Plait |first=Philip
 | title=Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax"
 | publisher=John Wiley & Sons
 | year=2002
 | chapter=17
 | isbn=0-471-40976-6
 }}
* {{Cite book
 | last=Steven-Boniecki|first=Dwight
 | title=Live TV from the Moon
 | year=2010
 | publisher=Apogee Books
 | location=Burlington, Ontario
 | isbn=978-1-926592-16-9
 }}
* {{Cite journal
 | last = Talcott|first = Richard
 |date=November 2010
 | title = Astronomy Mythbusters
 | journal = [[Astronomy (magazine)|Astronomy]]
 | volume =38
 | issue = 11
 | pages = 56–57
 }} Author examines ten common astronomy myths. See: Myth #10: NASA faked the Moon landings.

== External links ==
* [http://www.clavius.org/index.html Moon Base Clavius] is devoted to analyzing and debunking the conspiracists' claims.
* [https://www.nasa.gov/history/alsj/ Apollo Lunar Surface Journal] Photos, audio, video and complete communication transcriptions of the six successful landings and Apollo 13

=== Television specials ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite AV media
| author=William Karel (Director)|author-link=William Karel
| year=2002
| title=[[Dark Side of the Moon (mockumentary)|Opération lune]]
|trans-title=Dark Side of the Moon
| type=[[Mockumentary]]
| language=fr, en
| publisher=[[Arte]] France / [[Point du Jour International]]
| location=Paris
| oclc=57723359
| ref=Dark Side of the Moon}} First airdate: October 16, 2002.
* {{Cite AV media
| author1=John Moffett (Director, Producer, Writer)| author2=Bruce M. Nash (Executive Producer, Writer)| author-link2=Bruce Nash
| year=2001
| title=Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?
| type=Documentary
| publisher=[[Nash Entertainment]], Inc.
| location=Hollywood, CA
| oclc=52473513
| ref=Conspiracy Theory}} First airdate on Fox TV: February 15, 2001.
* {{IMDb title|qid=Q129102141|title=The Truth Behind the Moon Landings: Stranger Than Fiction (2003) (TV)}}
{{Refend}}

{{Conspiracy theories}}
{{Pseudoscience}}
{{The Moon}}
{{Crewed lunar spacecraft}}
{{Moon spacecraft}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Moon landing conspiracy theories| ]]
[[Category:Conspiracy theories by subject]]
[[Category:Denialism]]
[[Category:Pseudohistory]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]