In the late 1950’s the United States was in the middle of an arms and intelligence race with the Soviet Union. Part of this intelligence race was over who had supremacy in space. The Soviet Union was the front-runner in 1957 when they launched the first man made satellite into space that orbited the Earth (Miller 16). The following year Kim Mcquaid says NASA was created to develop the United States’ non-military space effort (Mcquaid). On May 25, 1961 President John F. Kennedy set a goal for the program: “perform a crewed lunar landing and return to Earth” (Loff). On July 16, 1969 Apollo 11 launched and 4 days later millions watched as Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz’ Aldrin became the first men to step foot on the moon. But was this
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The image shows ripples throughout the flag as if it was blowing in a breeze (“The Project”). Since the moon’s atmosphere is a vacuum, there is no wind, and the flag should not give the impression that it is flapping according to the theorists. Conspiracy theorists believe that a current of air is the only factor that could cause this to occur. The conspiracy do not take into account that the astronauts were forced to twist the flagpole back and forth in order to better penetrate the ground. This twisting motion would cause the flag to flap despite the absence of wind (Phillips). Roger Launius, spaceflight historian of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., said, “’the inertia from when they let go kept it moving’” (qtd. in Than). Ker Than explains that, “The astronauts also accidentally bent the horizontal rods holding the flag in place several times” (Than). This would also cause a rippling effect in the …show more content…
Theorists believe that the astronauts could not have left such well-defined footprints because there is no moisture in a vacuum. When moisture is present the soil will compact better than without moisture therefore leaving a much more distinctive print. The NASA transcripts show Neil Armstrong said on July 21, 1969, at 2:56 am as he stepped off the moon, “the surface is fine and powdery” and “I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles” (Armstrong). Each particle of the lunar regolith is very sharp. These particles with their sharp, jagged edges allow for them to be compressed and compacted much better than soil on earth. Since the particles that are currently present on Earth have been weathered over time they have lost their jaggedness and can only be compressed in moisture. Even in the absence of moisture the moon boots that the astronauts wore can leave a clean, distinct footprint in the lunar regolith. The photo of Buzz Aldrin departing the LM, the photo of the flag on the moon, the photo of the LM and rocks on the moon, and the photo of Aldrin’s footprint in the lunar regolith disprove the theory that the Apollo 11 moon landing was faked. The moon landing of 1969 was able to help push the
The image shows ripples throughout the flag as if it was blowing in a breeze (“The Project”). Since the moon’s atmosphere is a vacuum, there is no wind, and the flag should not give the impression that it is flapping according to the theorists. Conspiracy theorists believe that a current of air is the only factor that could cause this to occur. The conspiracy do not take into account that the astronauts were forced to twist the flagpole back and forth in order to better penetrate the ground. This twisting motion would cause the flag to flap despite the absence of wind (Phillips). Roger Launius, spaceflight historian of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., said, “’the inertia from when they let go kept it moving’” (qtd. in Than). Ker Than explains that, “The astronauts also accidentally bent the horizontal rods holding the flag in place several times” (Than). This would also cause a rippling effect in the …show more content…
Theorists believe that the astronauts could not have left such well-defined footprints because there is no moisture in a vacuum. When moisture is present the soil will compact better than without moisture therefore leaving a much more distinctive print. The NASA transcripts show Neil Armstrong said on July 21, 1969, at 2:56 am as he stepped off the moon, “the surface is fine and powdery” and “I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles” (Armstrong). Each particle of the lunar regolith is very sharp. These particles with their sharp, jagged edges allow for them to be compressed and compacted much better than soil on earth. Since the particles that are currently present on Earth have been weathered over time they have lost their jaggedness and can only be compressed in moisture. Even in the absence of moisture the moon boots that the astronauts wore can leave a clean, distinct footprint in the lunar regolith. The photo of Buzz Aldrin departing the LM, the photo of the flag on the moon, the photo of the LM and rocks on the moon, and the photo of Aldrin’s footprint in the lunar regolith disprove the theory that the Apollo 11 moon landing was faked. The moon landing of 1969 was able to help push the