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Were the moon landings faked?
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Physical evidence supports that NASA sent people to the moon to explore

The astronauts brought lunar rocks back from their expedition which was verified by various agencies to not be of terrestrial origin. The astronauts also left physical evidence of their presence on the moon, which proves that the moon landing was real.
Conspiracy Space Exploration

Context

Several pieces of scientific evidence are available to prove NASA's claim.

The Argument

Astronauts brought back a total of 842 lbs (382 kg) samples of lunar rocks and soil over the course of six missions[1]. International teams of scientists - both affiliated and unaffiliated with NASA - have analyzed these samples and have determined that the rocks are not of terrestrial origin[2]. The rocks, identified as mostly basalts and breccias, have chemical makeups that are very different from those found on earth[3]. They are also estimated to be up to 4.5 billion years old; the oldest earth rocks are approximately 4.28 billion years old[4], which is a 200-million-year difference. With the technology available in the 1960s, it would not have been possible to organize an unmanned sample-returning mission. In fact, NASA has yet to successfully complete an unmanned sample-returning mission to and from a planetary surface[5]. Apollo missions 11, 14, and 15 left mirrors, called laser-ranging retroreflectors, on the moon's surface. High-powered laser beams can be aimed through telescopes; the reflection of the beam bounces off of the mirrors and is returned to earth[6]. This ongoing experiment is meant to provide data on the distance between the moon and earth but also serves as physical evidence that the moon landings were not fake. Lastly, photographs taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission in 2009 show the remainders of physical evidence left by astronauts on the moon, such as footpaths, landing sites, and various scientific instruments[7]. The abundance of physical evidence that NASA has collected over the decades is enough proof to confirm the moon landing was real, and humans have stood on the moon.

Counter arguments

There is no way to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that these lunar rocks were actually sampled from the moon. Lunar meteorites have been found in Antarctica and may very well have been passed off as lunar rocks collected by astronauts. Some have theorized that aerospace engineer Wernher Von Braun's 1967 expedition to Antarctica was orchestrated for the purpose of gathering meteorites that could be used as fake lunar rocks. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is also a NASA-funded spacecraft; NASA may have been able to doctor their images of the moon to make them appear as if there was evidence of humans on the surface.

Proponents

Premises

Rejecting the premises

References

  1. https://www.space.com/where-are-nasa-apollo-moon-rocks.html
  2. https://phys.org/news/2019-07-lunar-debunk-moon-conspiracy-theories.html
  3. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/samples/
  4. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/education/timeline/gallery/slide_15.html#:~:text=Oldest%20Moon%20Rocks&text=The%20Apollo%20missions%20sampled%20ancient,soon%20after%20the%20Moon%20formed.
  5. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/decadal/leag/SampleReturnTechnology.pdf
  6. https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/experiments/lrr/
  7. http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/157
This page was last edited on Monday, 26 Oct 2020 at 14:45 UTC

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