The Space Race is arguably the defining issue of the Cold War during the 1960s. Two countries raced to put living, breathing men on the moon. One succeeded, and the other very nearly did as well. Almost 50 years later, some people genuinely believe that the work of hundreds of thousands of people were faked, and that a Hollywood set is the real location of the famous touchdown. Today let's look at five parts of this conspiracy, and see why they just don't hold up.
1. We couldn't have gone to the moon because rockets don't work in space
Now this isn't as widespread a belief as some of the other ones on this list, but I found the fact that anyone believes this mind-boggling. See the video above for how it works. Seriously. Take just five minutes to listen to what the video has to say.
Then, if you still don't believe it, realize that you are saying that these companies listed online, most of which are commercial companies not owned by governments, are all lying to you. These companies are based all over the world and make a living by putting things into orbit for other companies, which means that the companies contracting people like Space X are either in on the lie or are being lied to.
Just think about it and come back to me when you have an answer that doesn't grasp at straws.
2. Astronauts would have died passing through the Van Allen radiation belts
If you're not a scientist (I know I'm not) and have trouble when it comes to Rads, Sieverts, and all the rest of the mess that is radiation, you might be curious about this one. Our fellow not-scientist above is more than happy to explain how it works in details that make sense.
Long story short, Apollo crew members would have in fact been able to safely travel through the Van Allen radiation belts without suffering from radiation poisoning. So much for this argument.
3. Technology in 1969 wasn't advanced enough to take men to the moon
Curious Droid (the man in the video above) does an excellent job explaining the guidance computers on board Apollo. The short answer from his video above is that, yes the computers were rudimentary by today's standards, but were built specifically for the Apollo missions, and could handle the computations necessary for the task.
Keep in mind that in 50 years, our descendants will be wondering how we did anything with our "inferior" technology. Just think "What do you mean books were made out of paper?"
4. The photos and video footage were faked on a sound stage
Time and time again we see people argue against "discrepancies" in photos. The video debunks a few of them, but there are more out there. Quick research (I'm talking Wikipedia-level searches here) will offer ways to debunk these conspiracies and give supporting evidence against each of these occasions. Don't believe me? See for yourself.
5. NASA paid off everyone to keep them quiet
This is the biggest hole to the entire plot in my mind, and is something I seriously doubt any conspiracy believer can adequately explain away without grasping at straws. 18 men flew to the moon on Apollos 11 through 17, with 12 of them landing on it.
Hundreds of people were in mission control, with thousands more working on the rocket, the physics, and the electronics of the Apollo spacecraft. You're telling me that all of them lied or were lied to for over a decade?
Furthermore, we have television and witness evidence proving that rockets were indeed launched from Johnson and Kennedy Space Centers. You mean to tell me that we faked those rocket launches?
Watergate was known by fewer people than this, and yet that story broke under penalty of persecution to the fullest extent of the law. Even under threat of death, how is it that no one directly connected to the Apollo program has ever come forward and admitted it was fake? Convince me that they managed to keep this quiet, and you might be onto something. Until then, I'll be here, waiting.
Other conspiracies come to mind that play off of this but bear in mind, the Soviet Union went to the moon too, landing on the dark side of the moon. Most Americans are not aware of this, but it happened. Was that fake too? Too many holes permeate this conspiracy, so I say it stays at the top of the pile of internet conspiracies. But, as always, this is only my opinion. Let me know what you think!
