People, for a very long time, have dreamed about the moon and space. They have wondered what it would be like to stand on the moon, and in 1969, for the first time ever, man landed on the moon. On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to ever step on the surface of the moon. It was a historic moment, not just for the two men, or NASA, or even the US, but for the whole world. It was a shining moment- with a black mark on it. What is that mark, you may ask? It’s the completely false and ridiculous conspiracy theories that circle the moon landing. Even though these conspiracy theories are so far fetched, a poll in 1999 showed that 6% of the people surveyed believed the moon landing was faked by the US government. (Gallup News Service). While this number may seem insignificant, when applied to the entire US population, it means that 19.134 million Americans do not believe in the moon landings. Although some people may believe that NASA faked the moon landing, there is evidence that proves that NASA did indeed land on the moon. Even though the US flag is waving in the video of the moon landing, this is due to the flag being moved by the astronauts, and not by a non-existent wind on the Moon. People believe the lighting in the images were impossible, as Buzz Aldrin was illuminated, even though he was in the shadow of the spaceship, but when the moon landing scene was simulated by Nvidia, a gaming-component supplier, the reason for this was figured out, effectively shutting down that part of the theory. The crew from the Apollo missions brought back moon rocks, that cannot be created in any earthlike conditions. All these reasons debunk the conspiracy theory, so let’s get into more detail about how false this theory is.

Even though the US flag is waving in the video of the moon landing, this is due to the flag being moved by the astronauts, and not by a non-existent wind on the Moon. One writer, Jason Major, explains how, even though there was no wind on the moon, the flag could still being moving if the astronauts had touched it- which they had. The astronauts had struggles when setting the flag up., which caused it to move. Major explains, “The Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere (aside from some sparsely-scattered ions and dust) but it does have gravity?—?about one-sixth of Earth’s?—?and a well-shaken banner will still wave… just not by any wind” (No, The Moon Landings Weren’t Faked. (And Here’s How You Can Tell.). This shows that while the flag cannot move due to wind, it could still be swinging, or moving. This is because the astronauts were moving the flag at the time of the recording. Later on, after the initial setup, the flag doesn’t move in any other image or video, because the flag had settled. This shows that there was no wind on the moon, and the flag was moving due to the astronauts setting it up. This debunks the conspiracy theory that the moon landings were fake because the flag in the video seemed to be waving. While this is only one part of the overall theory, the other branches can be easily debunked as well.

People believe the lighting in the images were impossible, as Buzz Aldrin was illuminated, even though he was in the shadow of the spaceship, but when the moon landing scene was simulated by Nvidia, a gaming-component supplier, the reason for this was figured out, effectively shutting down that part of the theory. A very popular claim that people who believe the moon landing use is that even though Buzz Aldrin is standing under the Apollo Lunar Module, he is illuminated in the picture. This should be impossible, since the sunlight is blocked by the spaceship, but Nvidia found the explanation. Nick Statt writes, “One popular claim by those who say the moon landing was a hoax is that astronaut Buzz Aldrin, photographed here by fellow astronaut Neil Armstrong, could not have been illuminated, because he was in the shadow of the Apollo Lunar Module. After talking with many engineers and NASA employees, Nvidia discovered that there were two key factors, both of which could be addressed using voxel global illumination. First, the Moon’s surface is comprised of what are essentially thousands of tiny mirrors?—?moon dust if you will?—?that bounce light back at a viewer. Yet that didn’t account for the necessary level of brightness to light up Aldrin. So Nvidia engineers began tinkering with different elements of the photograph until they discovered that it was not what was in the frame, but who was behind it. The famous shot was snapped by Neil Armstrong?—?who was off to the side of Aldrin in full view of the Sun?—?wearing a 85 percent reflective spacesuit that contained five layers of the highly reflective fabric Mylar…” (Nvidia sinks moon landing hoax using virtual light). This shows that even though Aldrin is in the shadow of the lunar module, he can still be illuminated by the reflection of light off his surroundings. The light reflected off the moon’s surface, combined with the light reflected by Armstrong’s spacesuit, shows that Aldrin could be illuminated even when standing in the shadow. This proves that the theory that the moon landing was a hoax because of the lighting of the image is false. The last two paragraphs prove why ideas from the conspiracy theory is wrong, but the next paragraph provides rock solid evidence that men did in fact, land on the moon.

The crew from the Apollo missions brought back moon rocks, that cannot be created in any condition on Earth. On the moon, the rocks are very different than those on Earth. This is due to the difference in the environment. Some of these moon rocks were brought back by the astronauts. As Westrup writes, “The Apollo astronauts brought back thousands of photos and miles of videotape from the moon. They also returned with some really hard evidence: 381 kilograms of lunar rock. Nothing on Earth is like moon rock, which has almost no water and absolutely no clay, both of which are common in Earth rock. Moon rock also has unique atomic fingerprints that take the form of isotopes not normally found anywhere on Earth. An isotope is a form of an element with a different number of neutrons in its atoms than other forms of the same element. Cosmic rays bombarding the moon create the unique isotopes. Cosmic rays come from supernovas?—?exploding stars. Moon rocks could not be created on Earth because no nuclear facility comes close to matching the power of a supernova.” (Flights of Fancy?). This shows that actual, physical evidence was brought back from the moon, meaning that the moon landing must be true. Since these rocks cannot be created anywhere on earth, it must have come from the moon. This is irrefutable evidence that completely destroys the conspiracy theory, proving that the moon landing was not a hoax. Once again, the conspiracy theory is proven to be completely false.

While some people believe the ridiculous rumors that surround the moon landing, there is evidence that completely proves that the moon landing was not a hoax. The conspiracy theory is false for many reasons, but the ones I have proved are that the flag is moving due to contact with the astronauts, when the scene was simulated by a gaming company, similar results were produced, and the astronauts brought back rocks from the moon which cannot be produced anywhere on Earth, proving that they had indeed landed on the moon. There are many conspiracy theories surrounding many different topics, but all of these theories are false. Don’t be tricked by these lies, and remember- evidence can’t lie.