Claim: We did not go to the moon

Question

The appearance of the flag looked fake. I read this claim through an article names, "The Moon Lanidng Were Faked". It provides claims that the flag's movement shows the precened of wind which is imposible in space.

Comments

This is a well-known conspiracy theory that has been debunked multiple times by experts and photographic evidence. NASA has explained that the flag appeared to move because it was attached to a horizontal rod and was affected by the momentum from astronauts planting it into the ground. The lack of atmosphere on the Moon means there’s no wind, but the movement of the flag was due to inertia from the planting motion. Multiple independent sources (including high-resolution images and video analysis) confirm the Moon landing’s authenticity.

Answer 1

I do believe that it is easy to say that the moon landing was fake. Many conspiracy theories make you think more about it and start to believe what they are saying. However, there is a lot of evidence proving otherwise. This article shows evidence that the moon landing did happen.

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/moon-landing/

Comments

This topic is very controversial and very easy to believe Conspiracy theories although I think there’s a lot of evidence to justify that we’ve been to the moon.

---

@gracecochran33 nice job including an explanation and a source link. Also, don't forget to add a rating, such as "false, misinformation" if you have the evidence to support that. In addition, in your explanation you should state specifically the "evidence proving otherwise" within your explanation rather than redirect to a source link.

@Breannad strong fact-checks are comprised of an explanation and supporting evidence, source links, and a rating. Also, going forward, please "answer" the fact-check rather than comment on someone's answer. By doing so, you can receive upvotes and be selected as the best answer.

---

This was a very interesting take, and I enjoyed reading your comment. I agree the spread of disinformation, especially regarding conspiracy theories, is easy to be taken seriously. So, no wonder so many people believe this claim. However, I think you could have benefited from reciting the facts that prove this claim to be false. It would overall strengthen your argument.

Answer 2

While the moon landing was real, it's possible the fake moon landing conspiracy developed because rural and underprivileged communities were unable to access quality footage of Neil Armstrong's moon landing in action. Since the 60s, optical anomalies in the images from the Apollo program have repeatedly been used as haphazard evidence of the faked moon landing and conspiracy theories unfortunately continue to be fueled by mass media stories. While the evidence proving the moon landing actually happened is astronomical, polarized disputers continue to breathe life into the conspiracy.

Here is an article explaining in detail how this conspiracy was derived and why it continues (hint: it's not because of actual evidence): https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/yes-united-states-certainly-did-land-humans-moon-180972161/

Comments

The claim that the moon landing was real, but the fake moon landing conspiracy arose due to limited access to quality footage in rural and underprivileged communities is an interesting perspective. I think it's valuable your research reveals this argument; I have never heard about this before (and I love conspiracy theory tiktoks and youtube videos)! I think you could have elaborated for the potential motivators for spreading this information, but explaining how members within some of these communities have come to that conclusion is helpful. It's crucial to critically assess the reliability of the evidence presented. Furthermore, I think you should consider adding more sources elaborating on your argument. I think this is a sufficient fact-check, I agree it is exaggerated and misleading.

Answer 3

This is false. The TIME article cited is quite clear that it is not validating these theories--instead, it covers the 'faked moon landing' as part of a series on "10 of the world's most enduring conspiracy theories." Emphasis on conspiracy. The most reliable, base source to validate the moon landing are the photos from Nasa's website, showing without a doubt the validity of this achievement. The question of the flag moving despite the lack of wind was debunked quite succinctly: the flags movement mirrored that of the astronaut planting the flag. See the BBC for more details.

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/z3x6b7h#:~:text=Conspiracy%3A%20waving%20flag&text=When%20the%20astronauts%20were%20trying,same%20position%20once%20they%20left.

Answer 4

Contrary to this claim, the original moon landing was indeed real, and the various expeditions which followed it were equally verifiable. It is always good to be cynical, but in cases such as this we have evidence (such as data regarding radiation exposure and extensive footage/coverage) to support the historical moon landing. While the tweet found on this cite addresses what have become people’s real concerns, the message itself is an excellent example of disinformation—a falsehood spread to intentionally deceive an audience in the interest of a political goal. When learning new information, it is important to pull from a variety of credible sources (ideally not tweets or organizations known for consistent bias) to avoid falling victim to propaganda and conspiracy theories such as this. 

https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/

https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/moon/how-do-we-know-we-went-to-the-moon

Answer 5

The moon landing was not faked. The effect of the flag rippling in the 'wind' is due to the design of the flag itself. There is a published report by NASA stating that "they designed a flagpole with a horizontal bar allowing the flag to "fly" without the benefit of wind to overcome the effects of the moon's lack of an atmosphere." The ripple effect itself was created due to the weak gravity on the moon. 

https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/flag/flag.htm

Answer 6

The article this comment has linked states that the moon landing was actually acted out by the astronauts on a film set amongst many other interesting claims. In an article written by the Institute of Physics, it’s stated that “From the Apollo Moon missions, there are 8,400 publicly available photos, thousands of hours of video footage, a mountain of scientific data, and full transcripts and audio recordings of all air-to-ground conversations. We even have 382 kilograms of Moon rock that Apollo astronauts brought back to Earth. These rocks have been independently verified as lunar by laboratories around the world, ruling out a US conspiracy”. Not only do we have physical proof here with us on Earth to support the validity of the moon landings, there is also proof that remains up in space. 

https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/moon/how-do-we-know-we-went-to-the-moon

Astronauts who visited the moon placed equipment in order for scientists to better understand the universe. In fact, “During their day on the Moon, Armstrong and Aldrin planted a lunar laser ranging retroreflector array on the surface. It’s still operational today, and allows us to reflect lasers off of it and measure the distance to the Moon down to the centimetre. We simply couldn’t do this if we hadn’t visited the Moon”. Furthermore, footprints from the astronauts who visited the moon still remain. Wind does not affect the moon, meaning, all of these years later, the footprints of the first men to walk on the moon still remain frozen in time. Also, there is more “than 8,400 super high-resolution images from the Apollo missions have been released onto Flickr, a huge upload which allows the general public to see the historic photographs at an unprecedented quality”. While NASA photos of the moon landing have always been available to the public, these released higher quality images make the magnitude of the achievement clearer than ever. 

https://www.iop.org/explore-physics/moon/how-do-we-know-we-went-to-the-moon

https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/hi-res-images-from-the-apollo-missions/

Finally, millions of people around watch the moon landing with their own eyes. The historical moments of the expedition were broadcast from the initial launch, all the way until the astronauts were safely back on Earth. The moon landing marked an unimaginable achievement for both science and mankind.