The Apollo programs and NASA

The Apollo Moon Landing Conspiracy Theories

The Apollo applications exist in the historical records of NASA’s operation considering that 1972. The Moon landing theories have faced a lot of criticism by way of intellectuals and philosophers who perceive the universe in different ways. The conspiracy theories point out that the six landings carried out by the United States were a hoax; they have been meant to show the superiority of the United States to the relaxation of the world. The twelve astronauts units from Apollo 11 to Apollo 15 claimed by means of the NASA to be the first scientists to land on the moon never did so. There are proofs and evidences showing that Moon touchdown never occurs (Lewandowsky et al. 625). NASA and different scientific philosophers deliberately misled the world about the moon adventures by tampering, manufacturing, or obliterating evidence including telemetry tapes, TV transmission, photographs, and samples soils and rocks from the moon. The scientists also interfered with witnesses in an attempt to validate their claims. The media was majorly used to spread lies since no individual had ever gone to the moon. In the year 1960s, NASA dominated the scientific missions across the universe and they were the only organization capable of revealing the truth about the universe as a result of their advanced machinery and space craft’s, therefore, they were able to formulate mendacity about the moon landings and other subsequent claims that were untrue. The moon landing did not happen and the experiences shared by the NASA were mere claims propagated to enhance the superiority of the United States of America over other world powers.

Inconsistencies and Gaps in NASA’s Claims

There are inconsistencies and perceived gaps in the claims staged by NASA about the moon landings. The historical records presented by the NASA do not in any way provide a substantial proof about the missions to the moon (Swami et al 79). The whole landing programs were faked. The technology to send people to the moon was not available at the time; there was lack of sophisticated spacecraft that could travel to the moon. The presence of cosmic rays, solar flares, Van Allen radiations belts, solar wind and coronal mass ejection are some natural occurrences that could not allow the missions to the moon. There was lack of machines and spacecraft that could withstand the above natural phenomenon. Cosmic rays and solar flares are dangerous to the human life and they can cause the disappearance of solid objects in the space. Additionally, the designers of the space engines did not take into consideration of the above factors due to lack of knowledge about them. Although there were attempts to explore the moon, the missions were not successful and the NASA had to find ways of convincing the world having spent huge sums of taxpayers’ money in organizing the missions. The NASA produced edited photos to convince the public that the moon landing was real. From the images produced, there was clear indication that they were manipulated; the pictures could not give clear features of the moon.

The Vietnam War and Moon Landing Philosophy

The Vietnam War was another major factor that led to the philosophy surrounding the moon landing. Having spent a lot of public resources, the United States lost and the war and they wanted to turn off public attention from the losses and damages that impacted negatively on the American economy. The claims of moon landing also ended at the same time as the US involvement in the unpopular Vietnam War. The war was among the activities that the NASA had to compete, NASA budget went up in the year 1966 and drastically dropped by 42.3% in the year 1972 (Perlmutter and Nicole 234). The drop in the budget led to the cancellation of several missions. Different plans by NASA to set up space stations and the manned flights to the Moon and mars failed and this hindered the planned missions to the moon. The moon landing was therefore impossible due to lack of enough federal funds from the national budget. Consequently, the United States government wanted to turn away the people attention from the consequences brought about by the wars; therefore, they had to fake the moons landing in order to retain the superiority of the United States among the world powers. The moon landing was a unique and complex mission that had never been accomplished before; the attempted moon landing by Russian space exploration failed, therefore, United States wanted to show off their ability to counter the Russian scientist’s missions.

NASA’s Funding and Prestige

The NASA funding and prestige led to the claims of moon landing. The organization faked the space missions to avoid humiliations and to ensure they continue to receive funding from the federal government. NASA acquired close to thirty billion US dollars to explore the moon. The money was used to pay many individuals involved in the missions. Many people believed the Moon landing was impossible at the time; therefore, the missions had to be faked in order to fulfill Kennedy’s campaign objectives. In the year 1960, NASA accounted for over cost of missions in the Congress, totaling close to 25 billion US dollars (Grimes 43). The first attempts of moon landing led to the tragedies resulting from accidents. The Apollo 1 crew disappeared as a result of fires but NASA did not establish new plans on how to avoid such tragedies in their subsequent missions; it was, therefore, challenging to understand the claims of their successful missions. On the other hand, NASA was unable to broadcast the risks faced by the astronauts although they had the capability of doing so. They would not broadcast the explorers dying or getting sick during the journey to the Moon; this was as a result of humiliation they received from the public and from other world powers. With such historic mission, NASA was expected to show to the public the critical stages of the mission at different points but instead, they failed to show videos broadcast during either the takeoff or landing claiming that they had the technological limitations. With the funding they received from the federal government which was only delivered after careful determination of the procedures and processes in the mission, NASA had the capability of showing live videos of takeoffs and landings.

Cold War and Race for Superiority

The claims of moon landing took place amidst the Cold War that caused geopolitical tension immediately after the Second World War. The war motivated the United States to counter the Soviet Union in the space exploration or space race. During the war, major world powers wanted to show their superiority economically, scientifically, and socially. Therefore the United States wanted to look superior by dominating the scientific explorations. Before the Moon landing claims, the Soviet Union had tried landing on the Moon but the mission was unsuccessful due to the challenges brought about by the natural phenomenon and like cosmic rays and limited gravitational forces in the space. The United States had to formulate theories to become superior in the scientific exploration and in the end; they came up with fake photographs and claims of the moon landing. Exploring the Moon was perceived as the technological and national accomplishment that was to generate worldwide acclaim. Going to the Moon was an expensive and risky affair but President Kennedy insisted that the United States was to go because it was hard.

Environmental Factors and Challenges

There are environmental factors that could have hindered the missions to the Moon. During the trip, the astronauts could have died on the trip due to exposure to the powerful radiations that originates from Van Allen radiation belts as well as the galactic ambient radiations that often tend to cause poisoning and other health threats. Additionally, the NASA had carried out the high altitude nuclear test called Star Prime to disrupt the Van Allen belts, but the attempt failed; this made it impossible for the NASA to carry on with the space mission. In the Van Allen structure, there are two main belts, the outer and inner belts that consist of various radiations. There is also the third belt called the transient belt. Amidst the space mission, the astronauts have to penetrate the three belts before reaching the Moon surface. The inner belt is the most dangerous part; it contains energetic protons that consist of high volumes of charges that are harmful to human life. The outer belts have low-energy electrons called Beta particles. The radiations generated from the belts were too harmful to the astronauts given the fact that the spacecrafts were not equipped with the aluminum materials that could lessen the effect of radiations. The Van Allen radiations have significant effects on the camera films; the films from cameras could have been fogged by these radiations; this proofs why the photographs produced by NASA were fake. The surface of the Moon is often very hot during the day; this could possibly cause the melting of films, it could also have interfered with camera lenses as well as the general vision.

Solar Flares and Contradictions

In the year 1972, when the Apollo 16 crew started their mission, there was huge solar flare firing out in the space (Hao and Eugene 342). The crew could not have survived the high temperatures attributed by solar flares. The NASA organization records that the mission of Apollo 16 was successful despite the environmental phenomenon. Before the beginning of Apollo 17, there were still large solar flares that were harmful to human life. The Moon has a negligible amount of air, meaning that there is no movement of air or wind. The United States flag raised on the Moon surface fluttered despite the lack of wind. The above scenario suggests that the flag was filmed on earth. The astronauts footprint cannot be seen on the Moondust; with lack of wind, the footprints are supposed to be preserved more specifically because of the absence of moisture. The Moondust does not weather like the dust from the earth surface; this makes it possible for the footsteps to remain in shape with sharp edges, a situation that was not evident in the NASA’s photographs.

Works Cited

Grimes, David Robert. “On the viability of conspiratorial beliefs.” PloS one 11.1 (2016): e0147905.
Hao, Tianyong, and Eugene Agichtein. ”Finding similar questions in collaborative question answering archives: toward bootstrapping-based equivalent pattern learning.” Information retrieval 15.3-4 (2012): 332-353.
Lewandowsky, Stephan, Klaus Oberauer, and Gilles E. Gignac. ”NASA faked the moon landing’therefore,(climate) science is a hoax: An anatomy of the motivated rejection of science.” Psychological science 24.5 (2013): 622-633.
Perlmutter, David D., and Nicole Smith Dahmen. ”(In) visible evidence: pictorially enhanced disbelief in the Apollo moon landings.” Visual Communication 7.2 (2008): 229-251.
Swami, Viren, et al. ”Lunar lies: The impact of informational framing and individual differences in shaping conspiracist beliefs about the moon landings.” Applied Cognitive Psychology 27.1 (2013): 71-80.

Annotated Bibliography

• Lewandowsky, Stephan, Klaus Oberauer, and Gilles E. Gignac. ”NASA faked the moon landing’therefore,(climate) science is a hoax: An anatomy of the motivated rejection of science.” Psychological science 24.5 (2013): 622-633.

The above article discusses the Moon landing conspiracies. The author states that the NASA stage-managed the missions to the moon to convince the people and to enhance their superiority among other world powers. The authors give several examples of photographs that contradict the natural occurrences in the Moon. For instance, The United States flag raised on the Moon surface fluttered despite the lack of wind. The above scenario suggests that the flag was filmed on earth. The astronaut’s footprint cannot be seen on the Moondust; with lack of wind, the footprints are supposed to be preserved more specifically because of the absence of moisture. The authors conclude that the Apollo missions were faked because some of the claims they represent do not add up to the laws of nature. The article gives a perfect example of fluttering flags to discredit the NASA claims. The authors question the reasons why the NASA initially termed the missions as difficult and impossible but later, they simply accomplished it. The authors also attempt to provide the scientific evidence that disapproves the Moon landing claims. The article contains various claims from different individuals both scientists and philosophers. Additionally, the author gives several accounts of environmental challenges that could have interfered with space million. The problems of radiations and adverse environment phenomenon are some of the challenges that the author tries to explain in the article.

• Swami, Viren, et al. ”Lunar lies: The impact of informational framing and individual differences in shaping conspiracist beliefs about the moon landings.” Applied Cognitive Psychology 27.1 (2013): 71-80.

The above journal talks about the impacts of framing information as well as the result of individual differences in formulating conspiracies about the Moon landing. The authors try to elaborate various issues that could have made the conspirators to adopt the Moon landing thoughts. On the other hand, the journal tries to substantiate why the moon landing claims could have been a hoax. The authors talk about different conspirators and their motives towards opposing the Apollo missions. According to the authors, the first attempts of moon landing led to the tragedies resulting from accidents. The Apollo 1 crew disappeared as a result of fires but NASA did not establish new plans on how to avoid such tragedies in their subsequent missions; it was, therefore, challenging to understand the claims of their successful missions. The authors also try to elaborate the effects of cold war in the space missions, the pressure from the political class who wanted to ensure that their countries remain superior. The economic, social and political struggle between the United States and the Soviet Union is also brought out in the article as the possible reasons for the United State’s space missions. The author stipulates that the first Apollo crew disappeared as a result of fires but NASA did not establish new plans on how to avoid such tragedies in their subsequent missions; it was, therefore, challenging to understand the claims of their successful missions. In the article, the authors conclude that the Moon landing never occurred as a result of factors that could not be substantiated. Solar, as well as the cosmic radiations, could not have allowed the astronauts to access the Moon. The authors also conclude that the missions to the Moon were successful and this forced NASA to fake the landings in order to remain relevant in their research.

• Perlmutter, David D., and Nicole Smith Dahmen. ”(In) visible evidence: pictorially enhanced disbelief in the Apollo moon landings.” Visual Communication 7.2 (2008): 229-251.

The article elaborates on the stages of the Apollo Moon landings. It talks about the possible challenges that could have been faced by the astronauts on their way to the Moon. The author brings out the idea of radiations which are harmful to human life and could not have allowed scientists to access the Moon surface. Some of these radiations include solar flares that occurred before the Apollo 17 missions. According to the authors, the crew could not have survived the high temperatures attributed by solar flares. The NASA organization records that the mission of Apollo 16 was successful despite the environmental phenomenon. Before the beginning of Apollo 17, there were still large solar flares that were harmful to human life. The Moon has a negligible amount of air, meaning that there is no movement of air or wind. The authors go ahead to elaborate on various evidence that could have been faked to make people believe in the space mission. The authors also attempt to discuss the effects of cold war on the idea of the space missions. In conclusion, the authors elaborate that the moon landing was not possible and the NASA only faked the evidence to confuse the public and to accounts for the huge federal funds given to them from the national government.

• Hao, Tianyong, and Eugene Agichtein. “Finding similar questions in collaborative question answering archives: toward bootstrapping-based equivalent pattern learning.” Information retrieval 15.3-4 (2012): 332-353.

Hao, Tianyong, and Eugene Agichtein, in their piece of work, analyze the evidence staged by NASA to substantiate the claims from the conspirators surrounding the Moon landing missions. The authors analyze the photographs and the films staged by NASA to conclude the Moon landing did not occur. According to the authors, the six landings carried out by the United States were a hoax; they were meant to show the superiority of the United States to the rest of the world. The twelve astronauts from Apollo 11 to Apollo 15 claimed by the NASA to be the first scientists to land on the moon never did so. The information from other international organization on scientific matters also fails to credit the work of the performed by NASA. In the article, the author’s claims that the first attempts of moon landing led to the tragedies resulting from accidents. The Apollo 1 crew disappeared as a result of fires but NASA did not establish new plans on how to avoid such tragedies in their subsequent missions; it was, therefore, challenging to understand the claims of their successful missions.

• Grimes, David Robert. ”On the viability of conspiratorial beliefs.” PloS one 11.1 (2016): e0147905.

The author of the above article tries to prove the viabilities of the conspiracies staged by different people over Moon landing and in the end; Grimes conclude that the Moon landing was faked to protect the mandates of NASA. The author stipulates that the claims of moon landing also ended at the same time as the US involvement in the unpopular Vietnam War. The war was among the activities that the NASA had to compete, NASA budget went up in the year 1966 and drastically dropped by 42.3% in the year 1972. In the article, there are several pieces of evidence that prove that Moon landing never occurred. There are several photographs that the author uses to indicate that the moon landing did not occur; several photographs do not indicate the valid natural environment of the Moon surface. According to the author, the whole landing programs were faked. The technology to send people to the moon was not available at the time; there was lack of sophisticated spacecraft that could travel to the moon. The presence of cosmic rays, solar flares, Van Allen radiations belts, solar wind and coronal mass ejection are some natural occurrences that could not allow the missions to the moon.