Neil Armstrong walked on the Moon on 21 July 1969. So did Buzz Aldrin. So did 10 other people after that.
Humans have been to the Moon.
Despite this fact, there remain a hardcore of people who are convinced that the Apollo 11 Moon landings were somehow faked for the purposes of both irritating Russia and testing the loyalty of the tens of thousands of people involved in covering up the biggest news story in human history.
Even now these people clog up YouTube with their various proofs and theories that either (a) humanity did not walk on the Moon or (b) they have lost all touch with reality.
Well, we have walked on the Moon. We just have. Here are 11 proofs that we have. Now shut up about it once and for all. and let’s all stop arguing and go to Mars like we’re supposed to have been doing since 1984.
1
These Two Pictures Match
NASA
In 2008 the Japanese probe obtained photographic evidence of the Moon landings, by comparing the image on the left (from the Apollo 15 landing) taken in July 1971 to its own 3D terrain camera images. They were exactly the same.
2
'The Foil Shot'
NASA Goddard Photo and Video/Flickr
This picture is often used to claim that there were 'studio lights' visible in the upper left corner. They were not studio lights, as explained by Roger Launius, of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. "Okay, let's take a step back. NASA's going to release a picture showing studio lights? Hello! The odd lights in the picture are simply lens flares," he told National Geographic, sensibly.
3
We Can See It
NASA Goddard Photo and Video/Flickr
It is often claimed that if the Lunar landings were real, we could see them from the Earth, or the Hubble Telescope. Nope. Fact is they're just too far away. On the other hand, we can see the Lunar landing sites thanks to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Here is the picture. You're welcome.
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4
Other Space Craft Have Seen It
NASA
The Lunar landings have been spotted by China's Chang'e 2 lunar probe, the Indian Chandrayaan-1 probe, and various other independent (non NASA-funded) space agencies.
5
This Thing.
... is a glass spherule (about 0.6 mm in diameter) produced by a meteorite impact into lunar soil. "We've found particles of fresh glass in Moon rocks that were produced by explosive volcanic activity and by meteorite impacts over 3 billion years ago," explains Dr. Marc Norman, a lunar geologist at the University of Tasmania. "The presence of water on Earth rapidly breaks down such volcanic glass in only a few million years. These rocks must have come from the Moon!"
6
This.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Lunar rocks brought back by Nasa from the Moon are identical in all vital and important ways to those found elsewhere on Earth.
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7
The Flag Was Flapping, And That Makes Sense
ASSOCIATED PRESS
One claim made by Apollo 11 conspiracy theorists is that the American flag was seen 'flapping' on the surface of the Moon. Fact is, that's totally expected. No, there isn't any wind on the Moon - but there is momentum and intertia. The fabric of the flag was moved around while being set in position, and naturally waved as it was being set up. It also has a pole along the top to keep it in position - otherwise it would hang straight down.
8
Who Took The Pictures?
NASA Goddard Photo and Video/Flickr
One of the frequent claims is that the Apollo 11 mission included images of the two astronauts with no obvious cameraman. As National Geographic explains here, that was because there were cameras in the chests of both astronauts' suits, and on the Lander.
9
'Where Are The Stars?'
sjrankin/Flickr
One of the claims made to support the hoax theory is that there were no stars pictured from the surface of the Moon. But this is because the Moon is very bright, reflecting a lot of the Sun's light. There are no stars because the cameras couldn't pick them up.
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10
The Restored Images Are Amazing
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landings NASA put together a series of remastered images and footage of the Apollo 11 mission. The images are stunning, and blow away the age-old criticism that the Apollo footage was somehow intentionally bad to obscure the fact it was filmed in a studio, or whatever.
11
This Expression
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This is the face of a man who has just walked on the Moon (Neil Armstrong), not the face of a man who has just faked it.
Article originally written by Michael Rundle