Conspiracy Thursday - the moon landings

Who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory?  Once a week, I will explore some of my favorites.  Today my topic is the moon landings:  real or faked?

Six manned moon landings occurred between 1969 and 1972, and almost immediately, some people suspected that the moon landings had been faked.  Even today, 10-20% of Americans believe the moon landings were a hoax, and the percentage is even higher overseas.  The first book came out in 1974, just two years after the Apollo missions ended and theories continue to flourish today.

Among the arguments for the landings being hoaxed:

• the odd lighting in the photographs taken by the astronauts - shadows are cast in two different directions; also, although the sun is behind the astronaut in one photo, the front of the astonaut is clearly visible, when it should have been in complete blackness.
• one of the rocks and the ground in front of it are both marked with a C - this is a common practice in Hollywood for positioning props and centering a picture.
• the flag moving in the breeze - there is no atmosphere on the moon, hence no wind.
• astronaut Gus Grissom was openly critical of NASA and the Apollo project - he was killed in the Apollo 1 capsule fire - was this a message to other NASA astronauts to keep their mouths shut?
• there were already "moon rocks" all over the earth - the earth is regularly hit with meteorites, which are (guess what!) moon rocks.
• other Apollo astronauts become evasive or even hostile when questioned about the moon landings.
• at least one former NASA employee claims that NASA did not have the technology to send a man to the moon - very few people at NASA had access to the whole picture.  The majority of NASA staff knew only their small part of the project.
• the Russians never attempted a moon landing, even though they beat the U.S. to put the first craft, animal, man, and space station into orbit.

I don't know if the moon landings were faked or not.  For me the most convincing evidence that there was never a successful moon landing is the fact that NO MORE LANDINGS HAVE BEEN MADE.  Since 1972.  We're supposed to believe that FORTY YEARS AGO, the U.S. had the technology to go to the moon.  NASA had spacecraft to send a manned mission safely to the moon and back to earth; a landing craft the could support life and safely return to the mother ship; and cameras and film to take spectacular pictures (in fact the pictures are too perfectly positioned and focused).  And then, after spending billions developing this technology, NASA just abandoned it and never used it again.

The moon landings were either a hoax of tremendous proportions, or an incredible waste of taxpayer money.

Tomorrow:  Miscellaneous Friday