The moon is not a bad place. Definitely worth a short visit.
Neil Armstrong

Almost half a century has passed since the Apollo flights, but the debate about whether Americans were on the Moon does not subside, but is becoming increasingly fierce. The piquancy of the situation is that supporters of the “lunar conspiracy” theory are trying to challenge the unreal historical events, but their own, vague and error-ridden idea of ​​them.

Lunar epic

First the facts. On May 25, 1961, six weeks after Yuri Gagarin's triumphant flight, President John F. Kennedy delivered a speech to the Senate and House of Representatives in which he promised that an American would land on the moon before the end of the decade. Having suffered defeat at the first stage of the space “race,” the United States set out not only to catch up, but also to surpass Soviet Union.

The main reason for the lag at that time was that the Americans underestimated the importance of heavy ballistic missiles. Like their Soviet colleagues, American specialists studied the experience of German engineers who built the A-4 (V-2) missiles during the war, but did not give these projects serious development, believing that in a global war long-range bombers would be sufficient. Of course, Wernher von Braun's team, taken from Germany, continued to create ballistic missiles in the interests of the army, but they were unsuitable for space flights. When the Redstone rocket, the successor to the German A-4, was modified to launch the first American spacecraft, Mercury, it could only lift it to suborbital altitude.

Nevertheless, resources were found in the United States, so American designers quickly created the necessary “line” of launch vehicles: from Titan-2, which launched the two-seat Gemini maneuvering spacecraft into orbit, to Saturn 5, capable of sending the three-seat Apollo spacecraft "to the Moon.

Redstone
Saturn-1B
Saturn-5
Titan-2

Of course, before sending expeditions, a colossal amount of work was required. Lunar Orbiter series spacecraft have carried out detailed mapping of the nearest celestial body- with their help, we were able to identify and study suitable landing sites. The Surveyor series vehicles made soft landings on the Moon and transmitted beautiful images of the surrounding area.

The Lunar Orbiter spacecraft carefully mapped the Moon, determining future landing sites for astronauts.

Surveyor spacecraft studied the Moon directly on its surface; parts of the Surveyor-3 apparatus were picked up and delivered to Earth by the crew of Apollo 12

At the same time, the Gemini program developed. After unmanned launches, Gemini 3 launched on March 23, 1965, maneuvering by changing the speed and inclination of its orbit, which was an unprecedented achievement at that time. Soon Gemini 4 flew, on which Edward White made the first spacewalk for Americans. The ship operated in orbit for four days, testing attitude control systems for the Apollo program. Gemini 5, which launched on August 21, 1965, tested electrochemical generators and a docking radar. In addition, the crew set a record for the duration of stay in space - almost eight days (Soviet cosmonauts managed to beat it only in June 1970). By the way, during the Gemini 5 flight, Americans for the first time encountered the negative consequences of weightlessness - a weakening of the musculoskeletal system. Therefore, measures have been developed to prevent such effects: a special diet, drug therapy and a series of physical exercises.

In December 1965, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7 approached each other, simulating a docking. Moreover, the crew of the second ship spent more than thirteen days in orbit (that is, the full time of the lunar expedition), proving that the measures taken to maintain physical fitness are quite effective during such a long flight. The docking procedure was practiced on the ships Gemini 8, Gemini 9 and Gemini 10 (by the way, the commander of Gemini 8 was Neil Armstrong). On Gemini 11 in September 1966, they tested the possibility of an emergency launch from the Moon, as well as a flight through the Earth's radiation belts (the ship rose to a record altitude of 1369 km). On Gemini 12, astronauts tested a series of manipulations in outer space.

During the flight of the Gemini 12 spacecraft, astronaut Buzz Aldrin proved the possibility of complex manipulations in outer space

At the same time, the designers were preparing the “intermediate” two-stage Saturn 1 rocket for testing. During its first launch on October 27, 1961, it surpassed the Vostok rocket in thrust, on which Soviet cosmonauts flew. It was assumed that the same rocket would launch the first Apollo 1 spacecraft into space, but on January 27, 1967, launch complex there was a fire in which the ship's crew died, and many plans had to be revised.

In November 1967, testing of the huge three-stage Saturn 5 rocket began. During its first flight, it lifted into orbit the Apollo 4 command and service module with a mock-up of the lunar module. In January 1968, the Apollo 5 lunar module was tested in orbit, and the unmanned Apollo 6 went there in April. The last launch almost ended in disaster due to a failure of the second stage, but the rocket pulled out the ship, demonstrating good survivability.

On October 11, 1968, the Saturn 1B rocket launched the command and service module of the Apollo 7 spacecraft with its crew into orbit. For ten days, the astronauts tested the ship, conducting complex maneuvers. Theoretically, Apollo was ready for the expedition, but the lunar module was still “raw.” And then a mission was invented that was not initially planned at all - a flight around the Moon.

The flight of Apollo 8 was not planned by NASA: it was an improvisation, but was carried out brilliantly, securing another historical priority for American astronautics

On December 21, 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft, without a lunar module, but with a crew of three astronauts, set off for a neighboring celestial body. The flight went relatively smoothly, but before the historic landing on the Moon, two more launches were needed: the Apollo 9 crew worked out the procedure for docking and undocking the ship modules in low-Earth orbit, then the Apollo 10 crew did the same, but this time near the Moon . On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Edwin (Buzz) Aldrin stepped on the surface of the Moon, thereby proclaiming US leadership in space exploration.

The crew of Apollo 10 conducted a “dress rehearsal”, performing all the operations necessary for landing on the Moon, but without landing itself

The Apollo 11 lunar module, named Eagle, is landing

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin on the Moon

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin's lunar walk was broadcast through the Parkes Observatory radio telescope in Australia; the original recordings of the historical event were also preserved and recently discovered

This was followed by new successful missions: Apollo 12, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16, Apollo 17. As a result, twelve astronauts visited the Moon, conducted terrain reconnaissance, installed scientific equipment, collected soil samples, and tested rovers. Only the crew of Apollo 13 was unlucky: on the way to the Moon, a liquid oxygen tank exploded, and NASA specialists had to work hard to return the astronauts to Earth.

Falsification theory

On the Luna-1 spacecraft, devices were installed to create an artificial sodium comet

It would seem that the reality of expeditions to the Moon should not have been in doubt. NASA regularly published press releases and newsletters, specialists and astronauts gave numerous interviews, many countries and the global scientific community participated in technical support, tens of thousands of people watched the takeoffs of huge rockets, and millions watched live television broadcasts from space. Lunar soil was brought to Earth, which many selenologists were able to study. International scientific conferences on understanding the data that came from instruments left on the Moon.

But even during that eventful time, people appeared who questioned the facts of the astronaut landing on the Moon. Skepticism towards space achievements appeared back in 1959, and the likely reason for this was the policy of secrecy pursued by the Soviet Union: for decades it even hid the location of its cosmodrome!

Therefore, when Soviet scientists announced that they had launched the Luna-1 research apparatus, some Western experts spoke out in the spirit that the communists were simply fooling the world community. Experts anticipated the questions and placed a device on Luna 1 for evaporating sodium, with the help of which an artificial comet was created, whose brightness was equal to the sixth magnitude.

Conspiracy theorists even dispute the reality of Yuri Gagarin's flight

Claims arose later: for example, some Western journalists doubted the reality of Yuri Gagarin’s flight, because the Soviet Union refused to provide any documentary evidence. There was no camera on board the Vostok ship; the appearance of the ship itself and the launch vehicle remained classified.

But the US authorities have never expressed doubts about the authenticity of what happened: even during the flight of the first satellites, the National Security Agency (NSA) deployed two surveillance stations in Alaska and Hawaii and installed radio equipment there capable of intercepting telemetry that came from Soviet apparatus. During Gagarin's flight, the stations were able to receive a television signal with an image of the astronaut, transmitted by an on-board camera. Within an hour, printouts of selected frames from this broadcast were in the hands of government officials, and President John F. Kennedy congratulated Soviet people with an outstanding achievement.

Soviet military specialists working at Scientific Measuring Point No. 10 (NIP-10), located in the village of Shkolnoye near Simferopol, intercepted data coming from the Apollo spacecraft throughout the flights to the Moon and back.

She did the same thing Soviet intelligence. At the NIP-10 station, located in the village of Shkolnoye (Simferopol, Crimea), a set of equipment was assembled that made it possible to intercept all information from the Apollo missions, including live television broadcasts from the Moon. The head of the interception project, Alexey Mikhailovich Gorin, gave the author of this article an exclusive interview, in which, in particular, he said: “For guidance and control of a very narrow beam, a standard drive system in azimuth and elevation was used. Based on information about the location (Cape Canaveral) and launch time, the flight trajectory of the spacecraft was calculated in all areas.

It should be noted that during about three days of flight, only occasionally did the beam pointing deviate from the calculated trajectory, which was easily corrected manually. We started with Apollo 10, which made a test flight around the Moon without landing. This was followed by flights with Apollo landings from the 11th to the 15th... They were quite well received clear images spacecraft on the Moon, both astronauts exiting it and traveling across the surface of the Moon. Video from the Moon, speech and telemetry were recorded on appropriate tape recorders and transmitted to Moscow for processing and translations.”

In addition to intercepting data, Soviet intelligence also collected any information on the Saturn-Apollo program, as it could be used for the USSR's own lunar plans. For example, intelligence officers monitored missile launches from the water area Atlantic Ocean. Moreover, when preparations began for the joint flight of the Soyuz-19 and Apollo CSM-111 spacecraft (ASTP mission), which took place in July 1975, Soviet specialists were allowed to access official information on the ship and rocket. And, as is known, no complaints were made against the American side.

The Americans themselves had complaints. In 1970, that is, even before the completion of the lunar program, a brochure by a certain James Craney was published, “Has Man Landed on the Moon?” (Did man land on the Moon?). The public ignored the brochure, although it was perhaps the first to formulate the main thesis of the “conspiracy theory”: an expedition to the nearest celestial body is technically impossible.

Technical writer Bill Kaysing can rightfully be called the founder of the “moon conspiracy” theory.

The topic began to gain popularity a little later, after the release of Bill Kaysing’s self-published book “We Never Went to the Moon” (1976), which outlined the now “traditional” arguments in favor of the conspiracy theory. For example, the author seriously argued that all deaths of participants in the Saturn-Apollo program were associated with the elimination of unwanted witnesses. It must be said that Kaysing is the only author of books on this topic who was directly related to the space program: from 1956 to 1963, he worked as a technical writer at the Rocketdyne company, which was designing the super-powerful F-1 engine for the rocket. Saturn-5".

However, after being fired “of his own free will,” Kaysing became a beggar, grabbed any job, and probably did not have warm feelings for his previous employers. In the book, which was reprinted in 1981 and 2002, he argued that the Saturn V rocket was a "technical fake" and could never send astronauts on interplanetary flight, so in reality the Apollos flew around the Earth, and the television broadcast was carried out using unmanned vehicles.

Ralph Rene made a name for himself by accusing the US government of faking flights to the moon and organizing the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001

At first, they also did not pay attention to Bill Kaysing’s creation. His fame was brought to him by the American conspiracy theorist Ralph Rene, who posed as a scientist, physicist, inventor, engineer and science journalist, but in reality did not graduate from a single higher educational institution. Like his predecessors, Rene published the book “How NASA Showed America the Moon” (NASA Mooned America!, 1992) at his own expense, but at the same time he could already refer to other people’s “research”, that is, he looked not like a loner, but like a skeptic in searching for truth.

Probably, the book, the lion's share of which is devoted to the analysis of certain photographs taken by astronauts, would also have gone unnoticed if the era of television shows had not come, when it became fashionable to invite all kinds of freaks and outcasts to the studio. Ralph Rene managed to make the most of the sudden interest of the public, fortunately he had a well-spoken tongue and did not hesitate to make absurd accusations (for example, he claimed that NASA deliberately damaged his computer and destroyed important files). His book was reprinted many times, each time increasing in volume.

Among the documentaries dedicated to the “lunar conspiracy” theory, there are outright hoaxes: for example, the pseudo-documentary french film"The Dark Side of the Moon" (Opération lune, 2002)

The topic itself also begged for film adaptation, and soon films appeared with claims to be documentaries: “Was it just a paper Moon?” (Was It Only a Paper Moon?, 1997), “What Happened on the Moon?” (What Happened on the Moon?, 2000), “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon” (2001), “Astronauts Gone Wild: An Investigation into the Authenticity of the Moon Landing” Investigation Into the Authenticity of the Moon Landings, 2004) and the like. By the way, the author of the last two films, film director Bart Sibrel, twice pestered Buzz Aldrin with aggressive demands to admit to deception and was eventually punched in the face by an elderly astronaut. Video footage of this incident can be found on YouTube. The police, by the way, refused to open a case against Aldrin. Apparently, she thought the video was faked.

In the 1970s, NASA tried to cooperate with the authors of the “lunar conspiracy” theory and even issued a press release that addressed Bill Kaysing’s claims. However, it soon became clear that they did not want dialogue, but were happy to use any mention of their fabrications for self-PR: for example, Kaysing sued astronaut Jim Lovell in 1996 for calling him a “fool” in one of his interviews.

However, what else can you call the people who believed in the authenticity of the film “The Dark Side of the Moon” (Opération lune, 2002), where the famous director Stanley Kubrick was directly accused of filming all the astronaut landings on the Moon in the Hollywood pavilion? Even in the film itself there are indications that it is a fiction in the mockumentary genre, but this did not stop conspiracy theorists from accepting the version with a bang and quoting it even after the creators of the hoax openly admitted to hooliganism. By the way, another “evidence” of the same degree of reliability recently appeared: this time an interview with a man similar to Stanley Kubrick surfaced, where he allegedly took responsibility for falsifying materials from lunar missions. The new fake was quickly exposed - it was done too clumsily.

Cover-up operation

In 2007, science journalist and popularizer Richard Hoagland co-authored with Michael Bara the book “Dark Mission. Secret story NASA" (Dark Mission: The Secret History of NASA), which immediately became a bestseller. In this weighty volume, Hoagland summarized his research on the “cover-up operation” - it is allegedly carried out by US government agencies, concealing from the world community the fact of contact with a more advanced civilization that has mastered solar system long before humanity.

Within new theory The “lunar conspiracy” is seen as a product of the activities of NASA itself, which deliberately provokes an illiterate discussion of the falsification of the lunar landings so that qualified researchers disdain to study this topic for fear of being branded “marginal.” Hoagland deftly fit all modern conspiracy theories into his theory, from the assassination of President John F. Kennedy to “flying saucers” and the Martian “Sphinx.” For his vigorous activity in exposing the “cover-up operation,” the journalist was even awarded the Ig Nobel Prize, which he received in October 1997.

Believers and non-believers

Supporters of the “moon conspiracy” theory, or, more simply, “anti-Apollo” people, are very fond of accusing their opponents of illiteracy, ignorance, or even blind faith. A strange move, considering that it is the “anti-Apollo” people who believe in a theory that is not supported by any significant evidence. In science and jurisprudence it works Golden Rule: An extraordinary claim requires extraordinary evidence. An attempt to accuse space agencies and the global scientific community of falsifying materials of great importance to our understanding of the Universe must be accompanied by something more significant than a couple of self-published books published by an aggrieved writer and a narcissistic pseudo-scientist.

All hours of film footage from the lunar expeditions of the Apollo spacecraft have long been digitized and are available for study.

If we imagine for a moment that in the United States there was a secret parallel space program using unmanned vehicles, then we need to explain where all the participants in this program went: the designers of the “parallel” equipment, its testers and operators, as well as the filmmakers who prepared kilometers of films of the lunar missions. We are talking about thousands (or even tens of thousands) of people who needed to be involved in the “lunar conspiracy.” Where are they and where are their confessions? Let's say they all, including foreigners, swore an oath of silence. But there must remain piles of documents, contracts and orders with contractors, corresponding structures and testing grounds. However, apart from quibbles about some public NASA materials, which are indeed often retouched or presented in a deliberately simplified interpretation, there is nothing. Nothing at all.

However, “anti-Apollo” people never think about such “little things” and persistently (often in aggressive form) require more and more evidence from the opposing side. The paradox is that if they, asking “tricky” questions, tried to find answers to them themselves, it would not be difficult. Let's look at the most typical claims.

During the preparation and implementation of the joint flight of the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft, Soviet specialists were allowed to access official information from the American space program

For example, “anti-Apollo” people ask: why was the Saturn-Apollo program interrupted and its technology lost and cannot be used today? The answer is obvious to anyone who has at least general idea about what happened in the early 1970s. It was then that one of the most powerful political and economic crises in US history occurred: the dollar lost its gold content and was devalued twice; the protracted war in Vietnam was draining resources; youth were swept by the anti-war movement; Richard Nixon was on the verge of impeachment in connection with the Watergate scandal.

At the same time, the total costs of the Saturn-Apollo program amounted to 24 billion dollars (in terms of current prices we can talk about 100 billion), and each new launch cost 300 million (1.3 billion in modern prices) - it is clear that further funding became prohibitive for the shrinking American budget. The Soviet Union experienced something similar in the late 1980s, which led to the inglorious closure of the Energia-Buran program, the technologies of which were also largely lost.

In 2013, an expedition led by Jeff Bezos, the founder of the Internet company Amazon, recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean fragments of one of the F-1 engines of the Saturn 5 rocket that delivered Apollo 11 into orbit.

However, despite the problems, the Americans tried to squeeze a little more out of the lunar program: the Saturn 5 rocket launched the heavy orbital station Skylab (three expeditions visited it in 1973–1974), and a joint Soviet-American flight took place. Soyuz-Apollo (ASTP). In addition, the Space Shuttle program, which replaced the Apollos, used the Saturn launch facilities, and some technological solutions obtained during their operation are used today in the design of the promising American SLS launch vehicle.

Working box with moon rocks in the Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility storage

Another popular question: where did the lunar soil brought by astronauts go? Why isn't it being studied? Answer: it has not gone anywhere, but is stored where it was planned - in the two-story Lunar Sample Laboratory Facility building, which was built in Houston, Texas. Applications for soil studies should also be submitted there, but only organizations that have the necessary equipment can receive them. Every year a special commission reviews applications and approves from forty to fifty of them; On average, up to 400 samples are sent out. In addition, 98 samples with a total weight of 12.46 kg are exhibited in museums around the world, and dozens of scientific publications have been published on each of them.

Images of the landing sites of Apollo 11, Apollo 12 and Apollo 17 taken by the LRO main optical camera: the lunar modules are clearly visible, scientific equipment and “paths” left by astronauts

Another question in the same vein: why is there no independent evidence of visiting the Moon? Answer: they are. If we discard the Soviet evidence, which is still far from complete, and the excellent space films of the lunar landing sites, which were made by the American LRO apparatus and which “anti-Apollo” people also consider “fake”, then the materials presented by the Indians (Chandrayaan-1 apparatus) are quite sufficient for analysis ), the Japanese (Kaguya) and the Chinese (Chang'e-2): all three agencies have officially confirmed that they have discovered traces left by the Apollo spacecraft.

"Moon deception" in Russia

By the end of the 1990s, the “moon conspiracy” theory came to Russia, where it gained ardent supporters. Its wide popularity is obviously facilitated by the sad fact that very few historical books on the American space program are published in Russian, so an inexperienced reader may get the impression that there is nothing to study there.

The most ardent and talkative adherent of the theory was Yuri Mukhin, a former engineer-inventor and publicist with radical pro-Stalinist beliefs, noted for historical revisionism. In particular, he published the book “The Corrupt Wench of Genetics,” in which he refutes the achievements of genetics in order to prove that repressions against domestic representatives of this science were justified. Mukhin's style is repulsive with its deliberate rudeness, and he builds his conclusions on the basis of rather primitive distortions.

TV cameraman Yuri Elkhov, who participated in the filming of such famous children's films as “The Adventures of Pinocchio” (1975) and “About Little Red Riding Hood” (1977), undertook to analyze the film footage taken by the astronauts and came to the conclusion that they were fabricated. True, for testing he used his own studio and equipment, which has nothing in common with NASA equipment of the late 1960s. Based on the results of the “investigation,” Elkhov wrote the book “Fake Moon,” which was never published due to lack of funds.

Perhaps the most competent of the Russian “anti-Apollo activists” remains Alexander Popov, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, a specialist in lasers. In 2009, he published the book “Americans on the Moon - a great breakthrough or a space scam?”, in which he presents almost all the arguments of the “conspiracy” theory, supplementing them with his own interpretations. For many years he has been running a special website dedicated to the topic, and has now agreed that not only the Apollo flights, but also the Mercury and Gemini spacecraft were falsified. Thus, Popov claims that the Americans made their first flight into orbit only in April 1981 - on the Columbia shuttle. Apparently, the respected physicist does not understand that without extensive previous experience, it is simply impossible to launch such a complex reusable aerospace system as the Space Shuttle the first time.

* * *

The list of questions and answers can be continued indefinitely, but this makes no sense: the views of the “anti-Apollo” are not based on real facts, which can be interpreted in one way or another, but on illiterate ideas about them. Unfortunately, ignorance is persistent, and not even Buzz Aldrin's hook can change the situation. We can only hope for time and new flights to the Moon, which will inevitably put everything in its place.

On July 21, 1969, American astronaut Neil Amstrong set foot on the moon. However, to this day you can hear the opinion that the American landing on the moon is a great hoax.

"Moon conspiracy" theory

In 1974, the book “We Never Flew to the Moon” by American Bill Keysing was published. It marked the beginning of the spread of the “moon conspiracy” theory. Keysing had reason to bring up the topic because he worked for Rocketdyne, a company that built rocket engines for the Apollo program.

As arguments supporting the staged flights to the Moon, the author draws attention to the incidents of “lunar photographs” - uneven shadows, absence of stars, small size of the Earth. Keysing also cites NASA's lack of technological capabilities at the time the lunar program was implemented.

The number of supporters of the “moon conspiracy” grew rapidly, as did the number of revelations about a manned flight to the Moon. So David Percy, a member of the British Royal Photographic Society, has already done more than detailed analysis photographs provided by NASA. He argued that in the absence of an atmosphere, the shadows on the Moon should be completely black, and the multidirectionality of these shadows gave him reason to assume the presence of several sources of illumination.

Skeptics also noted other strange details - the waving of the American flag in airless space, the absence of deep craters that should have formed during the landing of the lunar module. Engineer Rene Ralph brought up an even more compelling argument for discussion - in order to prevent astronauts from being exposed to radiation, spacesuits had to be covered with at least an 80-centimeter layer of lead!
In 2003, Christiane, the widow of American director Stanley Kubrick, added fuel to the fire by saying that scenes of the American landing on the moon were filmed by her husband on Hollywood stages.

About the “moon conspiracy” in Russia

Oddly enough, in the USSR no one seriously questioned the Apollo flights to the Moon. In particular, materials confirming this fact appeared in the Soviet press after the first American landing on the Moon. Many domestic cosmonauts also spoke out about the success of the American lunar program. Among them are Alexey Leonov and Georgy Grechko.

Alexey Leonov said the following: “Only absolutely ignorant people can seriously believe that the Americans were not on the Moon. And, unfortunately, this whole ridiculous epic about footage allegedly fabricated in Hollywood began precisely with the Americans themselves.”

True, the Soviet cosmonaut did not deny the fact that some scenes of the Americans being on the Moon were filmed on Earth in order to give the video report a certain sequence: “It was impossible, for example, to film Neil Armstrong’s real opening of the landing ship hatch on the Moon - there was simply no one from the surface to do that.” was to be removed!

The confidence of domestic experts in the success of the lunar mission is primarily due to the fact that the process of Apollo flights to the Moon was recorded by Soviet equipment. These include signals from the ships, negotiations with the crew, and a television picture of astronauts entering the lunar surface.

If the signals were coming from Earth, it would be immediately exposed.
Pilot-cosmonaut and designer Konstantin Feoktistov in his book “The Trajectory of Life. Between yesterday and tomorrow,” he writes, in order to reliably simulate the flight, it would be necessary to “land a television repeater on the surface of the Moon in advance and check its operation (with transmission to Earth). And during the days of the expedition simulation, it was necessary to send a radio repeater to the Moon to simulate Apollo radio communication with the Earth on the flight path to the Moon.” Organizing such a hoax, according to Feoktistov, is no less difficult than a real expedition.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also spoke out about the “lunar conspiracy,” calling in an interview “complete nonsense” the version that the United States faked the moon landing.
However, in modern Russia revealing articles, books, and films continue to be published regarding the technical impossibility of carrying out such a flight; they also scrutinize and criticize photos and videos of the “lunar expedition.”

Counterarguments

NASA admits that they are inundated with so many letters with one or another argument proving the falsification of flights that they are not able to fend off all the attacks. However, some of the objections can be discarded if you know the elementary laws of physics.

It is known that the location of the shadow depends on the shape of the object casting it and on the surface topography - this explains the unevenness of the shadows in lunar photographs. Shadows converging at a distant point are nothing more than a manifestation of the law of perspective. The idea of ​​multiple light sources (spotlights) is untenable in itself, since in this case each of the illuminated objects would cast at least two shadows.

The visibility of the banner fluttering in the wind is explained by the fact that the flag was installed on a flexible aluminum base that was in motion, while the top crossbar was not fully extended, which created the effect of the fabric being wrinkled. On Earth, air resistance quickly dampens oscillatory movements, but in an airless environment these movements are much longer.

According to NASA engineer Jim Oberg, the most convincing evidence that the flag was planted on the Moon is the following fact: when astronauts passed next to the banner, it remained absolutely motionless, which would not be the case in the Earth's atmosphere.

Astronomer Patrick Moore knew that the stars would not be visible on the Moon during the daytime even before the flight. He explains that the human eye, like a camera lens, simply cannot adapt to both the illuminated surface of the Moon and the dim sky.
It is more difficult to explain why the lander did not leave behind craters on the lunar surface or, according to at least, did not disperse the dust, although NASA experts motivate this by the fact that during landing the device greatly slowed down and landed on the moon along a sliding trajectory.
Probably the most compelling argument of the supporters of the “conspiracy theory” is that the ship’s crew simply would not have been able to overcome the “Van Allen Belt” of radiation surrounding the Earth and would have burned alive. However, Van Allen himself was not inclined to exaggerate his theory, explaining that passing the belt at high speed would not pose any threat to astronauts.
However, it remains a mystery how the astronauts escaped the powerful radiation on the lunar surface in fairly light spacesuits.

Gazing at the Moon

In the heated debate, it was a little forgotten that the astronauts installed laser rangefinders on the Moon after each successful descent. At the Texas MacDonald Observatory, for several decades, directing a laser beam at the corner reflector of lunar installations, specialists received a response signal in the form of flashes, which was recorded by highly sensitive equipment.
For the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 flight, the automatic interplanetary station LRO took a series of photographs at the landing sites of the lunar modules, presumably recording the remains of the equipment of the American crews. Later, higher resolution photographs were taken in which one can see traces from the all-terrain vehicle and even, according to NASA, a chain of traces of the astronauts themselves.
However, photographs taken by uninterested parties inspire more confidence. Yes, Japanese space agency JAXA reported that the Kaguya spacecraft detected possible traces of Apollo 15. And the employee Indian organization space research Prakash Chauhan said that the Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft received an image of a fragment of the landing module.
However, only a new manned flight to the Moon can finally dot the i's.

How did the Americans take off from the moon? This is one of the main questions asked by supporters of the so-called Moon conspiracy, that is, those who believe that American astronauts did not actually go to the Moon, and that the Apollo space program was a massive hoax, invented in order to splurge. to the whole world. Despite the fact that today most scientists and researchers are inclined to believe that the Americans really landed on the Moon, skeptics remain.

Problems with takeoff

Many people sincerely do not understand how the Americans took off from the moon. Additional doubts arise if we remember how launches from Earth are arranged. To do this, they equip a special cosmodrome, build launch facilities, require a huge rocket with several stages, as well as entire oxygen plants, refueling pipelines, installation buildings and several thousand service personnel. After all, these are operators at the consoles, and specialists and many other people, without whom you cannot do to go into space.

All this, of course, did not and could not have happened on the Moon. Then how did the Americans take off from the moon in 1969? This question remains one of the key ones for those who are sure that the American astronauts, who became famous throughout the world, did not leave the Earth’s orbit at all.

But all conspiracy theorists will have to be upset and disappointed. This is not only possible and understandable, but most likely it actually happened.

Force of gravity

It was the force of gravity that ensured the success of the entire expedition for the Americans. The fact is that on the Moon it is several times smaller than on Earth, so there should be no questions about how the Americans took off from the Moon. It wasn't that difficult to do.

The main thing is that the Moon itself is several times lighter than the Earth. For example, only its radius is 3.7 times less than that of Earth. This means that it is much easier to take off from this satellite. The force of gravity on the surface of the Moon is approximately 6 times weaker than Earth's gravity.

As a result, it turns out that the first escape velocity, which an artificial satellite must have in order to avoid falling on it while rotating around a celestial body, is significantly less. For the Earth it is 8 kilometers per second, and for the Moon 1.7 kilometers per second. This is almost 5 times less. This factor became decisive. Thanks to such circumstances, the Americans took off from the surface of the Moon.

It should be borne in mind that a speed that is 5 times less does not mean that the launch rocket should be five times lighter. In reality, to fly off the Moon, a rocket could weigh hundreds of times less.

Missile mass

If you thoroughly understand how the Americans took off from the Moon in 1969, then there should be no doubt about their achievement. Let's talk in detail about the initial mass of the rockets, which depends on the required speed. According to the well-known exponential law, the mass grows disproportionately quickly with the required speed. This conclusion can be made based on the key formula for rocket propulsion, which was derived at the beginning of the 20th century by one of the theorists space flights Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

When launched from the surface of the Earth, the rocket must successfully overcome the dense layers of the atmosphere. And since the Americans took off from the Moon, they did not have such a task. At the same time, it is necessary to remember that the thrust of the rocket engines is also spent on overcoming air resistance, but the aerodynamic loads that put pressure on the body force designers to make the structure as strong as possible, that is, it has to be made heavier.

Now let's figure out how the Americans took off from the surface of the Moon. On this artificial satellite there is no atmosphere, which means that engine thrust is not spent on overcoming it, as a result, rockets can be much lighter and less durable.

Another important point: when a rocket launches into space from Earth, the so-called payload must be taken into account. The weight taken into account is quite significant, as a rule, several tens of tons. But when launching from the Moon, the situation is completely different. This very “payload” is only a few hundredweight, most often no more than three, which just fits into the mass of two astronauts with the stones they collected. After these justifications, it becomes much clearer how the Americans were able to take off from the Moon.

Lunar launch

To sum up the conversation about how the Americans took off into space, we can conclude that to enter lunar orbit, a ship with a crew on it can have an initial mass of less than 5 tons. In this case, approximately half can be attributed to the required fuel.

As a result total weight The rocket that launched from Earth and went to its artificial satellite was about 3,000 tons. But the smaller your vehicle, the easier and easier it will be to drive. Remember that a large ship requires a crew of several dozen people, but a boat can be operated alone, without resorting to outside help. Rockets are no exception to this rule.

Now about the launch facility, without which, naturally, it is unlikely that the Americans would have been able to take off from the Moon. The astronauts brought it with them. In fact, they used the lower half of their lunar ship. During the launch, the upper half, which contained the cabin with the astronauts, separated and went into space, while the lower half remained on the moon. This is the original solution the designers found so that they could fly away from the Moon.

Additional fuel

Many people continue to wonder how the Americans flew from the Moon to Earth when they did not have special refueling devices. Where did such an amount of fuel come from that was enough to reach the artificial satellite and return back?

The fact is that no additional refueling devices were required on the Moon; the ship was fully refueled on Earth with the expectation that there should be enough fuel for the return trip. At the same time, we emphasize that on the Moon there was still a kind of flight control center at launch. Only he was at a great distance from the rocket - about three million kilometers, that is, he was on Earth, but this did not make his effectiveness any less.

"Luna-16"

When asking the question whether the Americans could take off from the Moon, one must admit that they did not make any special secret from the technical data of the ships, almost immediately publishing the main figures and parameters. They were even brought to Soviet textbooks for higher educational institutions when studying the features of space flight. Domestic specialists who worked with these data did not see anything unreal or fantastic in them, so they did not agonize over the problem of how the Americans flew away from the Moon.

Moreover, it was Soviet scientists and designers who went even further when they created a rocket that was able to make such a flight without human intervention at all, without two astronauts who still managed the ship and controlled it in the case of the Americans. This project was called "Luna-16". On September 21, 1970, for the first time in the history of mankind, an automatic station launched from the Earth, landed on the Moon, and then arrived back. It only took three days.

An automatic station delivered about 100 grams from the Moon to Earth. Later, this achievement was repeated by two more stations - these were Luna-20 and Luna-24. They are the same as American ship, there was no need for additional gas stations, special structures on the Moon, or special pre-launch maintenance; they made this journey absolutely independently and autonomously, successfully returning back every time. Therefore, there is nothing surprising in how the Americans flew from the Moon, because within the framework of the Soviet space program this path was repeated more than once.

"Apollo 11"

In order to finally dispel all doubts about how and on what the Americans flew from the Moon, let’s figure out which rocket delivered them to the artificial Earth satellite and back. It was manned spaceship"Apollo 11".

The crew commander on it was Neil Armstrong, and the pilot - During the flight from July 16 to 24, 1969, they managed to successfully land their ship in the Sea of ​​Tranquility area on the Moon. American astronauts spent almost a day on its surface, or, to be more precise, 21 hours, 36 minutes and 21 seconds. All this time, the command module pilot, whose name was Michael Collins, was waiting for them in lunar orbit.

During the entire time spent on the Moon, astronauts made only one exit to its surface. Its duration was 2 hours 31 minutes and 40 seconds. Neil Armstrong became the first earthling to set foot on the surface of the Moon. This happened on July 21st. Exactly a quarter of an hour later Aldrin joined him.

At the Apollo 11 landing site, the Americans planted the flag of the United States and also placed a scientific instrument, with which they collected about 21.5 kilograms of soil. He was brought to Earth for further study. What the astronauts flew from the Moon on was known almost immediately. Nobody made secrets and riddles out of the Apollo 11 spacecraft. Returning to Earth, the ship's crew underwent strict quarantine, as a result of which no lunar microorganisms were identified.

This American flight to the Moon was the fulfillment of one of the key tasks of the American lunar program, which was outlined by US President John Kennedy back in 1961. He stated then that the landing on the Moon should take place before the end of the decade, and so it happened. In the lunar race with the USSR, the Americans won a convincing victory, becoming the first, but the Soviet Union managed to send the first man into space earlier.

Now you know exactly what the Americans flew from the Moon on and how they were able to accomplish it all.

Other arguments of supporters of the Moon conspiracy

True, the matter is not limited to doubts about the takeoff of astronauts from the surface of the Moon. Many admit that it is clear how the Americans took off from the Moon, but, according to them, those who should explain the inconsistencies associated with the photo and video materials brought by the Americans are silent.

The fact is that many of the photographs that serve as evidence that the Americans were on the Moon often contain artifacts that appear to have appeared as a result of retouching and photomontage. All this serves as additional evidence in favor of the fact that the filming was actually organized in a studio. Doubt is raised by the fact that retouching and other methods of photomontage, popular at that time, were often used solely to improve image quality, and this was also done with many photographs received from satellites.

Proponents of the conspiracy theory claim that in the video and photographic documents in which American astronauts plant the US flag on the Moon, ripples are clearly visible on the surface of the canvas. Skeptics believe that such ripples appeared as a result of a sudden gust of wind, but on the Moon, which means the pictures were taken on the surface of the Earth.

In response, they are often told that the ripples could have appeared not from the wind, but from damped vibrations that would certainly have arisen when the flag was planted. The fact is that the flag was attached to a flagpole located on a telescopic horizontal crossbar, which was pressed against the pole during transportation. The astronauts, once on the Moon, were unable to expand the telescopic tube to its maximum length. It was because of this that the ripples appeared, which created the illusion that the flag was fluttering in the wind. It is also worth noting the fact that in a vacuum vibrations take longer to die down, since there is no air resistance. Therefore, this version is completely justified and realistic.

Jumping height

Also, many skeptics pay attention to the low height of astronauts’ jumps. It is believed that if the filming was actually done on the surface of the Moon, then each jump would have to be several meters high due to the fact that the gravitational force on the artificial satellite is several times lower than on the Earth itself.

Scientists have an answer to these doubts. Indeed, due to the different gravitational force, the mass of each astronaut also changed. On the Moon, it increased significantly, because in addition to their own weight, they were wearing a heavy spacesuit and the necessary life support systems. The pressurization of the spacesuit created a particular problem - it was very difficult to make the quick movements necessary for such a high jump, because in this case significant forces would be spent on overcoming the internal pressure. In addition, by jumping too high, astronauts risk losing control of their balance, which is likely to lead to them falling. And such a fall from a significant height is fraught with irreversible damage to the backpack of the life support system or the helmet itself.

To imagine how dangerous such a jump can be, you need to keep in mind that any body is capable of performing both translational and rotational movements. At the moment of the jump, the forces may be distributed unevenly, so the astronaut’s body may receive a torque and begin to spin uncontrollably, so the landing location and speed in this case will be almost impossible to predict. For example, a person in this case may fall headfirst, suffer serious injuries and even die. The astronauts, well aware of these risks, tried in every possible way to avoid such jumps, rising above the surface to a minimum height.

Deadly radiation

Another common argument among conspiracy theorists is based on research Van Allen conducted in 1958 studying radiation belts. The researcher noted that the flows of solar radiation that are fatal to humans are restrained by the Earth’s magnetic atmosphere; in the belts themselves, as Van Allen argued, the level of radiation is as high as possible.

Flight through such radiation belts is not dangerous only if the ship has reliable protection. During the flight through the radiation belts, the crew of the Apollo spacecraft was in a special command module, the walls of which were strong and thick, which provided the necessary protection. In addition, the ship was flying very fast, which also played a role, and its trajectory lay outside the area of ​​the most intense radiation. As a result, the astronauts had to receive a radiation dose that would be several times less than the maximum permissible.

Another argument that conspiracy theorists cite is that the photographic films must have been exposed due to radiation. It is interesting that the same fears existed before the flight of the Soviet spacecraft Luna-3, but even then it was possible to transmit photographs of normal quality, the film was not damaged.

Many others have repeatedly photographed the Moon with a camera. spacecraft, which were part of the "Probe" series. And some of them even contained animals, such as turtles, which were also not harmed. The radiation dose based on the results of each flight corresponded to preliminary calculations and was significantly lower than the maximum permissible. A detailed scientific analysis of all the data obtained has proven that on the Earth-Moon-Earth route, if solar activity is low, there is no danger to human life and health.

Interesting story documentary film"Dark Side of the Moon", which appeared in 2002. In particular, it showed an interview with the widow of the famous American director Stanley Kubrick, Christiana, in which she said that US President Nixon was very impressed by her husband’s film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” which was released in 1968. According to her, it was Nixon who initiated the collaboration between Kubrick himself and other Hollywood specialists, the result of which was to correct the American image in the lunar program.

After the documentary was shown, some Russian news outlets claimed that it was genuine research that was proof of the Moon Conspiracy, and Christiane Kubrick's interview was seen as clear and indisputable confirmation that the American moon landing was filmed in Hollywood under Kubrick's direction.

In reality, this film was a pseudo-documentary, as the creators themselves admit in its credits. All interviews were composed of phrases deliberately taken out of context, or acted out by professional actors. It was a well-thought-out prank that many fell for.

From 1968 to 1972, the United States sent a number of people to the moon. Twelve of them walked along it. Since then, no one has returned to the Moon. Over the years, much of what these men did while they were there has either become uninteresting to the public or is simply ignored. Most people know that Neil Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the moon, and that's enough.

Thanks to the popular film, many of us are familiar with the mission of Apollo 13, which miraculously returned to Earth after an onboard explosion. Still there are tons more interesting facts about what these people did and said during their historical travels. We have collected a set of such facts for you.

One of the most popular photographs of the first moon landing shows Buzz Aldrin, standing nearby with an American flag. However, this flag had a very unfortunate fate, as it fell a few hours later when Neil Armstrong returned to the command module. After Aldrin pressed the rocket's launch button, he looked out the window and saw the nozzle explode, scattering everything, including the notorious flag.

Remarkably, the other flags that are still on the Moon, placed there by subsequent astronauts and that were placed far enough from the rocket, all turned white. For forty years unfiltered sunlight and the radiation completely burned out the red and blue colors.

Unauthorized psychic experiments

During the Apollo 14 mission, unbeknownst to his superiors in Houston (or even the crew), Edgar D. Mitchell conducted several unscheduled experiments on extrasensory perception. During the first hours of his sleep time on the way to the moon and back, Mitchell devoted his attention to concentrating on the symbols commonly used in psychic tests. Together with a group of doctors in Florida, he discussed the sessions in advance, hoping to figure out whether thoughts could be transmitted thousands of kilometers into space. The results were zero, to put it mildly.

Apparently, Mitchell and his partners on Earth were not in sync. In any case, the results were published in a 1971 issue of The Journal of Parapsychology, just like that.

When we think of the astronauts, the rugged, strong-willed men who participated in the early days of the space program, we would never imagine them sobbing and wiping away tears if it weren't for Alan Shepard. Truly, this is one of the most underrated American astronauts. Not only was he one of the first Americans in space, but at the age of 47 he became oldest person who ever walked on the moon. After retiring from the space program several years earlier due to an inner ear disorder, Shepard vowed to overcome the illness and return to the game. In early 1971, he was part of the Apollo 14 mission.

By the way, this is the same astronaut who made the longest throw in history (“for miles and miles”) on the Moon. However, few people know that this same astronaut could not contain his emotions when he took his first steps on the lunar surface. Alan Shepard cried while standing on the moon. Although what’s wrong with that - in the end, he couldn’t wipe away his tears.

Lunar Communion

NASA bosses have warned astronauts that since virtually the entire world will be listening, they should not participate in any religious rituals during trips to the moon. Since they represent all of humanity, why offend representatives of other religions? However, Buzz Aldrin considered the occasion too important to let slip by.

So, after the landing was complete and everyone awaited the historic steps, Aldrin turned on the radio and asked everyone listening to find a way to mark this moment in history and thank whoever they saw fit. For him, this meant opening a small flask of wine and taking out the bread that he took with him. After reciting a passage from the Gospel, he ate bread and drank wine, becoming the first and so far only person to honor the Christian ritual of communion on the Moon. Neil Armstrong watched his partner with respect but indifference.

First words

Neil Armstrong's famous words when he took his first step on the moon are (according to the official history): "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind." Of course, these words became the subject of endless debate, plus many argue that he misspoke and said not “for a person”, but “for a man,” which slightly understates the significance of his words.

In fact, the first words that were spoken on the surface of the Moon while still inside the ship are usually understood as the first words after a safe landing, namely: “Houston, here is a base of calm. The eagle has landed." However, before and after these words there was so much technical jargon exchanged between the astronauts that it is actually difficult to say which words were the first spoken on the Moon.

To complicate matters further, Armstrong's landing was so soft that no one could be completely sure of what he said immediately after landing. The transcripts come down to three possible options. Aldrin could indicate that the contact light had turned on by saying "contact light." Armstrong could then instruct Aldrin to turn off the trigger motor with the words “turn it off.” Aldrin turned off the engine and said "okay, engine stop." None of these phrases were significant, so perhaps it is better to take Armstrong's message to mission control in Houston as a starting point.

What does the moon smell like?

Astronauts who visited the Moon were surprised by its pungent smell. Of course, they didn't feel it until they returned to the lunar module and took off their spacesuits. The finest powder was everywhere, on the hands and faces of the astronauts. Some have tried moon dust. But the first contact of lunar dust with oxygen in four billion years gave rise to a very specific smell.

Most astronauts described it as the smell of spent gunpowder they were familiar with from their military service. Why did he smell like that? Unknown. Chemically, the moon and gunpowder are not at all similar, so there are different theories as to why this happened. The first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong, said that the moon smells like wet ashes in a fireplace.

Records or prestige

Of course, “-11” can be called the “highlight of the program,” and in general this is a very expressive moment in human space exploration. However, the dress rehearsal for this mission, Apollo 10, set several records that have yet to be broken. In addition to the cool names (Command Module Charlie Brown and Lunar Module Snoopy), the three men who flew on the mission went down in history as the men who went further from home than anyone else. Eugene Kernan, Thomas Stafford and John Young were more than 408,950 kilometers from Houston when they reached the far side of the Moon.

Due to the timing of their mission, the Moon was particularly far from Earth, and the planet's rotation flipped Houston to the opposite side of Earth. Even though the Apollo 13 crew was technically further from the Earth's surface, Apollo 13 traveled a gigantic distance from its launch point. After setting this record, the team set another one - they reached a speed of 39,897 kilometers per hour, returning home. On this moment this is the maximum speed at which a person has ever moved.

Lunar module pilots

Astronaut Pete Conrad was a man who pushed boundaries. As commander of Apollo 12, the second manned mission to the Moon, he waited until his module was on dark side the Moon and beyond radio signals, and then did the unthinkable: on the way from the surface of the Moon to the lunar module, he allowed his pilot to fly, “hold the helm.” Thus, he seemed to show that “lunar module pilot” is not just a title.

The job of the lunar module pilot (like many others) was to ensure that the commander had all the information necessary to fly under his command. He could only control the lunar module if the commander was unable to fly for certain reasons, which never occurred. As they drifted on the dark side of the moon, Conrad turned to the pilot, Alan Bean, and said, “You can pilot this vehicle for a minute.” Surprised but pleased, Bean was happy to take control, even if only for a little while.

Priceless sculpture

David Scott, commander of Apollo 15, wanted to pay tribute to the many people who . Before starting his mission, he asked Belgian artist Paul von Hoeydonk to create a small statue that could honor all the astronauts - American and Russian - who died in pursuit of the dream of all mankind. The sculpture looked like a person, but did not represent race, gender or nationality. There was no commercial profit from the goodwill gesture, simply honoring the memory of all the astronauts who died in the line of duty.

The artist agreed, and on August 1, 1971, the crew of Apollo 15 left a finger-sized figurine on the top of Mons Hadley next to memorial plaque with names 14 famous astronauts who died (in fact, two more Soviet cosmonauts had died by this time, but the USSR has not yet reported this). A few years later, the artist decided to raise some money by selling signed copies of the sculpture, but Scott convinced him that this was a violation of the agreement. Perhaps someday there will be a small statue in a lunar museum on the surface of the Moon.

Scientist on the Moon

As the Apollo program was scrapped due to budget cuts, NASA came under more and more pressure from the scientific community to send a real scientist to the Moon while it could. Until this point, NASA had only sent its own test pilots, trained as astronauts. But they only took a short course in geology and, of course, could not replace those who devoted their entire lives to studying rocks.

What did Neil Armstrong eat on the moon?

We have already learned that when a rocket takes off, attached to the Moon American flag fell due to a nozzle explosion. We also learned that the first words of the man on the Moon sounded differently than is commonly believed. But do you know what food the astronauts tried during the first landing on the surface of our satellite?

It is believed that the first dish Neil Armstrong ate on the moon was roast turkey. Of course, it was not at all like the dish served on Thanksgiving Day, but was in liquid form. But the second man on the moon, Buzz Aldrin, tasted bread and wine. The fact is that he was an elder in the church and decided to perform the Christian rite of the Eucharist.

With this in mind, NASA began hiring scientists and training them in astronautics, right down to how to fly an airplane. These guys didn't stand a chance, but when it became known that Apollo 17 would be the last mission to the Moon, Harrison Schmitt, a Harvard geologist, was called in. He completed the intensive training required to qualify as an astronaut and was ready to go.

Needless to say, sending a geologist to the Moon is like sending a military historian to the times of the Great Patriotic War. Schmitt spent three days poking around in rocks on the Moon, and even brought back some interesting samples. Other scientists went into space later, but Schmitt remained one of those who walked on the Moon.

Donald Trump's adviser admitted that the Apollo mission never reached the Earth's satellite

Donald TRUMP gave American astronauts an ambitious order - to resume flights to the Moon and lay the foundation for the future conquest of Mars.

Our astronauts will return to the Moon for the first time since 1972. This time we will not only leave our flag and footprints there, the US President promised.

The easiest thing would be to leave all this stupid talk about flying. Because the mission was and remains impossible.

First flight of an uninhabited capsule around Moons NASA expects to be held in 2019. If successful, the next mission will already have a crew on board. But this will not happen until 2021.

That is, in 1972 they supposedly walked calmly on the Earth’s satellite, but now, 50 years later, they are not sure that they will even get there. It turns out that technology has not developed all this time, but has degraded.

The adviser commented on the inconsistency Donald Trump in Science and Technology, Professor at Yale University David Gelnerter. He openly stated that the Americans did not fly to the Moon and Apollo never landed there.

The first Rovers were just models and did not know how to drive. That's why the NASA photo shows footprints, but no tire tracks.

If NASA scientists today claim that they still don't know how to properly protect a spacecraft from radiation in the Van Allen Belt, why the hell are we supposed to believe that they walked through it in aluminum foil spacesuits in 1971? The answer is very simple: this never happened,” he told reporters from the threshold of the White House.

American newspapers, naturally, did not publish the words of this high-ranking “madman.” NASA supported Trump’s optimistic promises with another portion of declassified footage of the lunar expedition. The film, as always, is of disgusting quality, making it more difficult to discern the forgery.

Later the car was improved, and astronauts rode it in the desert

In the video we watch the astronauts ride on the Rover self-propelled vehicle. Previously, Rover was shown only in a parked version. It was funny. In the first photographs of the lunar vehicle, everyone noticed the absence of wheel tracks. There are plenty of astronauts' footprints, but none from wheels. Neither in front nor behind. How did the lunar vehicle end up in this particular place without leaving any trace of its arrival? There was a version that he was simply placed on the set with a crane.

Now the Rover is moving. Familiarity with a school physics course is enough to understand that the car rolls on the Earth, and not on the Moon. This can be seen from the trajectory of soil flying out from under the wheels. Sand settles and stones fly, although in airless space they should fall at the same speed.

There is no air on the moon. Therefore, both pebbles and the smallest particles, meeting no resistance, fly along symmetrical trajectories

In addition, it is not clear why they needed a car on the Moon with an electric motor power of only one horsepower. And it is doubtful that the lunar module would suddenly have 325 kilograms of carrying capacity to load this strange cart.

The Americans wanted to demonstrate to the whole world their undoubted technical superiority, but the pursuit of special effects played another cruel joke on them.

On Earth, grains of sand, due to air resistance, fly along sharply asymmetrical trajectories resembling a triangle and fall

In general, a movie is a movie.

Americans are as far from the moon today as they were in 1972.

What kind of Moon can we even talk about if they can’t even take off without our engines,” explains the senator Alexey Pushkov.

Really. The Americans can't live without our engines. But now their power is clearly not enough to implement the lunar program. And guess who will be the first to rush to the satellite when there is enough of it. Naturally, we will not see any American flank there.

It’s even clear how the State Department will explain it: “It was stolen by aliens.”

The triangular shape of the plume behind the supposedly lunar “Rover” corresponds to the braking of grains of sand in the air

Dying confession

In 2014, an interview with the famous film director was published Stanley Kubrick. His friend is also a director T. Patrick Murray interviewed him three days before his death in March 1999. Previously, Murray was forced to sign an 88-page non-disclosure agreement for the content of the interview for 15 years from the date of Kubrick's death.

In the interview, Kubrick spoke in detail and in detail about the fact that all the lunar landings were fabricated by NASA, and he personally filmed the footage of the American lunar expeditions in the pavilion.

KUBRIK was ruined by his long tongue

In 1971, Kubrick left the US for the UK and never returned to America. All this time, the director led a reclusive life, fearing murder. He was afraid of being killed by the intelligence services, following the example of other participants in the television support of the US lunar scam. Actually, that’s what happened.