THE APPOLLO MISSION THE FIRST AND ONLY HUMAN MISSIONS TO THE MOON EVIDENCE THAT SHOWED THAT MAN WENT TO THE MOON. 842 POUNDS OF MOON ROCK • Astronauts in the six Apollo missions returned about 842 pounds of moon rocks, pebbles, sand and dust to Earth. • This lunar samples are kept in special laboratories at NASA’s Johnson Space Centre. • Some of this lunar samples are distributed annually to scientist and educators globally for research and educational purposes. REFLECTORS LEFT ON THE MOON. • The Apollo 11 and 14 astronauts left behind mirror-like prisms on the moon (the lunar laser-ranging retroreflector array) that are targeted with lasers by scientists at the McDonald Observatory in Texas and other observatories around the world. The lasers accurately determine the distance from Earth to the moon, which is moving away from the Earth by about 3.8 cm per year. TRACKS ON THE MOON • The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided images of the Apollo landing sites, including astronaut tracks, moon buggies and their tracks, and the descent part of the lunar modules. • In the 21st century, could the world’s scientists and astronomers be fooled by trick photos from NASA? COULD 400,000 PEOPLE BE TRICKED • Approximately 400,000 scientists, engineers, and technicians worked on the Apollo project for over a decade. They came from many countries and all over the US. It is patently absurd to think they all were all somehow tricked or part of a NASA hoax. WHY LAND FIVE TIMES ON THE MOON? • The United States made six visits to the moon. Let’s consider for a moment that they were all staged. Why risk faking five more visits and thus increase the chances of slipping up and getting caught by 500%? • NASA would have had to fake the famed Apollo 13 mission, which was aborted on the way to the moon because of an on-board explosion; it was freaking scientific genius that enabled the Apollo 13 astronauts to orbit the moon and return safely to Earth. If NASA faked the moon landings, one time would have been enough. Along with the other reasons listed above, that’s why we can be certain Apollo landed on the moon and returned to Earth six times. • Let’s be very clear what is stake here: truth, sanity, human achievement, and our place in the universe. The Apollo missions were incredible achievements, perhaps the greatest in the history of the human species. • The Apollo program dramatically illustrated the incredible things humans can do when reason, science, creativity, cooperation, ambition, and bravery are applied to the pursuit of genuine achievement and enlightenment. • Claiming Apollo was a conspiracy is not merely an attack on NASA, it’s an attack on human reason, achievement, and aspiration. What’s the underlying reason for the Apollo conspiracy theorists? Here’s my take.
