Lunar conspiracy theories debunked on Discovery Channel

by Rob Peters | August 28, 2008 at 09:14 am

1511 views | 17 Recommendations | 26 comments

Some say Neil Armstrong's giant leap for mankind in 1969 was an elaborate hoax. They point to details like non-parallel shadows on lunar photos (said to be impossible with a single light source), sketchy details on the lunar surface that may indicate a model moon, and the possibility that slowed-down camera work could have been used to create the illusion of moonwalking.

A pair of special effect gurus have gone to elaborate lengths to test these conspiracy theories by making their own Earth-bound re-creations of the moon landing, and their findings will be broadcast tonight on the Discovery Channel during a special episode of MythBusters.

Popular Mechanics has published a preview of the show, and it sounds like the two had an entertaining time debunking the naysayers. They systematically take each theory and attempt a re-creation with interesting results, at times flying around using trapeze ropes and zero-gravity machines. Their conclusions aren't definitive--which they admit would be an impossibility--but they arrive at some pretty persuasive arguments that Neil was no fraud.

Ever since man went to the moon—and still today as America plans to go back (via DIY, NASA or the next president) —there have been those who said we never actually made it there in the first place. Instead, they say, the whole moon landing was a massive conspiracy perpetrated by NASA using elaborate sets and special effects. And they support their claims with what they believe to be irregularities in photography and film taken on the moon.

Sounds like a case for MythBusters and special-effects gurus Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, who take on the most popular lunar conspiracy theories tonight at 9 pm on the Discovery Channel with the help of a vintage NASA camera, a purpose-built rig and an airplane.

Skipping straight to the interesting part, here's their conclusion (spoiler alert):

The bottom line, Savage insists, is that we went to the moon. "The fact is, science isn't about coming up with the ultimate truth," he says, "because there is no such thing. It's about looking at the evidence and coming to conclusions. And if a conspiracy theorist wants to come to the most complicated possible conclusion based on the evidence, what we've done in this episode is shown that in fact going to the moon is a simpler solution than the conspiracy theory. And given Occam's razor and general scientific principle, that's the most likely explanation for all the evidence we have that we went to the moon: that we actually did."

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Vinny

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 10:47 on August 28th, 2008

I believe they went to the moon, but whether they are showing us everything they found up there thats another question!

World_Groove

at 11:34 on August 28th, 2008

I am admittedly skeptical that we went to the moon in exactly the way that it was played out in the media of the times. I look forward to hearing about the MythBusters program.

I am curious to know why we have not had one of the satellite missions to the moon take photographs of the landing sites and the equipment left behind in high resolution photography, or why some of our largest orbiting or earthbound telescopes have not been put to the task. It seems a worthwhile effort to put the myth to rest once and for all.

As for MythBusters and their tests, I would hope that they used equipment of the era in their attempts at recreation of footage. A modern film equipment or modern digital recreation would not be adequate against the best quality vintage film equipments, film types and filming techniques to make an accurate assessment. (not to mention a huge government budget)

It should prove interesting.....

Jason Sanders

at 11:45 on August 28th, 2008

Check out the videos with the article, the Mythbuster episode is in there.

World_Groove

at 12:16 on August 28th, 2008

=-( limited bandwidth.... so I don't stream video much (satellite connection), Thanks anyway.

SOLARLIFE

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:29 on August 28th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff. Special London studios simulated the moon landing in the studio. If the simulated one was used in part, because of bad transmission , I don't know. Onother fact is that Nixon prerecorded a message, that he is sorry the Astronauts died. The message had not to be used. The program guided by Wernher von Braun was such a risk, nobody could say, if the Astronauts return. Actually the new old moon rocket runs into same problems again, vibrations.

manuelnieberle

at 12:36 on August 28th, 2008

i shot this picture with my Sony DSC-H50 digital camera.
i used the 15x optical and some of the digital zoom.

manuelnieberle has contributed a photo to this story.

michaelcummings

at 12:58 on August 28th, 2008

Of course we went to the moon! Its absurd to think otherwise, but then again it used to be absurd to think the world was a sphere and that we rotated around the sun.... Still. We went. Before I die, I'll even go...

michaelcummings has contributed a photo to this story.

Emilio Lizardo

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 12:59 on August 28th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

michaelcummings

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:06 on August 28th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

manuelnieberle

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:12 on August 28th, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff.

gskiphotography

at 13:50 on August 28th, 2008

Actual Photo, No photoshop here. The rainbow was within the cloud itself, as it moved I lost the chance to make it out of the woods. Better to capture this image than none. Never seen something like it, captured in Garretsville, OH about 3 weeks ago.

Keith Golembiewski
ourkingsransom@yahoo.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ourkingsransom

gskiphotography has contributed a photo to this story.

gnatman16

at 14:08 on August 28th, 2008

This photo was shot while I was heading to my brother's soccer game. The moon was a perfect Harvester's moon shade, and I snapped it on impulse. With a bit of tweaking, it turned out to be pretty good.
Hope this is of use guys!

gnatman16 has contributed a photo to this story.

andylievertz

at 14:18 on August 28th, 2008

A clouded moon peeks through a dark Gainesville, FL night for a single moment of CCD-absorbed glory!

andylievertz has contributed a photo to this story.

looneywithgps

at 15:13 on August 28th, 2008

It could be true or not the only people who know the truth are those who went or not

morceos

at 15:18 on August 28th, 2008

The photo contributed is a telephoto shoot from Monte Canin, Julian Alps, Slovenia/Italy. August 2008.

morceos has contributed a photo to this story.

Timo Reinwald

at 15:46 on August 28th, 2008

The moon is just an illusion, like you and me!

Apart from this, the pictures and videos from the moon landing are so easy to fake. They fake the moon landing and they fake all other to hers advantage. This is the reality in our illusion. Believe it or not!

Timo Reinwald has contributed a photo to this story.

Sam Nixx

at 18:13 on August 28th, 2008

I took this photograph at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on my vacation. I took this photo for my high school photography class.

Sam Nixx has contributed a photo to this story.

Dous

at 22:49 on August 28th, 2008

I've made this shot in Termoli's port, Italy, this august. I was touched by the light and the intense color of the half moon, looking me...:-)

Dous has contributed a photo to this story.

Jack Nathaniel Ross

at 23:51 on August 28th, 2008

Whether we like it or not; We need the moon.

ernesto.garciadomingo

at 09:09 on August 29th, 2008

Last partial moon eclipsed was seen by me and my family in our house in Sicilian countryside, quite close to Egadi Islands. We had dinner without any additional light, while the kids enjoyed our attempts to explain was going on. unfortunately I did not have any support for my canon-eos20d but my hands, so the result could have been much better. Next time (in five years or so?) we'll be more prepared and, who knows, my eldest daughter will probably explain to me better the phenomenum than I did this time!

ernesto.garciadomingo has contributed a photo to this story.

lilmssfit

at 12:33 on August 29th, 2008

Taken from our patio area at the back of our house while having a BBQ and a few drinks.

lilmssfit has contributed a photo to this story.

Tony Tanoury

at 16:55 on August 30th, 2008

If it's a hoax, how did those footprints get there? I have pictures of them with my Canon 400mm f/5.6L lens!

Avery Studio

at 18:29 on August 30th, 2008

I took these photos one night when the moon had a beautiful glow. It was extremely challenging to capture and gave me new respect for my tripod.

Avery Studio has contributed a photo to this story.

Avery Studio

at 18:35 on August 30th, 2008

Oh and NASA went to the moon...

So happy to see the Mythbusters busting this one wide open. :-)

Jennings David L

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 13:13 on August 31st, 2008

Rob Peters, I like this story. It's good stuff. The movie Capricorn One helped to spawn the myth that we didn't go to the moon. What about the moon rocks they brought back? I don't think their makeup is the same as earth rocks.

sarah yeary (not verified)

at 09:07 on February 4th, 2009

hahhaahahhahah.

its not real!