Was the Moon Landing a Hoax?

On July 20, 1969, astronaut Neil Armstrong walked on the moon: or perhaps not. That is what some people think. They believe the "Moon Landings" were faked, in order to cheat the public out of billions of dollars and so that we could win the space race against the Soviet Union. According to conspiracy theorists, the scientists at N.A.S.A. realized during the Apollo missions that either is was technically impossible to reach the Moon ir that it cost too much. So, the government built a secret movie studio somewhere in the southwest and used special effects to pretend that the astronauts had landed on the Moon. Then, the "historic event" was sent through television to the entire world who, for the most part, believed it.

But if the moon landing was a hoax, thousands of people were involved. The conspiracy theorists say that the witnesses must have been disposed of. The people who believe the moon landing really happened say that it is just common sense that so many people couldn't have been in on such a complex plan, therefore the moon landing had to have happened.

Another argument is that photos the astronauts "took" contain flaws. In this picture, taken by Apollo astronauts, there is no blast crater. There should be a huge crater in the Moon's powdery surface due to the 10,000 pounds of thrust from the rockets of the Lander, according to the conspiracy believers. But the anti-hoax people have a logical explanation for this. Just before landing, the astronauts slowed down to about 3000 pounds of thrust just like someone slows down to a few miles per hours when backing into a parking spot. This still might sound like a lot of force, but it is actually only about one pound per square in: the same equivalent as an astronaut's footstep and he traverses the surface of the moon. The one pound per square inch won't dig a crater, as you might have guessed, but is just enough to stir the shards of dust on the surface.

Another counter-argument against the hoax theory is the practicality of continuing the make believing for the rest of the Apollo missions. Conspiracy theorists claim that the reason the American government and N.A.S.A faked it was to swindle the American public out of billions of dollars. But how much more would it cost to bribe the people involved so they would keep quite and to pay for the thousands of exhibits and museums dedicated to the moon landings?

It was said on a 2001 Fox TV Network program called, "Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?" that 20 percent of Americans doubt that we landed on the moon. But a Gallup company poll conducted in 1999 showed more like 6 percent was the truer number. Still, that adds up to millions of Americans doubting the landing on the Moon. So what do you think? I believe that we landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969.