# Did we really go to the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 6, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055 "2008-12-06T22:49:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![keepsakeequine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dc4da7/32.png) [@keepsakeequine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keepsakeequine)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/1 "2008-12-06T22:49:36Z")
Some of my friends believe that Nasa sending men to the moon in 1969 was an elaborate hoax; only a television production. Is there any way to prove they are wrong? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/2 "2008-12-06T22:59:07Z")
Yes, that’s trivially easy. The hard part is getting them to acknowledge that they’re wrong. I recommend blunt instrument trauma. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/3 "2008-12-06T23:00:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Yes, that’s trivially easy. The hard part is getting them to acknowledge that they’re wrong. > > I recommend blunt instrument trauma. [So does Buzz Aldrin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQKxAqpjroo) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/4 "2008-12-06T23:06:33Z")
> [@keepsakeequine](#): > > Is there any way to prove they are wrong? You mean prove it _to their satisfaction_? - Probably not. My recommendation is to privately laugh at their stupidity. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/5 "2008-12-06T23:07:15Z")
Send your idiot friends [here](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/apollohoax.html). ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/6 "2008-12-06T23:08:44Z")
> [@keepsakeequine](#): > > Some of my friends believe that Nasa sending men to the moon in 1969 was an elaborate hoax; only a television production. Is there any way to prove they are wrong? My experience with people who have this belief is that it’s like a religious belief, impervious to logic or facts. They’ll go to great lengths to maintain a mental picture in which the hoax fits. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/7 "2008-12-06T23:26:33Z")
[A recent discussion of the moon landing.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=492208) And [a Straight Dope report that makes this very good point](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1758/was-the-apollo-moon-landing-a-hoax): > [@](#): > > You don’t actually expect evidence to convince people like this, do you? Any piece of evidence that we could present would simply be, to them, a part of the conspiracy. A good conspiracist can incorporate any piece of information into the big conspiracy without even blinking. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/8 "2008-12-06T23:27:33Z")
[del]Absolutely not! We never went to the moon. It was all filmed on a giant movie set.[/del] This post has been redacted by the Astro-Tang General Foods Corporate Conspiracy. Remember, for every recruit you sign up before December 31, 2009, you can enter to win a monthly drawing worth thousands of Moon Bucks™! ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/9 "2008-12-06T23:34:58Z")
What sells it for me is the dirt. On Earth, when you kick up dirt, it forms clouds of dust. That can’t happen in a vacuum – instead, the dirt falls away in sheets. No dust clouds are formed. Which is EXACTLY how it’s shown on the official NASA videos. This type of effect is nearly impossible to simulate with special effects; indeed, I’ve yet to see a single movie that gets it right. You’d think, if the moon landing was faked, they would overlook that detail (as well as the old canards about non-parallel shadows, no stars in the sky, etc.) So all you need to prove to yourself that the moon landing’s not faked, is look at the dirt. Voila, ignorance fought! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/10 "2008-12-06T23:51:51Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > What sells it for me is the dirt. > > On Earth, when you kick up dirt, it forms clouds of dust. That can’t happen in a vacuum – instead, the dirt falls away in sheets. No dust clouds are formed. > > Which is EXACTLY how it’s shown on the official NASA videos. In fact, the only way to film something like that in 1969 would be to build a vacuum chamber the size of a football field, which was impossible using 1969 technology. Meaning that for that and many other reasons, \*faking \*a moon landing would be a far greater challenge that actually landing there. In other words, conspiracy theorists are incapable of proving that a a moon landing hoax is possible. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/11 "2008-12-06T23:56:16Z")
Reminds me of the complaint that astronauts didnt make a big deal about all the stars they did (or didnt) see in that cloud and atmosphere free sky. I’ve forgotten the calcs and specifiics, but this the gist. Take an 8 by 10 piece of white paper. Put a 50 to 100 watt light bulb a few feet away. So that you cannot see the bulb, but you can see the piece of paper as it reflects the bulb. Now, take that setup and TRY to look at the sheet of paper and the night sky at the same time. If you can see more than just the brightest stars in the sky you’ll be doing good. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/12 "2008-12-07T00:22:36Z")
More important, what’s the _real_ reason **Gordon Cooper** fell asleep on the pad (and in orbit) while participating in the Mercury program. Moon dust? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/13 "2008-12-07T00:26:45Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > In fact, the only way to film something like that in 1969 would be to build a vacuum chamber the size of a football field, which was impossible using 1969 technology. Impossible? How do you figure? Extremely difficult and extraordinarily expensive (and, of course, it wasn’t really done), to be sure, but actually impossible? I doubt that. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/14 "2008-12-07T00:43:11Z")
> [@Q.E.D](#): > > Impossible? How do you figure? Extremely difficult and extraordinarily expensive (and, of course, it wasn’t really done), to be sure, but actually impossible? I doubt that. As much as I KNOW (for all practical purposes) we went to the moon. This is one “pro moon” arguement I have never bought. Making a large vacuum chamber, that is no big deal. Making one that is so good that it simulates space? Sure, a royal pain the ass. One that the vacuum is good enough that dust behaves the same as it would in a near perfect space vacuum? No big deal IMHO. Or at least in comparsion to building an actual working Saturn V. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/15 "2008-12-07T00:53:07Z")
I’d really like to know what would be involved in building a football-sized near-perfect vacuum chamber. Including what it would take to actually evacuate it. Would’nt it need to be a sphere, or hemisphere, to be structurally strong enough? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/16 "2008-12-07T00:57:51Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > [So does Buzz Aldrin](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQKxAqpjroo) > > 😃 Buzz Aldrin is my new hero. The only way to convince them? I guess we could send them to the moon. Can we let them stay there? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/17 "2008-12-07T00:59:03Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > As much as I KNOW (for all practical purposes) we went to the moon. > > This is one “pro moon” arguement I have never bought. > > Making a large vacuum chamber, that is no big deal. > > Making one that is so good that it simulates space? Sure, a royal pain the ass. > > One that the vacuum is good enough that dust behaves the same as it would in a near perfect space vacuum? No big deal IMHO. Or at least in comparsion to building an actual working Saturn V. How many men to put up such a structure, and how do you keep them all from talking about it for this many years? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/18 "2008-12-07T01:15:04Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How many men to put up such a structure, and how do you keep them all from talking about it for this many years? Don’t get me wrong. I’d bet my soul that we DID go to the moon. But in the big scheme of things required to carry off such a grand conspiracy in SO MANY different ways, a big ass low level vacuum chamber is about in the noise technologically/conspiracyishness speaking ---
**Author:** ![Washoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ecae2f/32.png) [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/19 "2008-12-07T01:34:53Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > How many men to put up such a structure, and how do you keep them all from talking about it for this many years? They were all given luxury apartments in Area 51, along with a free lifetime supply of hookers and beer. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2008, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055/20 "2008-12-07T01:43:17Z")
> [@keepsakeequine](#): > > Some of my friends believe that Nasa sending men to the moon in 1969 was an elaborate hoax; only a television production. Is there any way to prove they are wrong? Yeah, get a telescope, take a look at the American flag hoisted on the moon’s surface. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-we-really-go-to-the-moon/476055.md?page=2)