celebrating courage and ingenuity
About this book
Copyright notice
About the author
Donations and donor list
Preface
Acknowledgments
Free distribution
Units of measurement and terminology
Comments, corrections and updates
In Memoriam
Chapter 1. Race for the Moon
1.1 Balance of terror
1.2 The Soviets lead
1.3 The US catches up
1.4 The first human being in space
1.5 Apollo gets up to speed
1.6 The real conspiracy: secret Soviet moonshots
1.7 Dress rehearsals, then the real thing
1.8 Post-Apollo explorations
Chapter 2. How we went to the Moon
2.1 The Saturn V rocket
2.2 The Apollo spacecraft
2.3 Crucial maneuvers
2.4 Fiery return
2.5 The true cost of Apollo
Chapter 3. The best evidence of the Moon landings
3.1 Documentation
3.2 Cross-checking: the radio delay
3.3 An impossibly airtight conspiracy
3.4 The silence of the Soviets
3.5 Voices from the Moon
3.6 Moon rocks
3.7 Mirrors on the Moon
3.8 Photographs of the vehicles left on the Moon
3.9 Evidence, but not proof
3.10 Japan’s 3D Moon maps
3.11 Telltale moondust
3.12 The size of the alleged soundstage
3.13 The Moon walk proves the moonwalks
3.14 Attempted simulations in movies
3.15 An impossible feat
Chapter 4. Moon hoax beliefs and believers
4.1 How many people believe these theories?
4.2 Healthy doubt versus misinformed paranoia
4.3 Wide but shallow media coverage
4.4 Media misdirection
4.5 A truly unbelievable journey
4.6 Origins and history of Moon hoax theories
4.7 Bill Kaysing, grandfather of Moon hoax proponents
4.8 Capricorn One and other “Moon hoax” movies
4.9 Ralph Rene
4.10 Fox TV’s Conspiracy Theory: Did We Land on the Moon?
4.11 2002, the year Buzz made contact
4.12 Other notable hoax proponents
4.13 The four fundamental hoax scenarios
4.14 None of the experts have doubts
Chapter 5. Alleged photographic anomalies
5.1 Apollo still photography: a quick primer
5.2 Why are there no stars in the photographs?
5.3 Why is the flag blowing in the wind on an airless Moon?
5.4 How could the flag change position when the astronauts were back inside the spacecraft?
5.5 Why are objects in shadow so strangely well-lit?
5.6 Why aren’t the shadows parallel?
5.7 Why do the astronauts cast shadows of different lengths?
5.8 How come the shadow of the LM reaches the horizon?
5.9 Why is there no flag shadow in the salute photograph?
5.10 How come the spacecraft casts an impossibly huge shadow?
5.11 How can all the photographs be so perfect?
5.12 How come there are photos of the landing site without the Lunar Module?
5.13 Why do the visors show reflections of studio lights?
5.14 How can the camera crosshairs be behind objects?
5.15 How come there’s a letter C on a rock?
5.16 How come the backpack antenna appears and disappears?
5.17 How come Aldrin looks like he’s standing in a spotlight?
5.18 Shouldn’t backlit photos shot in a vacuum just show silhouettes?
5.19 How come Apollo 11’s boulder field isn’t in the photos?
5.20 Why are the tracks of the Moon car missing?
5.21 How come NASA has published retouched photographs?
5.22 How come the EVA photo of Michael Collins is fake?
5.23 How could the astronauts take so many photos in such a short time?
5.24 Why is this astronaut’s shadow missing?
5.25 Why is the United States marking on the LM so bright?
5.26 Why do Aldrin’s boots shine in shadow? Are they lit by a spotlight?
5.27 Why is this photo of the LM on the moon so obviously fake?
5.28 Why is there a sharp dividing line between the foreground and the background?
5.29 Does this spacewalk photo show the reflection of the movie set in the astronaut’s visor?
5.30 Why is there a fake photograph of Alan Shepard on the Moon?
5.31 Why is there a man in a waistcoat in a photo taken on the Moon?
5.32 How come famous photographers claim that the Apollo photos are fake?
Chapter 6. Alleged video and film anomalies
6.1 Apollo video and movie technology: a quick primer
6.2 Why does the flag flutter on the airless Moon?
6.3 Who was already outside to televise Armstrong’s first steps?
6.4 Who stayed behind to shoot the liftoff from the Moon?
6.5 Were the astronauts lifted by wires when they fell?
6.6 Does video show the astronauts’ wires catching the light?
6.7 Why did the astronauts only make such low jumps?
6.8 Is the “Moontruth” video an outtake from the fake TV broadcast?
6.9 How come Kubrick’s widow, Buzz Aldrin and others have confessed on film?
6.10 How could NASA conveniently “lose” the tapes of the first Moon landing?
6.11 Does never-before-seen footage show astronauts faking the view of Earth from deep space?
6.12 Why is there no exhaust from the LM’s ascent rocket engine?
6.13 Why did Apollo 11 transmit color TV from space but not from the Moon?
6.14 Why does the Moon look the same in two different places? Recycled Moon sets?
6.15 Is this video found footage from the movie set where the Moon landings were faked?
Chapter 7. Alleged technological anomalies
7.1 If we could go to the Moon with 1960s technology, why haven’t we ever gone back?
7.2 How come the Russians didn’t even try? Did they know it was impossible?
7.3 Weren’t 1960s computers too primitive?
7.4 How is it possible that everything went so smoothly?
7.5 Why do a rendezvous in lunar orbit, which makes no sense?
7.6 Why don’t we just point a telescope at the landing sites?
7.7 How come nobody sends probes to take pictures of the landing sites?
7.8 How could the large Moon buggy fit inside the small Lunar Module?
7.9 How could Apollo get to the Moon, if it didn’t reach escape velocity?
7.10 Do Russian calculations show that the Saturn V wasn’t powerful enough?
7.11 How could the tiny LM climb back from the Moon?
7.12 How could the Lunar Module be so stable?
7.13 How come the astronauts didn’t unbalance the tiny LM?
7.14 How come the LM simulator was so unstable that Neil Armstrong crashed it?
7.15 How come all the technical problems suddenly vanished?
7.16 Why is there no engine noise in the Moon landing audio?
7.17 How could a Lunar Module made of tinfoil withstand temperature extremes so well?
7.18 Why don’t the boot prints on the Moon match the spacesuit shoes?
Chapter 8. Alleged physical anomalies
8.1 How come the Van Allen radiation belts didn’t kill the astronauts?
8.2 If the Van Allen belts weren’t a problem for Apollo, why does NASA need to test the new Orion spacecraft?
8.3 How come astronaut Terry Virts said that we can’t go to the Moon?
8.4 How come deep space radiation didn’t kill the astronauts?
8.5 Shouldn’t X-ray radiation in space have fogged the films?
8.6 Wouldn’t the camera films have melted or frozen on the Moon?
8.7 Wouldn’t sunlight outside on the Moon have burned or boiled the astronauts’ faces?
8.8 How come meteoroid showers didn’t kill the astronauts?
8.9 How could the astronauts have changed film magazines outside on the Moon?
8.10 Isn’t it impossible to cool an astronaut in a vacuum?
8.11 How come there’s no blast crater under the LM’s engine?
8.12 How could the timing of the lunar liftoff footage be so perfect despite the signal delay?
8.13 Why are Apollo 11‘s footpads clean while later missions have dusty ones?
8.14 How can there be no dust at all on Apollo 11’s LM footpads?
8.15 How can the astronauts’ footprints be so sharp?
8.16 Wasn’t the lunar module hatch too narrow?
8.17 How come the pressurized spacesuits don’t look like they’re inflated?
8.18 How could the astronauts still send TV to Earth when their directional antenna wobbled?
Chapter 9. Other alleged anomalies
9.1 Why did the astronauts have guilty looks on their faces and shun public appearances?
9.2 Did Neil Armstrong hide from the media out of guilt?
9.3 How come NASA refuses to deal with the hoax allegations?
9.4 How come the lunar astronauts won’t face the doubters?
9.5 How come NASA’s Apollo documents aren’t available?
9.6 How is it possible that the Saturn V blueprints have been lost?
9.7 Why is there no delay in the Apollo communications?
9.8 How come the Moon rock donated to Holland is fake?
9.9 Was astronaut Grissom killed to keep him quiet?
9.10 Was NASA whistleblower Thomas Baron murdered?
9.11 Isn’t it suspicious that ten astronauts died in freak accidents?
9.12 Why has Wernher von Braun’s name been removed from German schools?
9.13 How come Neil Armstrong once spoke of removing “truth's protective layers”?
Chapter 10. Alternative realities
10.1 Were the Soviets bribed to keep quiet?
10.2 Were the Apollo Moon rocks faked?
10.3 Did Stanley Kubrick shoot the fake footage?
10.4 Did the Apollo astronauts never leave Earth orbit?
10.5 Did the radio and TV signals come from space, but not from the Moon?
10.6 Were the alleged mistakes left in on purpose by whistleblowers?
10.7 Were the Moon rocks actually meteorites collected in Antarctica by Wernher von Braun?
Chapter 11. UFOs and Moon landings
11.1 Are there UFOs in Apollo photographs?
11.2 Did Buzz Aldrin see a UFO?
11.3 Did Apollo 20 secretly recover an alien spaceship?
11.4 Did the astronauts find alien structures on the Moon?
11.5 What about astronaut Ed Mitchell’s UFO claims?
11.6 Did a lie detector test confirm the astronauts’ UFO sightings?
11.7 Were giant UFOs photographed in front of the Moon during Apollo 9?
11.8 Was alien music heard during Apollo 10 and kept secret?
Chapter 12. How to debate a Moon hoax believer
12.1 One word of advice
12.2 If you really want to debate
12.3 Questions for hoax believers
Chapter 13. Real secrets of the Moon landings
13.1 Aldrin’s pause on the LM ladder
13.2 Suspicious pad corrosions and emissions
13.3 Smuggling on the Moon: the Sieger covers
13.4 Secretive commemorations
13.5 Naked women on the Moon
13.6 The President’s speech in case of Moon disaster
Chapter 14. Remembering the fallen
14.1 Michael James Adams
14.2 Michael P. Anderson, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Laurel B. Clark, Rick D. Husband, William C. McCool and Ilan Ramon
14.3 Charles Arthur Bassett II and Elliot McKay See, Jr.
14.4 Valentin Bondarenko
14.5 Roger B. Chaffee, Virgil I. “Gus” Grissom and Ed H. White
14.6 Georgi Dobrovolski, Viktor Patsayev and Vladislav Volkov
14.7 Theodore Cordy Freeman
14.8 Edward Galen Givens, Jr.
14.9 Gregory Jarvis, Christa McAuliffe, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Francis “Dick” Scobee and Michael J. Smith
14.10 Vladimir Komarov
14.11 Robert H. Lawrence, Jr.
14.12 Clifton Curtis Williams, Jr.
Chapter 15. References
15.1 Public photo archives
15.2 Technical reference sites
15.3 Technical books and documents
15.4 Biographies
15.5 Moon-related items, documents and memorabilia for purchase
15.6 Books by Moon hoax proponents
15.7 Websites supporting Moon hoax theories
15.8 DVDs, videos and TV shows supporting hoax claims
15.9 Parodies that hoax proponents believe are true
15.10 Books with rebuttals to Moon hoax claims
15.11 Neutral or debunking DVDs, videos and TV shows
15.12 Moon hoax debunking sites
Chapter 16. Apollo by the numbers
16.1 Apollo landing sites
16.2 The Apollo missions
16.2.1 AS-201, 26 February 1966
16.2.2 AS-203, 5 July 1966
16.2.3 AS-202, 25 August 1966
16.2.4 Apollo 1 (AS-204), 27 January 1967
16.2.5 Apollo 4 (AS-501), 9 November 1967
16.2.6 Apollo 5 (AS-204R), 22-23 January 1968
16.2.7 Apollo 6 (AS-502), 4 April 1968
16.2.8 Apollo 7 (AS-205), 11-22 October 1968
16.2.9 Apollo 8 (AS-503), 21-27 December 1968
16.2.10 Apollo 9 (AS-504), 3-13 March 1969
16.2.11 Apollo 10 (AS-505), 18-26 May 1969
16.2.12 Apollo 11 (AS-506), 16-24 July 1969
16.2.13 Apollo 12 (AS-507), 14-24 November 1969
16.2.14 Apollo 13 (AS-508), 11-17 April 1970
16.2.15 Apollo 14 (AS-509), 31 January-9 February 1971
16.2.16 Apollo 15 (AS-510), 26 July-7 August 1971
16.2.17 Apollo 16 (AS-511), 16-27 April 1972
16.2.18 Apollo 17 (AS-512), 7-19 December 1972
16.2.19 Skylab, 1973-74
16.2.20 Apollo-Soyuz, 15-24 July 1975
16.3 Apollo astronauts
16.4 The Saturn V/Apollo spacecraft
16.5 Moon rocks
16.6 Photographs
16.7 The Moon and the Earth
