Did the Americans land on the moon?

Have you been watching dodgy television programs, McT?

No, I don't watch these, nor read the National Enquirer.

But I know there's been some controversy, and I was/am hoping that, in raising the matter, that someone will supply useful links to a definitive answer.

(Much of the "photographic record" seems studio-made, too good to be true)

Photo Shopped?

This doesn't necessarily specifically address your questioning of the photos (although it does answer some of them), but you can visit the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's "moon landing hoax" page by clicking here.

Just below your initial field of view on this page, you'll see a list of links to pages which discuss specific charges of the "moon landing hoax" crowd.

Somehow, we got that laser reflctor up there so when ANYONE shoots a columated light beam to the moon, it gets bounced back. Of course , this could be done in some laboratory in Utah.

I remember the "Mythbusters" did a show on this subject and recreated the "too good to be true" stuff like the "waving flag" and the footprints that were too defined , and the shadows and sky.

Evidence seems to support the fact that they did go there in 1969, and then ,like any kid with ADD, they just lost interest.

McTag, I think this is the film that started the rumor.

http://scififantasyfilms.suite101.com/article.cfm/movie_capricorn_one_1978

Lost funding, more like . . . there was no on-going justification for more moon missions. The entire space program was inspired by sputnik, which chilled the blood in military veins, being the outward visible sign of Soviet rocket technology. The little "beep, beep, beep" of sputnik kept telling them Pentagon boys, "we can launch transpolar icbms at you." So the space program became a no-brainer, and Kennedy's resolve to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade (which we did) developed a momentum of its own. The "law" of unintended consequences is not entirely devoted to unforeseen disasters, we reaped incredible benefits from the space program, and continuing moon shots might have generated more--but we also were probably on the down slope of the curve of surprising new and lucrative technologies with that program, and we had a big war to pay for. So the moon program faded away with a whimper . . .

I was shooting for metaphor there set.

Oh? . . . i thought you was shootin' for wise ass remark . . .

What moon? That big bright thing in the night sky? How do we even know that thing is real. Satan might have put an image there just to test our faith in heaven.

If you think the moon exists then you've already accepted some level of trust in science and established knowledge. Since the moon landing carries the same level of backing, why trust it any differently.

You know the really funny thing about this is that telescopes all over the world including those in countries that really wanted us to fail watched the whole thing. It's not like you couldn't see it in progress, receive the signals being sent back to Earth, etc. To buy into the entire hoax argument, you'd have to assume that the Soviet Union, China, Europe, Australia, etc were all in on it.

Well you know how those dam politicians stick together. Unless of course they are good old U.S. democrat or republican politicians.

If you land a large vehicle with chemical retro-rockets in an airless, waterless place with one-sixth gravity which is covered in dust, how do you do it leaving no sign of any dust on anything?

Like this.

McTag, this sounds a lot like Steve's Princess Diana conspiracy thread.

Good answer. With no air, there's no swirl and no convection effect. Dust blasted away will keep going away, until it slowly settles again, elsewhere. Silly me.

I only discovered that people thought it was a hoax when i watched some ridiculous family movie. But I had a discussion with my friend's mother the other day and she informed me (I say informed as she 'knows' it was a propaganda stunt, and refuses to believe otherwise) that it had to be impossible as the flag was flying in the pictures. I'd love to one day know the truth behind the whole thing, but I'm it will be another frustrating unaswered question.

I don't know about everyone else but I've been doing some thinking... The Earths magnetic field protects us from radiation from nuclear reactions on the sun, in particular, gamma radiation... and lots of it! Now, it takes at least 6 inches of lead to stop gamma radiation (when there is no magnetic field involved) and it seems to me that getting a lead rocket off the ground is rather unlikely.... hmmm.... Without any protection from the radiation, radiation sickness will take is toll from anywhere between a few hours to a few weeks... and you'd have a dead crew...of course it's possible to go into space provided you stay under the magnetic field... the international space station for example is still within the magnetic field. This is just my opinion based on my understanding of how the world works.