Man On The Moon Research Paper

“The Man on the Moon” On July 20th 1969 Apollo 11 was the first spacecraft to land on the moon. Over 600 million families gathered around their televisions to watch this event take place. There is undeniable physical evidence that the moon landing of 1969 occurred; although many still feel like it was a hoax created by NASA. Some feel as if this was a “Race to Space” competition between countries, and the United States could not take that loss. While others feel as if it was cover up for the misuse of government funding. There were photos, unique moon rocks brought back from the landing, and scientific facts as proof. On this trip to the moon the astronauts brought back extremely unique rocks, not found on this planet. “Moon rocks are absolutely unique," says Dr. David McKay, Chief Scientist for Planetary Science and Exploration at NASA 's Johnson Space Center (JSC)…."They differ from Earth rocks in many respects," (Philips). Many felt as if these moon rocks were regular rocks found in someone’s backyard; little did they know these rocks were far from it. The moon rocks had almost no water in the structure and lacked many common materials that were found in earth rocks, such as clay. The formation of the rocks
showed that they cooled very slowly. In order to duplicate the same object it would take years for scientist to find the materials and years for the rock to cool at 1100 degrees Celsius. There is an unlimited amount of scientific evidence to prove these were not from this planet but anyone holding the rock in their hand can clearly see the uniqueness of that object. The next argument many had were the photos from the landing. During that trip the astronauts brought an American flag to leave on the landing site. In the photos the flag looked like it was moving in the wind. I must admit the flag fluttering in the wind photo does question the credibility in the of the moon landing. As most scientists would know there is no wind activity on the moon. One of the reasons for this flag movement was simply the structure of the flag pole. The creators of the pole had a rod inserted in the upper side so it would simply stand out from the rest of the staff. Also on the moon objects do not stop movement as fast as they would on earth. When the astronauts attached the flag to the pole the movement continued for a longer period of time then it would have on earth. In the photos from the landing many conspiracy theorist felt the background was all props made to look like the moon. Photos were also leaked of the Apollo 11 astronauts with background walls and tiled floors. NASA in no way tried to claim that these pictures were taken on the moon. In fact these photos were taken during the trail runs of the Apollo 11 take off. In the actual pictures of the moon landing some say the backgrounds varied from picture to picture, and there were crosshairs in the scenes. The backgrounds were in fact different because the scenes were shot on two completely different days, during two different times. The crosshairs in the film also help to prove how incorrect the theorists are. If someone was staging a fake landing, why have those kinds of flaws in the film at all? During a full moon the night sky is so bright it can light even the darkest of places here on earth. Another theory was the lighting and shadowing was off in the photos. Many felt that the astronauts should have merely been silhouettes in the photos because the positioning of the sun in the background. Considering the brightness of the sun, the glimmering reflection of the moon floor and the crisp white space suits the astronauts were wearing it is almost impossible to have anything in the photo come out dark. The shadows in the pictures aren’t parallel; another argument many conspiracy theorists have. The shadows aren’t parallel in the photos because the sunlight is scattered and bounced off the lunar floor and the equipment brought by the astronauts. The moon is also full of craters and hills so the shadows are not going to be parallel instead they will appear to be going into different directions. When looking up into the sky at night the stars are bright and glistening from millions of miles away. In the photos of the landing the sky only seemed to have three stars in the background which led to a lot of questioning. If the stars are so bright down here on earth, why is there none in the photos of the landing? The Apollo astronauts landed on the day side of the moon and their cameras in fact were set for day time settings. Because of this the amount of stars in the pictures are not visible. As many professional photographers can tell you, attempting to take a picture with the glaring spacesuits and the bright soil would leave the background of the photo extremely faint. The temperature on the moon can go up 260 degrees in the day time and -260 degrees at night fall. Many questioned how the crewmen were able to take photos and handle moon rocks in this drastic and changing weather. The weather on the moon differs a lot from the weather on earth. The moon can experience up to two weeks of day light, but the moon also has no atmosphere to hold the heat in. It takes days for the moon surface to heat up, but with the right equipment the crewmen are able to walk on the surface and complete their mission. The men and all of their equipment were protected by special suits to allow them to withstand great heat and extreme cold. The cameras were also protected which is why the film did not wither up with the heat. Traveling out of the earth’s atmosphere would leave the astronauts vulnerable to a dangerous amount of radiation from the Van Allen Belts. Theorists feel as if no man can survive through the radiation and the solar storms that awaited the crewmen and their ship. The Apollo 11 was equipped with 4mm of aluminum that allowed the ship to travel safely through Van Allen’s belt. The crewmen on board were however exposed to a significant amount of radiation. Each crew member was exposed to just under the lethal dose of radiation which can pose long term health hazards. It was as if each man on board received 100 chest x-rays or 40% of the maximum dose according to OSHA. This amount of radiation can cause severe vomiting and lead to fatalities. As an Americans we watch a lot of movies and expect the same effect from the movie to happen in real life. When a person shoots a gun you see sparks and flashes of light. The same way when you see a ship land on a foreign planet the dust from under the ship gets spread out and becomes a cloud. When Apollo landed on the moon it did not leave a blast crater as it would in the science fiction movies. The dirt here on earth is soft and can be moved with the wind. The dirt on the moon is firm and packed very tightly. Household dirt is made up of light particles such as hair and dead skin, so they float easily in the air. The dirt on the moon is made-up of powdered rock which is a lot heavier and cannot be moved as easily. When the ship landed little to no dust lifted off the ground. Around the time of the moon landing many astronauts died under misfortunate and mysterious circumstances. These untimely deaths raise suspicion and questioned the credibility of NASA. Many feel as if NASA was trying to cover up some sort of secret about the Apollo 11 mission. Ten astronaut trainees and crewmen died between the years of 1964-1967. A majority of these men died in new untested space craft while others died from jet accidents. I must admit the deaths of these men are questionable but the conspiracy theorists have no physical evidence that these men died to protect an unknown secret. The United States accomplished something magnificent when the Apollo landed on the moon.
So why do so many people feel as if this was all a hoax, what are the motives behind the moon landing conspiracy? President John F. Kennedy made an announcement that our country will land on the moon before 1970, and in 1969 Apollo made its way there. The skeptics believe that President Kennedy had to live up to his speech and fulfill the American dream. Theorists also think the moon landing was a distraction to what was going on around us at the time. NASA spent billions of American dollars funding the trip to the moon and many feel the money was not well spent or was misused. The mission to the moon was a cover up for the money that was spent, or so they
say. The trip to the moon in 1969 went down in American history; so many things were accomplished that day. Americans united and we treated each other as humans. Families gathered around their televisions and watched the Apollo 11 take off into deep space. Although the mission had its flaws there is undeniable proof that these men landed on the moon. Scientific explanation and facts help to give the skeptics a better understanding of the Apollo 11s landing. In 1969 our country made history and we will never forget it.

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