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This is one of those conspiracy theories that I can't believe still has legs. I sometimes wonder if it isn't kept alive by "Mythbusters" type shows just because it is interesting fodder for debunking.

Are there any remaining claims that support the idea that we never went to the moon that haven't yet been debunked?

What are the most common claims/rebuttals regarding the assertion that the moon landing was faked/staged?

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3 Answers

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The best summation I know of is collected at the Bad Astronomy Blog, regarding a rather dreadful Apollo documentary.

In addition - Plait, Philip (2002). Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from Astrology to the Moon Landing "Hoax". John Wiley & Sons.

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There are so many, its too numerous to count .

1) The actual regolith moon rocks itself. The chemical composition is very complex to synthesize on earth.

2) The artifacts left over on the moon. The space junk left on the moon is clearly visible in pictures taken from satellites.

3) The overwhelming logistical complexity of keeping such a secret, a secret makes it clearly impossible. (or maybe, just so implausible, it could not happen).

4) The science data gathered during the various trips to the moon itself. Fabricating such data is very difficult given the nature of rocket science.

5) Testimony from Astronauts.

6) Why would a government lie for so many years on such a historic voyage. Where is the gain ? Hard for me to imagine a government doing it without some big reward (other than boasting rights to say they were the first).

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Many of these seem like pretty weak arguments compared to others I have heard. For example, in your point on the moon rocks presupposes the conclusion. We'd need to have known moon rocks to compare the chemical composition for a baseline. If we assume we know what a moon rock has in it, we assume we have been there. Right? – johnfx Jan 6 at 2:54
@johnfx: not necessarily. We can compare those rocks to all other rocks found on earth and determine that they are not earthly in origin (not necessarily from the moon, but at least from other parts of the solar system, e.g. meteorites, etc.). Also, it is likely various scientists had hypotheses of what the regolith was composed of before traveling to the moon based on information like spectroscopy, albedo, and optical characteristics as well as information from crater sizes, etc. – PureJadeKid 22 hours ago
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Here's a point-by-point critique and rebuttal to a moon-hoax site, written by Jim Scotti, a planetary scientist at the University of Arizona. Excellent information from an expert on the subject.

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