Editing Moon landing conspiracy theories (section)

== Third-party evidence of Moon landings ==
{{Main|Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings}}

=== Imaging the landing sites ===
[[File:Apollo 17 landing site, labeled.jpg|right|thumb|350px|[[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter]] photo of Apollo 17 landing site (click to enlarge)<ref name="NASA LRO" />]]
[[File:Lroc apollo11 landing site 20091109 zoom.jpg|thumb|right|Apollo 11 landing site – "There the lunar module sits, parked just where it landed 40 years ago, as if it still really were 40 years ago and all the time since merely imaginary." –''[[The New York Times]]''<ref name="nyt_lro_lm_img">{{cite news |title=The Human Moon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/17/opinion/17tue4.html |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=November 16, 2009 |access-date=November 19, 2009}}</ref>]]

Moon-landing conspiracists claim that observatories and the [[Hubble Space Telescope]] should be able to photograph the landing sites. This implies that the world's major observatories (as well as the Hubble Program) are complicit in the hoax by refusing to take photos of the landing sites. Photos of the Moon have been taken by Hubble, including at least two Apollo landing sites, but the Hubble resolution limits viewing of lunar objects to sizes no smaller than {{convert|60|–|75|yds|m|abbr=on|order=flip}}, which is insufficient resolution to see any landing site features.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/hubble_moon.html |title=Hubble Shoots The Moon |editor-last=Stoyanova |editor-first=Silvia |date=September 10, 2007 |publisher=NASA |access-date=October 20, 2009 |archive-date=December 4, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101204032834/http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/hubble_moon.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In April 2001, Leonard David published an article on [[space.com]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/apollo15_touchdown_photos_010427.html |title=Apollo 15 Landing Site Spotted in Images |last=David |first=Leonard |date=April 27, 2001 |work=Space.com |publisher=TechMediaNetwork, Inc. |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050301074851/http://www.space.com/missionlaunches/missions/apollo15_touchdown_photos_010427.html |archive-date=March 1, 2005 |access-date=August 26, 2009}}</ref><ref name="apolloclempix">{{cite web |url=http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_lander.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020711041221/http://www.tass-survey.org/richmond/answers/lunar_lander.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 11, 2002 |title=Can we see Apollo hardware on the Moon? |date=August 17, 2002 |first=Michael |last=Richmond |publisher=The Amateur Sky Survey (TASS) |access-date=August 26, 2009 }}</ref> which showed a photo taken by the [[Clementine mission]] showing a diffuse dark spot at the site NASA says is the Apollo 15 lander. The evidence was noticed by Misha Kreslavsky, of the Department of Geological Sciences at [[Brown University]], and Yuri Shkuratov of the [[Ukrainian T-shaped Radio telescope, second modification|Kharkiv Astronomical Observatory]] in Ukraine. The [[European Space Agency]]'s [[SMART-1]] uncrewed probe sent back photos of the landing sites, according to [[Bernard Foing]], Chief Scientist of the ESA Science Program.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.space.com/847-conspiracy-theories-spacecraft-snoops-apollo-moon-sites.html |title=End of Conspiracy Theories? Spacecraft Snoops Apollo Moon Sites |last=David |first=Leonard |date=March 4, 2005 |work=Space.com |publisher=TechMediaNetwork, Inc. |access-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref> "Given SMART-1's initial high orbit, however, it may prove difficult to see artifacts," said Foing in an interview on space.com.

In 2002, Alex R. Blackwell of the [[University of Hawaii]] pointed out that some photos taken by Apollo astronauts<ref name="apolloclempix" /> while in orbit around the Moon show the landing sites.

''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' published a story in 2002 saying that European astronomers at the [[Very Large Telescope]] (VLT) would use it to view the landing sites. According to the article, Dr. [[Richard Martin West|Richard West]] said that his team would take "a high-resolution image of one of the Apollo landing sites." Marcus Allen, a conspiracist, answered that no photos of hardware on the Moon would convince him that human landings had happened.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1414144/Worlds-biggest-telescope-to-prove-Americans-really-walked-on-Moon.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1414144/Worlds-biggest-telescope-to-prove-Americans-really-walked-on-Moon.html |archive-date=January 11, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=August 26, 2009| title=World's biggest telescope to prove Americans really walked on Moon| date=November 24, 2002| first=Robert| last=Matthews| newspaper=The Daily Telegraph | location = London}}{{cbignore}}</ref> The telescope was used to image the Moon and provided a resolution of {{convert|130|meters}}, which was not good enough to resolve the {{convert|4.2|meter}} wide lunar landers or their long shadows.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/skills/how-to-find-apollo-11s-landing-site-on-the-moon/|title=How to find Apollo 11's landing site on the Moon|website=Sky at Night Magazine|publisher=BBC|date=July 17, 2019|access-date=March 15, 2020|last1=Lawrence|first1=Pete}}</ref>

The [[Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]] (JAXA) launched their [[SELENE]] Moon orbiter on September 14, 2007 ([[Japan Standard Time|JST]]), from [[Tanegashima Space Center]]. SELENE orbited the Moon at about {{convert|100|km|abbr=in}} altitude. In May 2008, JAXA reported detecting the "halo" generated by the Apollo 15 Lunar Module engine exhaust from a Terrain Camera image.<ref>{{cite press release |title=The "halo" area around Apollo 15 landing site observed by Terrain Camera on SELENE (KAGUYA) |date=May 20, 2009 |publisher=[[Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency]] |location=Chōfu, Tokyo |url=http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2008/05/20080520_kaguya_e.html |access-date=August 26, 2009 |archive-date=December 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212114843/http://www.jaxa.jp/press/2008/05/20080520_kaguya_e.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> A three-dimensional reconstructed photo also matched the terrain of an Apollo 15 photo taken from the surface.

On July 17, 2009, NASA released low-resolution engineering test photos of the Apollo 11, Apollo 14, Apollo 15, Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 landing sites that have been photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter as part of the process of starting its primary mission.<ref name="LRO1">{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html |title=LRO Sees Apollo Landing Sites |last1=Hautaluoma |first1=Grey |last2=Freeberg |first2=Andy |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |date=July 17, 2009 |publisher=NASA |access-date=August 14, 2009 |quote=NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, has returned its first imagery of the Apollo Moon landing sites. The pictures show the Apollo missions' lunar module descent stages sitting on the moon's surface, as long shadows from a low sun angle make the modules' locations evident. |archive-date=November 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091116012309/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/apollosites.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The photos show the descent stage of the landers from each mission on the Moon's surface. The photo of the Apollo 14 landing site also shows tracks made by an astronaut between a science experiment (ALSEP) and the lander.<ref name="LRO1" /> Photos of the Apollo 12 landing site were released by NASA on September 3, 2009.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20090903_apollo12.html |title=Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 |date=September 3, 2009 |editor-last=Garner |editor-first=Robert |publisher=NASA |access-date=May 2, 2013 |archive-date=September 5, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090905112600/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20090903_apollo12.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The ''Intrepid'' lander descent stage, experiment package ([[Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package#Apollo 12|ALSEP]]), Surveyor 3 spacecraft, and astronaut footpaths are all visible. While the [[Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter|LRO]] images have been enjoyed by the scientific community as a whole, they have not done anything to convince conspiracists that the landings happened.<ref name="lrohoaxbelievers">{{cite web |url=http://lunarlandinghoax.com/2009/09/10/a-hb-response-to-the-lro-photos/ |title=A HB Response To The LRO Photos |last=Antonia |date=September 10, 2009 |website=Lunarlandinghoax.com |publisher=Antares 14 Media |type=Blog |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091018041511/http://lunarlandinghoax.com/2009/09/10/a-hb-response-to-the-lro-photos/ |archive-date=October 18, 2009|access-date=April 27, 2013}}</ref>

On September 1, 2009, [[India]]'s lunar mission [[Chandrayaan-1]] took photos of the Apollo 15 landing site and tracks of the lunar rovers.<ref name="TOI article">{{cite news |title=Chandrayaan sends images of Apollo 15 landing |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Chandrayaan-sends-images-of-Apollo-15-landing/articleshow/4964829.cms |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811080929/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-09-02/india/28083351_1_chandrayaan-1-lunar-mission-lunar-reconnaissance-orbiter |url-status=live |archive-date=August 11, 2011 |work=[[The Times of India]] |publisher=[[The Times Group]] |location=New Delhi |date=September 2, 2009 |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Chandrayaan's moon findings: Water, rocks and traces of Apollo |url=http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3303481 |work=[[MSN]] India |agency=India Syndicate |publisher=[[Microsoft]] |location=Redmond, WA |date=October 22, 2009 |access-date=April 20, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140510225948/http://news.in.msn.com/national/article.aspx?cp-documentid=3303481 |archive-date=May 10, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The [[Indian Space Research Organisation]] launched their uncrewed lunar probe on September 8, 2008 (IST), from [[Satish Dhawan Space Centre]]. The photos were taken by a [[Hyperspectral imaging|hyperspectral camera]] fitted as part of the mission's image payload.<ref name="TOI article" />

China's second lunar probe, [[Chang'e 2]], which was launched in 2010, can photograph the lunar surface with a resolution of up to {{convert|7|m|ft|abbr=on}}. It spotted traces of the Apollo landings.<ref>{{cite news|title=China publishes high-resolution full moon map |editor-last=Lina |editor-first=Yang |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-02/06/c_131393210.htm |work=English.news.cn |publisher=[[Xinhua News Agency]] |location=Beijing |date=February 6, 2012 |access-date=April 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527201104/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sci/2012-02/06/c_131393210.htm |archive-date=May 27, 2013 }}</ref>

=== Moon rocks ===
{{Main|Moon rocks}}
[[File:Apollo 15 Genesis Rock.jpg|right|thumb|[[Genesis Rock]] brought back by Apollo 15 – older than any rocks on Earth]]
The Apollo program collected {{convert|838|lb|kg|abbr=on|order=flip}} of [[Moon rock]]s during the six crewed missions. Analyses by scientists worldwide all agree that these rocks came from the Moon{{Citation needed|date=October 2024}} – no published accounts in [[Peer review|peer-reviewed]] [[scientific journal]]s exist that dispute this claim. The Apollo samples are easily distinguishable from both [[meteorite]]s and Earth rocks<ref name="greatmoonhoax" /> in that they show a lack of [[mineral hydration|hydrous alteration]] products, they show evidence of having undergone impact events on an airless body, and they have unique geochemical traits. Furthermore, most are more than 200 million years older than the oldest Earth rocks. The Moon rocks collected by the Apollo program also share the same traits as Soviet samples.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Papike |first1=James J. |last2=Ryder |first2=Graham |last3=Shearer |first3=Charles K. |date=January 1998 |title=Lunar Samples |journal=[[Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry]] |volume=36 |issue=1 |pages=5.1–5.234 |publisher=[[Mineralogical Society of America]]|location=Washington, D.C. |isbn=978-0939950461}}</ref>

Conspiracists argue that [[Marshall Space Flight Center#Directors, 2000s and beyond|Marshall Space Flight Center Director]] [[Wernher von Braun]]'s trip to [[Antarctica]] in 1967 (about two years before the Apollo 11 launch) was to gather [[lunar meteorite]]s to be used as fake Moon rocks. Because von Braun was a former [[Schutzstaffel|SS]] officer (though one who had been detained by the [[Gestapo]]),<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.reformation.org/wernher-von-braun.html | title = Wernher von Braun in SS uniform | work = The Reformation Online | publisher = Bible Believers Press | access-date = October 18, 2006 | archive-date = September 23, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190923153153/http://www.reformation.org/wernher-von-braun.html | url-status = dead }} Source cited: [[Walter Dornberger|Dornberger, Walter]] ''V-2'' (1958) New York: Viking Press {{OCLC|255209058}}.</ref> the documentary film ''Did We Go?''<ref name="didwego" /> suggests that he could have been pressured to agree to the conspiracy to protect himself from recriminations over his past. NASA said that von Braun's mission was "to look into environmental and logistic factors that might relate to the planning of future space missions, and hardware."<ref>{{cite web | url = http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/yy/y1967.html | title = Marshall Highlights for 1967 | publisher = [[Marshall Space Flight Center]] History Office | access-date = July 24, 2006 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20140804170335/http://history.msfc.nasa.gov/yy/y1967.html | archive-date = August 4, 2014 | url-status = dead }} Originally "published in a news release issued in late 1967 by the Marshall Center Public Affairs Office."</ref>

It is now accepted by the scientific community that rocks have been blasted from both the [[Mars|Martian]] and lunar surface during [[impact crater|impact events]], and that some of these have landed on the Earth as [[Martian meteorite|meteorites]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Head |first1=James N. |last2=Melosh |first2=H. Jay |last3=Ivanov |first3=Boris A. |date=November 2002 |title=Martian Meteorite Launch: High-Speed Ejecta from Small Craters |journal=Science |volume=298 |pages=1752–1756 | doi=10.1126/science.1077483 |pmid=12424385 |issue=5599 |bibcode=2002Sci...298.1752H|s2cid=2969674 |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Great Interplanetary Rock Swap |author=Cooke, Bill |journal=Astronomy |volume=34 |issue=8 |year=2006 |pages=64–67 |location=Waukesha, WI |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |issn=0091-6358|bibcode=2006Ast....34h..64C }}</ref> However, the first Antarctic lunar meteorite was found in 1979, and its lunar origin was not recognized until 1982.<ref name="Korotev2005">{{cite journal | author = Korotev, Randy | title = Lunar geochemistry as told by lunar meteorites | journal = Chemie der Erde | volume= 65 | pages = 297–346 | year=2005 | doi = 10.1016/j.chemer.2005.07.001 | issue = 4|bibcode = 2005ChEG...65..297K }}</ref> Furthermore, lunar meteorites are so rare that it is unlikely that they could account for the {{convert|380|kg|abbr=on}} of Moon rocks that NASA gathered between 1969 and 1972. Only about {{convert|30|kg|abbr=on}} of lunar meteorites have been found on Earth thus far, despite private collectors and governmental agencies worldwide searching for more than 20 years.<ref name="Korotev2005" />

While the Apollo missions gathered {{convert|380|kg|abbr=on}} of Moon rocks, the Soviet [[Luna 16]], [[Luna 20]] and [[Luna 24]] robots gathered only {{convert|326|g|lk=out|abbr=on}} combined (that is, less than one-thousandth as much). Indeed, current plans for a Martian sample return would only gather about {{convert|500|g|abbr=on}} of soil,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Exploration/Mars_Sample_Return2 |title=Mars Sample Return |publisher=[[European Space Agency]]}}</ref> and a recently proposed [[South Pole-Aitken basin]] robot mission would only gather about {{convert|1|kg|abbr=on}} of Moon rock.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Lunar South Pole-Aitken Sample Return (2002) |url=https://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/lunar-south-pole-aitken-sample-return-2002/ |last=Portree |first=David S. F. |date=November 7, 2012 |magazine=Wired |publisher=Condé Nast Publications |location=New York |access-date=May 2, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Duke |first=Michael B. |date=June 2003 |title=Sample return from the lunar South Pole-Aitken Basin |journal=[[Advances in Space Research]] |volume=31 |issue=11 |pages=2347–2352 |location=Netherlands |publisher=[[Elsevier]] |bibcode=2003AdSpR..31.2347D |doi=10.1016/S0273-1177(03)00539-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/moon99/pdf/8017.pdf |title=Sample Return Mission to the South Pole Aitken Basin |last1=Duke |first1=M. B. |last2=Clark |first2=B. C. |last3=Gamber |first3=T. |last4=Lucey |first4=P. G. |last5=Ryder |first5=G. |last6=Taylor |first6=G. J. |date=September 24, 1999 |access-date=May 2, 2013 |display-authors=3}} Paper presented at the "[http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/moon99/moon99.3rd.html New Views of the Moon II: Understanding the Moon Through the Integration of Diverse Datasets]" workshop held on September 22–24, 1999, in Flagstaff, AZ. The workshop's [http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/moon99/pdf/program.pdf preliminary program] (PDF).</ref>

On the makeup of the Moon rocks, Kaysing asked: "Why was there never a mention of gold, silver, diamonds or other precious metals on the moon? Wasn't this a viable consideration? Why was this fact never dicussed [''sic''] in the press or by the astronauts?"<ref>[[#Kaysing|Kaysing 2002]], p. 8</ref>

=== Missions tracked by independent parties ===
{{Main|Third-party evidence for Apollo Moon landings#Apollo missions tracked by independent parties|l1=Apollo missions tracked by independent parties}}
Aside from NASA, a number of groups and individuals tracked the Apollo missions as they happened. On later missions, NASA released information to the public explaining where and when the spacecraft could be sighted. Their flight paths were tracked using radar and they were sighted and photographed using telescopes. Also, radio transmissions between the astronauts on the surface and in orbit were independently recorded.

=== Retroreflectors ===
[[File:Apollo 11 Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment.jpg|right|thumb|Apollo 11 retroreflector, still with its protective cover]]

The presence of [[retroreflectors]] (mirrors used as targets for Earth-based tracking lasers) from the [[Lunar Laser Ranging experiment|Laser Ranging Retroreflector Experiment]] (LRRR) is evidence that there were landings.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Dorminey |first=Bruce |date=March 2011 |title=Secrets beneath the Moon's surface |journal=Astronomy |pages=24–29 |location=Waukesha, WI |publisher=Kalmbach Publishing |issn=0091-6358}}</ref> [[Lick Observatory]] attempted to detect from Apollo 11's retroreflector while Armstrong and Aldrin were still on the Moon but did not succeed until August 1, 1969.<ref>[[#Hansen|Hansen 2005]], p. 515</ref> The Apollo 14 astronauts deployed a retroreflector on February 5, 1971, and [[McDonald Observatory]] detected it the same day. The Apollo 15 retroreflector was deployed on July 31, 1971, and was detected by McDonald Observatory within a few days.<ref>{{cite journal |author1=Bender, P. L. |author2=Currie, D. G. |author3=Dicke, R. H. |author4=Eckhardt, D. H. |author5=Faller, J. E. |author6=Kaula, W. M. |author7=Mullholland, J. D. |author8=Plotkin, H. H. |author9=Silverberg, E. C. |author10=Wilkinson, D. T. |author11=Williams, J. G. |author12=Alley, C. O. |date=October 19, 1973 |title=The Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=182 |issue=4109 |pmid=17749298 |bibcode=1973Sci...182..229B |doi=10.1126/science.182.4109.229 |pages=229–238 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=[[American Association for the Advancement of Science]] |s2cid=32027563 |access-date=April 27, 2013 |url=http://www.physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/doc/Bender.pdf |display-authors=3}}</ref> Smaller retroreflectors were also put on the Moon by the Russians; they were attached to the uncrewed lunar rovers [[Lunokhod 1]] and [[Lunokhod 2]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html |title=NASA's LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals to Russian Rover Mirror |last1=Jones |first1=Nancy |last2=McDonald |first2=Kim |editor-last=Jenner |editor-first=Lynn |date=April 26, 2010 |publisher=NASA |id=Goddard Release No. 10-038 |access-date=September 24, 2012 |archive-date=August 13, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813003501/http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>