Editing Moon landing conspiracy theories (section)

=== Environment ===
1. The astronauts could not have survived the trip because of exposure to radiation from the [[Van Allen radiation belt]] and galactic ambient radiation (see [[Acute radiation syndrome|radiation poisoning]] and [[health threat from cosmic rays]]). Some conspiracists have suggested that [[Starfish Prime]] (a [[High-altitude nuclear explosion|high-altitude nuclear test]] in 1962) formed another intense layer on the Van Allen belt.<ref name="envrad"/>

:* ''There are two main Van Allen belts – the inner belt and the outer belt – and a transient third belt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/28feb_thirdbelt/ |title=Van Allen Probes Discover a New Radiation Belt |work=Science@NASA |publisher=NASA |date=February 28, 2013 |editor-last=Phillips |editor-first=Tony |access-date=May 8, 2013 |archive-date=December 7, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207154753/https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/28feb_thirdbelt/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> The inner belt is the more dangerous one, containing energetic protons. The outer one has less-dangerous low-energy electrons ([[Beta particle]]s).<ref name="vanallenbelts">{{cite web |url=http://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/tour/AAvan.html |title=The Van Allen Belts |website=IMAGE Science Center |publisher=NASA |access-date=May 6, 2013 |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220163500/https://image.gsfc.nasa.gov/poetry/tour/AAvan.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="woods109">[[#Woods|Woods 2008]], p. 109</ref> The Apollo spacecraft passed through the inner belt in a matter of minutes and the outer belt in about {{frac|1|1|2}} hours.<ref name="woods109" /> The astronauts were shielded from the ionizing radiation by the aluminum hulls of the spacecraft.<ref name="woods109" /><ref name="plait162">[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], p. 162</ref> Furthermore, the orbital transfer trajectory from Earth to the Moon through the belts was chosen to lessen radiation exposure.<ref name="plait162" /> Even [[James Van Allen]], the discoverer of the Van Allen belt, rebutted the claims that radiation levels were too harmful for the Apollo missions.<ref name="envrad">{{cite web|url=http://www.clavius.org/envrad.html |title=Clavius: Environment – radiation and the van allen belts |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=September 8, 2009}}</ref> [[Phil Plait]] cited an average dose of less than 1&nbsp;[[Röntgen equivalent man|rem]] (10&nbsp;[[Sievert|mSv]]), which is equivalent to the ambient radiation received by living at sea level for three years.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 160–162</ref> The total radiation received on the trip was about the same as allowed for workers in the nuclear energy field for a year''<ref name="woods109" /><ref>{{cite web |url=http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/s2ch3.htm |title=Radiation Protection and Instrumentation |last=Bailey |first=J. Vernon |year=1975 |publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center |id=NASA SP-368 |access-date=May 17, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515020144/http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/S2ch3.htm |archive-date=May 15, 2013}} Section II, Chapter 3, of NASA SP-368, [https://history.nasa.gov/SP-368/sp368.htm ''Biomedical Results of Apollo'']. See "[http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/Resize-jpg/ts2c3-2.jpg Table 2] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130221125347/http://lsda.jsc.nasa.gov/books/apollo/Resize-jpg/ts2c3-2.jpg |date=February 21, 2013 }}: Average Radiation Doses of the Flight Crews for the Apollo Missions."</ref> ''and not much more than what Space Shuttle astronauts received.''<ref name="vanallenbelts" />

2. Film in the cameras would have been fogged by this radiation.

:* ''The film was kept in metal containers that stopped radiation from fogging the emulsion.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 162–163</ref> Furthermore, film was not fogged in lunar probes such as the [[Lunar Orbiter program|Lunar Orbiter]] and [[Luna 3]] (which used on-board film development processes).''

3. The Moon's surface during the daytime is so hot that camera film would have melted.

:* ''There is no atmosphere to efficiently bind lunar surface heat to devices that are not in direct contact with it. In a vacuum, only radiation remains as a heat transfer mechanism. The physics of radiative heat transfer are thoroughly understood, and the proper use of passive optical coatings and paints was enough to control the temperature of the film within the cameras; Lunar Module temperatures were controlled with similar coatings that gave them a gold color. The Moon's surface does get very hot at lunar noon, but every Apollo landing was made shortly after lunar sunrise at the landing site; the [[Lunar day|Moon's day]] is about {{frac|29|1|2}} Earth days long, meaning that one Moon day (dawn to dusk) lasts nearly fifteen Earth days. During the longer stays, the astronauts did notice increased cooling loads on their spacesuits as the sun and surface temperature continued to rise, but the effect was easily countered by the passive and active cooling systems.<ref>[[#Plait|Plait 2002]], pp. 165–167</ref> The film was not in direct sunlight, so it was not overheated.''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.clavius.org/envheat.html |title=Clavius: Environment – heat |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=November 25, 2008}}</ref>

4. The Apollo 16 crew could not have survived a big [[solar flare]] firing out when they were on their way to the Moon.

:* ''No large solar flare occurred during the flight of Apollo 16. There were large solar flares in August 1972, after Apollo 16 returned to Earth and before the flight of [[Apollo 17]].''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/27jan_solarflares/ |title=Sickening Solar Flares |last=Phillips |first=Tony |date=January 27, 2005 |work=Science@NASA |publisher=NASA |access-date=November 25, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615021549/http://science1.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/27jan_solarflares/ |archive-date=June 15, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Predicting Solar Eruptions |first=Selby |last=Cull |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3422566.html?page=1&c=y |work=News from Sky & Telescope |publisher=Sky Publishing |date=July 12, 2006 |access-date=November 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120829171703/http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/3422566.html?page=1&c=y |archive-date=August 29, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

5. The [[Lunar Flag Assembly|flag]] placed on the surface by the astronauts fluttered despite there being no wind on the Moon. This suggests that it was filmed on Earth and a breeze caused it to flutter. Sibrel said that it may have been caused by indoor fans used to cool the astronauts, since their spacesuit cooling systems would have been too heavy on Earth.

:* ''The flag was fastened to an ''Г-''shaped rod (see [[Lunar Flag Assembly]]) so that it did not hang down. It only seemed to flutter when the astronauts were moving it into position. Without air drag, these movements caused the free corner of the flag to swing like a pendulum for some time. It was rippled because it had been folded during storage, and the ripples could be mistaken for movement in a still photo. Videos show that, when the astronauts let go of the flagpole, it vibrates briefly but then remains still''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.clavius.org/envflutter.html |title=Clavius: Environment: fluttering flags |last=Windley |first=Jay |website=Moon Base Clavius |publisher=Clavius.org |access-date=April 20, 2013}}</ref><ref>[[#Harrison|Harrison 2012]], p. 97</ref><ref>[[#McAdams|McAdams 2011]], p. 132</ref>
:* This theory was further debunked on the ''MythBusters'' episode "NASA Moon Landing".

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|Image:AldrinFlag1a.jpeg|Cropped photo of Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag. The fingers of Aldrin's right hand can be seen behind his helmet.|Image:AldrinFlag2a.jpeg|Cropped photo taken a few seconds later. Buzz Aldrin's hand is down, head turned toward the camera; the flag is unchanged.
|Image:AldrinFlag-animation.gif|Animation of the two photos, showing that Armstrong's camera moved between exposures, but the flag is not waving.}}

6. Footprints in the [[Moondust]] are unexpectedly well preserved, despite the lack of moisture.

:* ''Moondust has not been weathered like the sand on Earth, and it has sharp edges. This allows the dust particles to stick together and hold their shape in the vacuum. The astronauts likened it to "talcum powder or wet sand".''<ref name="whomourns" />
:* This theory was further debunked on the ''MythBusters'' episode "NASA Moon Landing".

7. The alleged Moon landings used either a sound stage or were filmed outside in a remote desert with the astronauts either using harnesses or slow-motion photography to make it look like they were on the Moon.

:* ''The [[HBO]] miniseries "[[From the Earth to the Moon (miniseries)|From the Earth to the Moon]]" used the sound-stage and harness setup, as did a scene from the movie "[[Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13]]". It is clearly seen from those films that, when dust rose, it did not quickly settle; some dust briefly formed clouds. In the film footage from the Apollo missions, dust kicked up by the astronauts' boots and the wheels of the [[Lunar Roving Vehicle]]s rose quite high due to the lower lunar gravity, and it settled quickly to the ground in an uninterrupted parabolic arc since there was no air to suspend it. Even if there had been a sound stage for hoax Moon landings that had the air pumped out, the dust would have reached nowhere near the height and trajectory as in the Apollo film footage because of Earth's greater gravity.''

:* ''During the Apollo 15 mission, [[David Scott]] did an experiment by dropping a hammer and a falcon feather at the same time. Both fell at the same rate and hit the ground at the same time. This proved that he was in a vacuum.''<ref>{{Cite APOD |title=Hammer Versus Feather on the Moon |date=November 1, 2011 |access-date=April 20, 2013}} Source for video: {{YouTube|id=4mTsrRZEMwA|title="The Hammer and the Feather"}}</ref>

:* ''If the landings were filmed outside in a desert, heat waves would be present on the surface in mission videos, but no such heat waves exist in the footage. If the landings were filmed in a sound stage, several anomalies would occur, including a lack of parallax, and an increase or decrease in the size of the backdrop if the camera moved. Footage was filmed while the rover was in motion, and yet no evidence is present of any change in the size of the background.''

:* This theory was further debunked on the ''MythBusters'' episode "NASA Moon Landing".

{{Gallery
|title=
|align=center
|width=200
|File:Apollo 15 feather and hammer drop.ogv|David Scott drops a hammer and feather on the Moon.
}}