Did Man Really Land on the Moon?

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy gave his commitment to the lunar program, Project Apollo, pledging that America would be the first nation to land a man on the moon and return him safely. And in 1962, Kennedy delivered his iconic “we choose to go to the moon” speech at Rice University,1 further declaring that America would put boots on the lunar surface by the end of the decade—a defining moment in American history.

This declaration happened shortly after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin took flight to be the first man in space, which also helped fuel (pun intended) the American space program to get to the moon. This was also around the height of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, and this bold initiative was seen as the best opportunity to establish technological superiority. Simply put, the space race between the Americans and the Soviets was really a race to the moon, and President Kennedy wanted to get there first—no matter the cost.

Although the cost certainly was substantial, there were still many Americans that generally supported2 the sizable effort to accomplish this monumental mission—which was finally realized on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin became the first humans to step foot on another surface in space (Michael Collins was the command module pilot).

Even today, for the most part, people normally don’t doubt that Apollo astronauts landed on the moon.

Around the time immediately after Apollo 11, there were very few (if any) who sincerely doubted this historic moment in human history. And even today, for the most part, people normally don’t doubt that Apollo astronauts landed on the moon. So, you might be wondering, why bother writing an article to address this question? After all, pretty much everyone in the world knows the Apollo missions really did happen . . . right? Unfortunately, no.

Recently, especially over the last year or so, I’ve been meeting more and more people—including many Christians at the Creation Museum and Ark Encounter—who actively promote this moon-landing conspiracy, saying to me something like, “Humans have never set foot on the moon’s surface”; “There’s evidence that ‘proves’ the Apollo missions didn’t actually happen”; “The moon landings were faked by NASA . . . .” I don’t spend time on social media, but I’ve heard that these moon-landing conspiracies are rampant on all the various platforms, which means many people have also likely heard these claims.

Here’s my concern: there seems to be an increasing number of Christians who have bought into this moon-landing conspiracy—and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. (In fact, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if at least one moon-landing denier existed in just about every large church in America today!) As Christians, it’s important we always model, promote, and speak the truth—not spreading lies nor slander about others (we’ll circle back to this later). And that’s why I’m motivated to put together this article, especially addressing Christians.

Where Did This Come From?

You might be wondering, where did all this interest in moon-landing conspiracies even come from? Is this a novel thing? Not at all. In fact, these conspiracy theories have persisted for decades, starting at least around the end of the Apollo days in the 1970s. Reasons for these conspiracies typically vary (we’ll break down some of the specific claims later), but for the most part, I believe a lot of it stemmed from a lack of trust in the US government.

Of course, this is understandable, given all the opposition to the Vietnam War (1955–1975) plus the infamous Watergate scandal that happened in 1972.3 These two events caused Americans around that time to start doubting the government’s trustworthiness. And as a result, some began thinking if the government lied about those things, then they also could have lied about the moon landings.

On top of that, over the last few decades, there have been quite a number of books, TV broadcasts, and (so-called) documentary films,4 along with the rise of the internet (and social media, of course), that have really fueled these conspiracy theories.5 Overall, the producers of these media have been successful in deceiving a whole lot of people into believing their supposed “evidence” that confirms the moon landing was a hoax, thus gaining more followers over the years.

What’s the Motivation for Denying the Moon Landings?

Why are so many people drawn by these kinds of bizarre conspiracies?

Why are so many people drawn by these kinds of bizarre conspiracies? Again, I believe that at least part of the reason comes from a lack of trust in government. But actually, if we take a step back and look at the big picture, people in general seem to be naturally attracted to conspiracy theories, regardless of their actual feelings toward government agencies, with “itching ears” that just can’t seem to get enough of the latest conspiracies floating around (we’ll circle back and discuss the underlying reasons in a moment).

To be fair, I would say for the most part, people normally just chat about these conspiracies in casual conversation with others, not really taking them too seriously (i.e., just something to talk about to pass the time). However, that’s not always the case, with some groups today who take a very serious interest in some of these so-called “vast” conspiracy theories.

A prime example is the modern flat-earth movement—a widespread conspiracy that sadly continues to gather more followers. And yes, you read that correctly. There are, in fact, quite a large number of people today who seriously believe that the earth is not a globe but rather an immovable, stationary plane, surrounded by a solid hemispherical dome (kind of like a snow globe). And unfortunately, many Bible-believing Christians have also been fooled by this deceptive movement.6

It’s beyond the scope of this short article to fully explain (and debunk) the flat-earth myth. But if you’d like to learn more about the history behind this movement—along with the scientific and biblical refutation of it—check out Dr. Danny Faulkner’s book Falling Flat.7 You can also read the numerous web articles available on the Answers in Genesis website (simply type flat earth in the search bar).

And speaking of the flat-earth fairy tale, naturally, flat-earthers also deny the moon landings ever happened. In fact, they say humans have never been to space (believing space travel is impossible) and assert that NASA has “lied” about every space mission! And so, the motivation for many to believe the moon landing was a hoax is rooted in their firmly held flat-earth beliefs.

However, in my experience, there are still many moon-landing deniers who are not flat-earthers. In fact, to my surprise, there are several moon-landing deniers I’ve interacted with who believe the earth is a globe and that we really have been to space (such as to the International Space Station) but oddly still do not believe that man actually landed on the moon during the Apollo days.

What’s the Underlying Cause?

So let’s go back to the question: what really motivates people to buy into conspiracy theories anyway? What’s the underlying cause? I believe much of it is due to the lure of so-called “secret” knowledge (i.e., gnosticism8). Early in church history, the church had to deal with a heretical group called the “gnostics” (those who promoted forms of “Christian” gnosticism), which was arguably one of the most dangerous heresies/threats to the early church that had effectively swept through the Roman world in the first century (the Apostle John directly addressed this heresy in his epistles, for instance).

In short, the gnostics asserted two main (unbiblical) beliefs. The first assertion is that matter is inherently “evil” and spirit is inherently “good” (i.e., dualism in regards to matter and spirit). The second assertion is that there exists some kind of “higher truth” known only to a certain few, claiming to possess a “higher” knowledge—not from the Bible but rather from some mystical “higher” plane.9

It should be blatantly obvious that the principles of gnosticism are in contradiction to Christianity. And yet, I believe that’s exactly what’s at work here! That is, the Christians who buy into these kinds of conspiracy theories seem to “thirst” for some form of “secret” knowledge that can possibly provide a shortcut to higher spirituality—thus essentially dismissing the sufficiency of Scripture.

Another way to put it, many of these people seem to pride themselves on having found this “secret” knowledge and want you to listen to them so you can be impressed and influenced by their special knowledge. As an analogy, if you remember back to your childhood days, it’s like the friend who always bragged, “I know something you don’t know!”

At the heart of the problem with this attraction to “secret” knowledge is simply this: pride.

Did you catch it? At the heart of the problem with this attraction to “secret” knowledge is simply this: pride. I personally know quite a few people who fall into this category, deriving much of their “self-pride” or “self-worth” by having the sense or ability to supposedly discover things most people don’t know. Consequently, their pride effectively keeps them trapped in a fictional reality of make-believe ideas.

I’ve also noticed that once people are immersed deep enough in one of these strange conspiracies, it’s nearly impossible to pull them out. No matter how many indisputable facts you present to them, they hastily dismiss it all and remain unconvinced. Why? Because of their stubborn pride and deeply held worldview (reinterpreting the evidence based on their presuppositions).

Popular “Evidences” for the Moon-Landing Conspiracy

That said, we’ll now take a look at some of the popular “evidence” that supposedly “proves” man didn’t land on the moon. Again, those who are totally entrenched in this conspiracy will likely not be swayed by these straightforward explanations. But for those (maybe you?) who are at least open to reconsidering their position, or for those “on the fence” and honestly looking for answers, I pray this section will be of benefit to you.

Also note, this section is not meant to be an exhaustive list by any means (i.e., you’ll likely encounter other moon-landing conspiracy claims out there). However, there are a number of resources you can easily find online that do a thorough job of giving detailed rebuttals to just about all the popular moon-landing hoax claims out there, so it’s not worth repeating that work in this short article.

Rather, I’ll simply cover the top five “evidences” (in order) that I’ve commonly heard from moon-landing deniers. Of course, it’s essential to examine these claims critically, but what you’ll notice is that all these claims are actually pretty easy to debunk, requiring very little critical examination (in fact, this is the case with every moon-landing conspiracy claim that I’ve ever seen).

Evidence #1: The US flag “waving in the wind”

Ironically, this claim is by far the most common I’ve heard—and yet probably the easiest one to debunk! In a nutshell, since there’s no atmosphere on the moon, and thus no wind, moon-landing deniers point out that the flag should not be “waving” in photos (like the one above).

But if you just look closely at those images, focusing on the top edge of the flag, you can easily see a horizontal bar extended along the top of the flag (this was done to make the flag visibly stand out, rather than letting it limply hang down). And so, because of this setup, it appears to be waving in the wind. The “waving” was simply due to vibrations induced by the astronauts when they twisted the pole into the lunar soil. And once the astronauts stopped moving the pole, the flag stopped moving as well.10

It’s actually quite sad that people decide to promote this ridiculous claim. The photo of Aldrin proudly saluting the US flag on the moon, seeing the Stars and Stripes on lunar surface, is undoubtedly one of the most iconic images of the historic Apollo 11 mission and a crowning moment in American history.

Evidence #2: Missing stars in photos

The second most common claim I hear usually goes something like this: “Why are there no stars in the photos taken on the moon’s surface? Since there’s no atmosphere to distort the image, shouldn’t the sky be totally filled with stars?” Many times, moon-landing deniers also assert that NASA could not have “faked” the full view of the lunar sky, so they decided not to include any stars in the images.

This claim is another easy one to debunk. If you’re a photographer, then you probably already know the answer! Anyone who’s taken pictures of the stars when the bright moon is out knows that you need to take a very long exposure. In other words, the moon is overexposed, thus causing part of the night sky to get washed out. So, to take photos of a very bright scene, the camera needs a fast shutter speed and very small aperture.

If you look again at those images, you’ll quickly notice that the Apollo astronauts were on the lunar surface during the daytime on the moon—which means everything on the surface of the moon was brightly lit by the sun. Therefore, faint objects like stars were simply too dim to register on film. Plus, the astronauts were focused on capturing the lunar landscape, not the stars. If they wanted to capture the stars from the surface during the lunar daytime, then they would’ve needed a very long exposure time (which would have just been a waste of film).

Evidence #3: Shadows in photos are not parallel

This next claim (which, in my opinion, is the silliest claim of them all) is one that I normally hear immediately following the last one. In short, the claim here is that if the sun were the only light source, then the shadows should be parallel. And from some of the photos taken on the lunar surface (like the one above) you can see that the shadows are at different angles, thus implying that the whole scene was “staged” in a studio, with various light sources making these shadow angles.

This is a baseless claim because it’s something you can test right now by yourself! Simply go outside when the sun is low and shadows will be the longest to take pictures of the surrounding landscape. You’ll easily see this effect of the shadows not appearing parallel (just like in the Apollo images).

In case you’re wondering why this happens, it’s basically a result of trying to reduce three dimensions onto a two-dimensional plane, commonly referred to as linear or geometric perspective. (In fact, take a look at some of the famous paintings in history, and you’ll see that artists have been using this technique for centuries!)

Evidence #4: Astronauts could not have survived the Van Allen radiation belts

I’ve not heard this claim as much as the last few, but it definitely still needs to be addressed. If you are unfamiliar, the Van Allen11 radiation belts that surround the earth are basically zones of intense radiation, made up of fast-moving charged particles trapped by the earth’s magnetic field, with an inner belt (somewhere around 1,000 to 8,000 miles above the earth) and an outer belt (somewhere around 12,000 to 25,000 miles above the earth). So, in a nutshell, the claim goes like this: “There’s no way the Apollo astronauts could’ve safely traveled through the radiation belts unharmed. The high amount of radiation would’ve surely killed them.”

Of all the supposed claims, this one actually is somewhat of a valid concern. Outside of the protection from the earth’s atmosphere, outer space is full of radiation that can harm us. And so, beyond low earth orbit, space radiation truly does add considerable risk to the health of astronauts, possibly affecting their central nervous system, causing degenerative diseases and even increased risk for cancer.

But is that risk actually lethal to them? The short answer is no. Why? First, the spacecraft trajectories to the moon were purposely designed to avoid maximum exposure by going through the least dangerous part of the inner belt, and they were able to completely avoid the outer belt by simply going around it. Second, the astronauts passed through the radiation very fast, traveling around 25,000 mph (~40,000 kph). Plus, the metal structure of the spacecraft provided some protection as well.12

As an analogy, if you want to run across a firepit (I don’t recommend you do!) without getting seriously burnt, you obviously have to cross as quickly as possible, not lingering near the middle of the fire. In the same way, the Apollo spacecraft went through the Van Allen radiation belt very quickly, thus minimizing the level of exposure to the astronauts (these men also considered this exposure to be an acceptable risk).

Evidence #5: NASA faked the moon landing to beat the Soviets

This one cracks me up because, out of all the supposed “proofs” for the moon-landing hoax, this one doesn’t have a single shred of actual evidence! Rather, it’s purely based on speculative conjecture from moon-landing deniers who say (with a straight face!) to me something like, “NASA fell behind schedule, and they feared not fulfilling their commitment to Kennedy of beating the Soviets to the moon by the end of the decade, so NASA decided to fake the moon landing to accomplish that goal.”

Again, aside from the fact that there’s no evidence for this claim at all, there’s still one major problem with this supposed story: the Soviets were convinced that the US successfully made it to the moon and back! They closely monitored everything and were able to intercept all the same radio transmissions and telemetry. So, if NASA had faked the moon landing, the Soviets would’ve easily found out.

And not to mention this effort would’ve required hundreds (if not thousands) of people13 being sworn to absolute secrecy and in close cooperation—across multiple organizations—to actually pull it off! That sort of claim demands an extremely high level of evidence to have any credibility. Because, simply put, humans are generally very bad at keeping secrets—especially in government (e.g., Watergate)—and the problem gets exponentially worse the more people are involved in the conspiracy.

In fact, contrary to what all these moon-landing deniers believe, the government is just not that good at running operations (ever been to a DMV?). In general, especially compared to the private sector, the government is very inefficient and disorganized when it comes to managing resources and staying on schedule for projects. (After working in both the government and private sector while in the aerospace industry for many years, I can certainly attest to this reality!) So it’s completely irrational to somehow believe that the government is even capable of pulling off that kind of conspiracy! In other words, trying to “fake” the moon landing just one time (let alone six times!) would’ve been substantially more difficult and complicated than actually just landing on the moon.

As a bonus, moon-landing deniers will also sometimes ask me why we haven’t returned to the moon after Apollo, thus implying that we never went to the moon in the first place. Aside from the fallacious reasoning in this argument (committing a logical fallacy called appeal to ignorance), and apart from the fact that NASA’s Artemis14 missions are planning to do just that in the near future, the simple answer is that the US changed their priorities. By the early 1970s, interest in the space program began to quickly fade, which led to the Apollo program coming to a close with Apollo 17 (Apollo 18 & 19 were canceled to save money and to help fund the Vietnam War). Instead, NASA turned its attention toward the Space Shuttle program and later to the International Space Station (ISS).

Yes, I Know, There Are Other Supposed Evidences . . .

Of course, we could keep going with more supposed “evidences” pushed by moon-landing deniers who are trying to justify their hoax story. But again, it’s beyond the scope of this short article and not worth reproducing the work already done by other groups who have thoroughly refuted these conspiracy theories. But if you do decide to investigate more of them, you’ll quickly notice for yourself how easy it is to debunk just about all of them with only a little bit of critical thinking.

I should also quickly mention that there are a quite a few memes posted on the internet by moon-landing deniers (usually with a caption like, “Who took the picture?”) that you might run across, trying to “expose” NASA’s supposed blunders at “faking” the lunar module descent photos. Again, from just a small amount of careful examination, it’s easy to see that in many cases they’re simply photos of the lunar module taken from the command module.

However, be aware that there are also some cases where the original photos have been deliberately altered, where the photos are not the original (unaltered) ones, but rather a number of photos have been faked by the moon-landing deniers—to try to “prove” that NASA faked the moon-landing photos. (Yes, you read that correctly!) Why the deception? I can’t say for certain, but my guess is that it’s done as a joke/prank, with the goal of trying to dupe people into believing their false narrative that NASA is an “evil agency” that’s lying to you!15 And thus, sadly, people end up buying the lie that “NASA lies” as a result of listening to liars telling them that NASA lies . . . (clear as mud, right?)

Furthermore, you’ll also find in your search an overwhelming amount of data (images, videos, lunar samples, etc.) to confirm that these brave men surely did set foot on the moon. For instance, one of my favorite conclusive (“slam dunk”) scientific evidences that I like to point to (pun intended) is the fact that scientists point lasers at the retroreflectors—devices that reflect laser beams sent from the earth, which allows scientists to accurately measure and keep track of the moon’s distance—that were left on the lunar surface by the Apollo astronauts!16

But again, unfortunately, someone who is fully committed to the moon-landing hoax story will not be persuaded by these straightforward arguments. In my experience, no matter how much you reason with these people, they almost always come up with some sort of “rescuing device” to explain away the evidence in an attempt to save their false worldview (again, due to their presuppositions).

The Biblical Standard for Establishing This Matter

Nonetheless, there is a much more clear-cut and biblical method to fully debunking the moon-landing conspiracy that should (hopefully) convince most Christians. The Bible repeatedly states that two or three witnesses are required as the standard to establish a matter (e.g., Deuteronomy 19:15; Matthew 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1; 1 Timothy 5:19).

Why is that important? Because there were several born-again Christians who worked on the Apollo program—including a few of the astronauts who physically walked on the moon! Most notably, Charlie Duke and Jim Irwin (two Christians who were Apollo astronauts) both have written books and shared their testimonies publicly many times. Without a doubt, these two solid Christian brothers certainly count as reliable witnesses. For instance, here’s what Charlie wrote:17

I was the lunar module pilot on the Apollo 16 mission to the moon. We launched from KSC (Kennedy Space Center) in Florida on April 16, 1972. We left earth orbit for our three-day trip to the moon about three hours later. As we maneuvered our spacecraft to dock with our lunar module, the earth came into view about 20,000 miles away. It was an awesome sight. As you can see in the photo, it is obviously a sphere and not a flat circle. As we journeyed to the moon, we would look out our windows and see a smaller earth, and each time we would see different landmasses, so it was obviously rotating on its axis.

Some people are questioning the fact that we landed on the moon, alleging that it is a big hoax. Well, we did land on the moon six times, and the evidences are overwhelming. If we faked the landing, why did we fake it six times? One needs only to look at the photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from my mission. The photos of our landing site shows the descent stage, the lunar rover, the experiments package, and the tracks we left on the moon. Every landing site has similar evidence. There are many other proofs that conclusively show that Apollo actually landed on the moon six times.

NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

I couldn’t have said it better myself! Of course, we could keep going with more quotes from other Christians who worked on the Apollo program. In fact, one of the flight controllers at NASA mission control during the Apollo moon landings, a Christian named Robert Nance, wrote a whole book describing his experience (titled, It’s Not Rocket Science: It’s All About Faith). Did Robert Nance just make up the whole thing? I don’t think so.

Christians who claim that “NASA faked the moon landings and we’ve never set foot on the moon” are accusing several Christian brothers of lying about one of the biggest things that has ever happened to them.

But here’s the point: Christians who claim that “NASA faked the moon landings and we’ve never set foot on the moon” are accusing several Christian brothers of lying about one of the biggest things that has ever happened to them. In fact, whether they realize it or not, these Christian moon-landing deniers are actually slandering astronauts like Charlie Duke and Jim Irwin by calling them liars. If you’re in that camp, are you ready to make these false accusations against your brothers?

Bluntly put, Christians who promote this inane moon-landing conspiracy need to repent for their lying lips, bearing false witness, and slandering their fellow brothers in Christ. In case you don’t know your Bible, here are just a handful of Bible verses that warn against these sinful behaviors:

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)

Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. (Psalm 34:13–14)

Whoever slanders his neighbor secretly I will destroy. Whoever has a haughty look and an arrogant heart I will not endure. No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who utters lies shall continue before my eyes. (Psalm 101:5, 7)

There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (Proverbs 6:16–19)

Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence, but a false witness utters deceit. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. (Proverbs 12:17, 22)

A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. (Proverbs 25:18)

I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned. (Matthew 12:36–37)

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. (James 4:11)

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. (1 Peter 2:1)

Conclusion

To conclude, the moon landings were not a hoax, the Apollo missions actually did happen, and men really did put boots on the lunar surface and returned home safely. I despise this conspiracy theory (in case you haven’t noticed!) because it’s not only baseless nonsense that undermines one of the greatest achievements in American history—but more importantly, it means falsely accusing Christian brothers of lying about one of the most significant moments in their lives. Yet sadly, I predict the ones who have dug deep into this conspiracy will likely only dig deeper, refusing to turn away from their falsehood, even after seeing everything in this short article that refutes their make-believe ideas.

As Christians, we must always strive to model our Lord by valuing and speaking truth—which means not spreading lies and slander against others.

Again, as Christians, we must always strive to model our Lord by valuing and speaking truth—which means not spreading lies and slander against others. So, if you call yourself a Christian and have previously promoted this moon-landing hoax story, I pray you’ve confessed and turned away from this sinfulness. Remember, God’s Word says he will judge us for every word we speak.

And speaking of God’s Word—the true history book of the universe—in Genesis 1, it says the moon was made on day four of creation week, as the “lesser light” to rule the night. It wasn’t made over “millions of years” by naturalistic processes—it was spoken into existence by our powerful God! So, by exploring the moon, we’re exploring God’s creation in the heavens—learning more about his amazing handiwork.

Thus, Christians need to stop dabbling in these foolish moon-landing conspiracies and instead start being excited for possible opportunities to explore God’s creation in the heavens that declare his glory (Psalm 19:1). The Apollo program gave us that incredible opportunity! Let’s pray we will have many more future opportunities to explore and discover more about the lesser light that rules the night.