Independent evidence for Apollo Moon landings

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Independent evidence for Apollo Moon landings, which this article defines as observations, analyses and statements about the various missions that did not originate with NASA,[citation needed] has been gathered by a wide range of investigators and observers. It is mainly presented as rebuttal to the Apollo Moon Landing hoax accusations.

Contents

[edit] Definition of independent evidence

The independent status of the items below is subject to debate. By a strict definition, evidence might be deemed "independent" if it did not originate from (1) NASA, (2) any of NASA's subcontractors, (3) any of the scientists or engineers that have worked for, or have been funded by, NASA, (4) any US government employee, and (5) any person or organization that has benefited from a collaboration with NASA or a US government agency.[citation needed] Less strict interpretations are, of course, possible and have been applied below. These broader interpretations include analysis of data collected by foreign deep space network stations, or secondary analysis of data that was generated by NASA in the course of the Apollo missions, including photographs. Some effort has been made below to indicate the independent status and origin of of the items presented below, but as is the case with the moon rocks for example, the degree of independence of any given source is subject to discussion and debate.

[edit] Significance of independent evidence

For proponents of the theory that the Moon landings did not happen, a perceived absence of reliable independent evidence casts doubt upon NASA's methodology and claims. Many of the claims of hoax proponents rest on this perceived lack of independent evidence.[1] In reaction to these claims, space enthusiasts and, to a lesser extent, NASA, have sought to compile both current and historical evidence which they believe debunks many of the hoax proponents' claims.


[edit] Existence of Moon rocks

According to NASA, the Apollo Programs collected a total of 382 kilograms of Moon rocks during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 missions.[2] Analyses by scientists worldwide (including those that are government funded, private, and/or foreign) all agree that these rocks come from the Moon[2] -- no published accounts in peer-reviewed scientific journals are known that dispute this claim. The Apollo samples are easily distinguishable from both meteorites and terrestrial rocks[3], most notably in that they show a complete lack of hydrous alteration products and show evidence for having been subjected to impact events on an airless body. They have peculiar geochemical characteristics that are unlike terrestrial rocks and meteorites, such as (1) prominent europium anomalies, (2) anomalously high abundances of titanium in some basaltic samples (see Lunar mare), and (3) the presence of a unique geochemical component called KREEP. Furthermore, most are older than the oldest rocks found on Earth. Most importantly, though, they share the same characteristics as the Soviet lunar samples that were obtained at a later date.[2] Thus, independent scientific analyses indicate that NASA somehow obtained a large quantity of Moon rocks.

The existence of Moon rocks as evidence that the Apollo missions successfully landed on the lunar surface and returned safely to Earth could be disputed in two ways. First, it has been suggested that the Apollo Moon rocks could have been collected on Earth. In particular, it is known that rocks have been ejected from the lunar surface during impact events and that some of these have landed on the Earth in the form of lunar meteorites. However, the first lunar meteorite was discovered in 1979, and its lunar origin was not recognized for several years later. Indeed, if scientists did not already possess lunar samples to compare with, it would be difficult to conclusively prove that these meteorites were in fact derived from the Moon. The lunar meteorites are so rare that it is very improbable that they could account for the 382 kilograms of Moon rocks that NASA obtained between 1969 and 1972. Currently, there are only about 30 kilograms of lunar meteorites, even though private collectors and governmental agencies worldwide have been searching for these for more than 20 years.[4]

Even if the Apollo Moon rocks were indeed collected from the lunar surface, it could be argued that they were collected robotically. However, the large combined mass of the Apollo samples makes this scenario implausible. While the Apollo missions obtained 382 kilograms of Moon rocks, the Soviet Luna 16, 20, and 24 robotic sample return missions only obtained 326 grams combined (that is, more than 1000 times less). Indeed, current plans for a Martian sample return would only obtain about 500 grams of soil [1], and a recently proposed South Pole-Aitken basin sample return mission would only obtain about 1 kilogram of Moon rock [2]. If a similar technology to collect the Apollo Moon rocks was used as with the soviet missions or modern sample return proposals, then between 300 and 2000 robotic sample return missions would be required to obtain the current mass of Moon rocks that is currated by NASA. If these samples were collected robotically, then NASA's technological sophistication during the Apollo era would be much greater level that it is at today.

[edit] Evidence of landing (unmanned or human)

The presence of retroreflectors (mirrors that may be used as targets for Earth-based tracking lasers) on the Moon is evidence of a landing.[5] However, according to some hoax proponents, since the Soviet moon missions placed reflectors on the Moon with robot missions, they are not evidence of human landing.[citation needed] See Apollo Moon Landing Hoax Accusations for details on this debate.

[edit] Evidence of Apollo spacecraft in orbit and / or on the way to the Moon

[edit] Apollo 8

  • December 21, 1968 - 18:00 UT - Amateur astronomers (H.R. Hatfield, M.J. Hendrie, F. Kent, Alan Heath, and M.J. Oates) in the UK photographed what might have been a fuel dump from the jettisoned S-IVB stage. [3]
  • Pic du Midi Observatory (in the French Pyrenees); the Catalina Station of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory (University of Arizona); Corralitos Observatory, New Mexico, then operated by Northwestern University; McDonald Observatory of the University of Texas; and Lick Observatory of the University of California all filed reports of observations. [4]
  • Dr. Michael Moutsoulas at Pic du Midi reported an initial sighting around 17:10 UT on December 21 with the 1.1-meter reflector as an object (magnitude near 10, through clouds) moving eastward near the predicted location of Apollo 8. He used a 60-cm refractor to observe a cluster of objects which were obscured by the appearance of a nebulous cloud at a time which matches a firing of the service module engine to assure adequate separation from the S-IVB. This event can be traced with the Apollo 8 Flight Journal, noting that launch was at 0751 EST or 12:51 UT on December 21. [5]
  • Justus Dunlap and other at Corralitos Observatory (then operated by Northwestern University) obtained over 400 short-exposure intensified images, giving very accurate locations for the spacecraft.[citation needed]
  • The 2.1m Struve telescope at McDonald, from 01:50-2:37 UT observed the brightest object flashing as bright as magnitude 15, with the flash pattern recurring about once a minute.[citation needed]
  • The Lick observations during the return coast to Earth produced live TV pictures broadcast to West Coast viewers via KQED-TV in San Francisco.
  • An article in the March 1969 issue of Sky and Telescope ("Optical Observations of Apollo 8" by Harold B. Liemon (Geo-Astrophysics Laboratory, Boeing Scientific Research Laboratories), pp. 156-160) compiled a number of observations [6] (Boeing was a NASA subcontractor).
  • The first post-launch sightings were from the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory (SAO) station on Maui, and observed the TLI burn near 15:44 UT on December 21. (The Smithsonian Institute is funded by the US government).
  • Table Mountain, a Deep Space Netowrk station, reports that they tracked all the Apollo lunar missions except 17.

[edit] Apollo 10

  • A list of sightings of Apollo 10 were reported in "Apollo 10 Optical Tracking", Sky and Telescope, July 1969, pp. 62-63.

[edit] Apollo 11

  • The Bochum Observatory director (Professor Heinz Kaminski) was able to provide confirmation of events and data independent of both the Russian and US space agencies.[7]
  • A compilation of sightings appeared in "Observations of Apollo 11", Sky and Telescope, November 1969, pp. 358-359.
  • The Madrid Apollo Station, part of the Deep Space Network, built in Fresnedillas, near Madrid, Spain tracked Apollo 11.[8]
  • Goldstone in California tracked Apollo 11.[9]

[edit] Apollo 12

Paul Maley reports several sightings of the Apollo 12 Command Module. [10]

Apollo 12 brought samples from Surveyor 3 back to Earth. These samples were determined to have been exposed to lunar conditions. [11]

[edit] Apollo 13

Chabot Observatory calendar records an application of optical tracking during the final phases of Apollo 13, on 17 April 1970. "Rachel, Chabot Observatory's 20-inch refracting telescope, helps bring Apollo 13 and its crew home. One last burn of the lunar lander engines was needed before the crippled spacecraft's re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. In order to compute that last burn, NASA needed a precise position of the spacecraft, obtainable only by telescopic observation. All the observatories that could have done this were clouded over, except Oakland's Chabot Observatory, where members of the Eastbay Astronomical Society had been tracking the Moon flights. EAS members received an urgent call from NASA Ames Research Station, which had ties with Chabot's educational program since the 60's, and they put the Observatory's historic 20-inch refractor to work. They were able to send the needed data to Ames, and the Apollo crew was able to make the needed correction and to return safely to Earth on this date in 1970."[12]

[edit] Apollo 14

Elaine Halbedel, from the Corralitos Observatory photographed Apollo 14.[citation needed]

[edit] Apollo 16

Jewett Observatory at Washington State University reported sightings of Apollo 16.[citation needed]

[edit] Apollo 17

Sven Grahn describes several amateur sightings of Apollo 17. [13]

[edit] Tracking visually and by radio

[edit] United States

Several amateurs tracked VHS tranmissions of Apollo 17 [14]

[edit] Soviet

Many people claim that "the Soviets closely tracked the Apollos all the way to the Moon and back." [15], although no evidence of this has been presented. The Soviets did monitor the missions at the Space Transmissions Corps, which was "fully equipped with the latest intelligence-gathering and surveillance equipment". [6] Vasali Mishin ("The Moon Programme That Faltered."), in Spaceflight. 33 (March 1991): 2-3 describes how the Soviet Moon programme lost energy after Apollo.

[edit] United Kingdom

A telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory observed Apollo 11.[7]

[edit] Australian

Honeysuckle Creek in Australia is monitored transmissions from Apollo missions[16].

[edit] Substations of Honeysuckle Creek
  • Tidbinbilla radio telescope made observations. [17]
  • Carnavon received radio transmissions [18]
  • Deaking Switching Station was the switching station for the Apollo television broadcasts. [19]

[edit] Future plans that may generate evidence

Various groups have speculated that the Descent Module of the Apollo landers, lunar rovers, ALSEP and perhaps the flags seen from orbit, could be used as evidence for the landing.[citation needed]. Hoax adherents point out that this could be interpreted as robotic activity, but images of the bootprints would be evidence of human presence. No current methods enables any of these things to be identified.

A privately funded moon orbiter Lunar Trailblazer might be launched with an ex-Soviet missile. One of its purposes is to take pictures of the Apollo landing sites[8][9]. The resolution would at best be around a meter, which wouldn't reveal bootprints. The bright colours of the flags are certainly faded away (paint on Surveyor 3 was destroyed after only two years on the Moon).

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Did We Go? The Evidence Is In!. Moonhoax.com, website for "Did We Go?", documentary. Retrieved on 2007-02-26.
  2. ^ a b c James Papike, Grahm Ryder, and Charles Shearer (1998). "Lunar Samples". Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 36: 5.1-5.234. 
  3. ^ Tony Phillips. The Great Moon Hoax: Moon rocks and common sense prove Apollo astronauts really did visit the Moon. Science@NASA.
  4. ^ Randy Korotev (2005). "Lunar geochemistry as told by lunar meteorites". Chemie der Erde 65: 297-346. 
  5. ^ Laser Ranging Retroreflector. NSSDC Master Catalog Display: Experiment. National Space Science Data Center, NASA (2006-12-04). Retrieved on 2007-02-07.
  6. ^ David Scott and Alexei Leonov (2004). Two Sides of the Moon. St. Martin's Press, 247. ISBN 0-312-30865-5. 
  7. ^ BBC/OU Open2.net - History - The other space race: Transcript. Retrieved on 2006-02-06.
  8. ^ http://www.moonsociety.org/info/moon_missions.html
  9. ^ http://www.transorbital.net/TB_mission.html
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