The image shows ripples throughout the flag as if it was blowing in a breeze (“The Project”). Since the moon’s atmosphere is a vacuum, there is no wind, and the flag should not give the impression that it is flapping according to the theorists. Conspiracy theorists believe that a current of air is the only factor that could cause this to occur. The conspiracy do not take into account that the astronauts were forced to twist the flagpole back and forth in order to better penetrate the ground. This twisting motion would cause the flag to flap despite the absence of wind (Phillips). Roger Launius, spaceflight historian of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington D.C., said, “’the inertia from when they let go kept it moving’” (qtd. in Than). Ker Than explains that, “The astronauts also accidentally bent the horizontal rods holding the flag in place several times” (Than). This would also cause a rippling effect in the …show more content…
Theorists believe that the astronauts could not have left such well-defined footprints because there is no moisture in a vacuum. When moisture is present the soil will compact better than without moisture therefore leaving a much more distinctive print. The NASA transcripts show Neil Armstrong said on July 21, 1969, at 2:56 am as he stepped off the moon, “the surface is fine and powdery” and “I only go in a small fraction of an inch, maybe an eighth of an inch, but I can see the footprints of my boots and the treads in the fine, sandy particles” (Armstrong). Each particle of the lunar regolith is very sharp. These particles with their sharp, jagged edges allow for them to be compressed and compacted much better than soil on earth. Since the particles that are currently present on Earth have been weathered over time they have lost their jaggedness and can only be compressed in moisture. Even in the absence of moisture the moon boots that the astronauts wore can leave a clean, distinct footprint in the lunar regolith. The photo of Buzz Aldrin departing the LM, the photo of the flag on the moon, the photo of the LM and rocks on the moon, and the photo of Aldrin’s footprint in the lunar regolith disprove the theory that the Apollo 11 moon landing was faked. The moon landing of 1969 was able to help push the