We Recreated The Moon Landing To See If It Could've Been Faked

One of the classic conspiracy theories of our time is that man’s first steps on the moon were faked:

We learned in history class that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, famously saying,
“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” on July 20, 1969. The first major rumblings of
a conspiracy began in 1974 when a technical writer for a rocket engine company contracted by NASA wrote
a book claiming that in 1969, NASA wasn't technologically advanced enough to safely land humans on the
moon. Some people at the time thought the author's connection with this company gave credence to the
theory, but it's fair to note that his job had nothing to do with planning the Apollo mission. Conspiracy
theorists claim that the U.S. government faked the moon landing to ensure that they won the space race with
the Russians. A 1999 Gallup poll found that 6% of respondents believed the moon landing had been faked.
[A ] There's also been a popular conspiracy theory alleging that award-winning director Stanley Kubrick
actually directed the faked lunar landings.

Why was the American flag waving in the wind? There's no wind in space! - The simple answer is -
inertia. [ B ] An object in motion remains in motion unless an outside force affects it. The force from
the astronauts putting the flag into the ground caused the flag to move, and the lack of gravity and
atmosphere meant there wasn't a force to immediately stop it. No wind necessary.

But how did NASA film on the moon? - On board Apollo 11 were two 16mm Maurer motion picture film
cameras, a color television camera (in the orbiting command module, Columbia), and a black and white TV
camera outside of the lunar module, which was the camera used to transmit Neil Armstrong's first steps on
the moon's surface. These cameras were developed by Stan Lebar (seen above), a Westinghouse Electric
engineer who was in charge of the Apollo TV Lunar Camera project. He developed energy-efficient cameras
that could withstand temperatures between negative 250°F and positive 250°F - from the heat of blast-off to
the cold of space. The cameras ran on only 7 watts of power – [ C ].

If Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, then how were his first steps filmed? - It's pretty
cool, actually. Lebar and his team designed the camera to be built into the side of the lunar module. [ D ]
How smart is that?

How did NASA broadcast live? - So the thing to keep in mind is, “live” doesn’t necessarily mean
instantaneous, especially in 1969.[ E ]. Broadcasting live from the moon was a process. First, Lebar had to
create a whole new format for broadcast, because the part of the broadcast spectrum that TV usually used
was instead being used to communicate with mission control. [ F ] At the tracking stations, the footage
was converted back to the correct spectrum for TV and sent to NASA's mission control in Houston, TX.
From there, mission control sent the footage to the broadcast stations, who beamed it out to at least 500
million people who were watching.

NASA has a ton of documentation of the moon landing, but the one thing they'll never have is
independent verification. - Typically, when scientists and researchers want to make a new scientific claim,
they must get third-party, independent verification of their discovery before it is published in scientific
journals. The most convincing point that conspiracy theories have brought forth is that 100%of the moon
landing evidence comes from NASA itself. The way NASA tells it, the reason why they felt it was so
important for them to film the moon landing was because this acted as their verification - they knew no one
would believe them if there wasn't visual proof. But does this explanation actually feed the conspiracies?
FCE Reading Practice

From extract 1-8, which one of them fill the gaps (A-F), you may not use all the extracts.

1. Even today, in 2016, Facebook Live often has a slight delay

2. the same amount used for just one Christmas light bulb

3. Common theories assert that the moon landing was filmed either in Area 51 or in Hollywood.

4. which is enough needed for an entire Christmas tree to light

5. As footage was filmed, it was sent to tracking stations at observatories in Australia, Spain, and California.

6. When Armstrong was about to walk down the ladder, he pulled a cord that swung open a door with the
camera mounted onto it, facing the ladder and capturing his first steps.

7. Do you remember, that thing from physics class?

8. Nevertheless today is completely possible to broadcast without delay

We Recreated The Moon Landing To See If It Could've Been Faked
One of the classic conspiracy theories of our time is that man’s first steps on the moon were faked:

We learned in history class that Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, famously saying,
“That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” on July 20, 1969. The first major rumblings of
a conspiracy began in 1974 when a technical writer for a rocket engine company contracted by NASA wrote
a book claiming that in 1969, NASA wasn't technologically advanced enough to safely land humans on the
moon. Some people at the time thought the author's connection with this company gave credence to the
theory, but it's fair to note that his job had nothing to do with planning the Apollo mission. Conspiracy
theorists claim that the U.S. government faked the moon landing to ensure that they won the space race with
the Russians. A 1999 Gallup poll found that 6% of respondents believed the moon landing had been faked.
Common theories assert that the moon landing was filmed either in Area 51 or in Hollywood. There's also
been a popular conspiracy theory alleging that award-winning director Stanley Kubrick
actually directed the faked lunar landings.

Why was the American flag waving in the wind? There's no wind in space! - The simple answer is -
inertia. You remember, that thing from physics class? An object in motion remains in motion unless an
outside force affects it. The force from the astronauts putting the flag into the ground caused the flag to
move, and the lack of gravity and atmosphere meant there wasn't a force to immediately stop it. No wind
necessary.

But how did NASA film on the moon? - On board Apollo 11 were two 16mm Maurer motion picture film
cameras, a color television camera (in the orbiting command module, Columbia), and a black and white TV
camera outside of the lunar module, which was the camera used to transmit Neil Armstrong's first steps on
the moon's surface. These cameras were developed by Stan Lebar (seen above), a Westinghouse Electric
engineer who was in charge of the Apollo TV Lunar Camera project. He developed energy-efficient cameras
that could withstand temperatures between negative 250°F and positive 250°F - from the heat of blast-off to
the cold of space. The cameras ran on only 7 watts of power - the same amount used for just one Christmas
light bulb.

If Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, then how were his first steps filmed? - It's pretty
cool, actually. Lebar and his team designed the camera to be built into the side of the lunar module. When
Armstrong was about to walk down the ladder, he pulled a cord that swung open a door with the camera
mounted onto it, facing the ladder and capturing his first steps. How smart is that?

How did NASA broadcast live? - So the thing to keep in mind is, “live” doesn’t necessarily mean
instantaneous, especially in 1969. Even today, in 2016, Facebook Live often has a slight delay. Broadcasting
live from the moon was a process. First, Lebar had to create a whole new format for broadcast, because the
part of the broadcast spectrum that TV usually used was instead being used to communicate with mission
control. As footage was filmed, it was sent to tracking stations at observatories in Australia, Spain, and
California. At the tracking stations, the footage was converted back to the correct spectrum for TV and sent
to NASA's mission control in Houston, TX. From there, mission control sent the footage to the broadcast
stations, who beamed it out to at least 500 million people who were watching.

NASA has a ton of documentation of the moon landing, but the one thing they'll never have is
independent verification. - Typically, when scientists and researchers want to make a new scientific claim,
they must get third-party, independent verification of their discovery before it is published in scientific
journals. The most convincing point that conspiracy theories have brought forth is that 100%of the moon
landing evidence comes from NASA itself. The way NASA tells it, the reason why they felt it was so
important for them to film the moon landing was because this acted as their verification - they knew no one
would believe them if there wasn't visual proof. But does this explanation actually feed the conspiracies?