When Neil Armstrong first touched down on the moon in 1969, millions of people watched him take the first step and create history (Villard). Yet even as we’ve moved on from the moon landings and consider them as a pivotal point for mankind, “Forty years after U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon, many conspiracy theorists still insist the Apollo 11 moon landing was an elaborate hoax”(Than). The idea that our voyage to the moon was deliberately staged seems to resurface year after year. While the conspiracy theorists claim the moon landing was a hoax, creating a fake moon landing would have been more expensive and difficult than actually reaching the moon. The race to the moon began on October 5, 1957, when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit around the earth: “When the Soviet Union launched the satellite Sputnik, on October 4, 1957, the United States experienced a technological identity crisis”(Olson).
Even though NASA and the U.S. government have video of the Apollo11 moon landing, many still think we in fact did not go to the moon. Why haven’t there been more manned explorations and was this an elaborate hoax by NASA to satisfy political demands. Michael Newton (2006). The Encyclopedia of Conspiracies and Conspiracy Theories (pg. 22).
During the Cold War there was a fight for economic and political dominance between the United States and their allies, and the Soviet Union and their allies. This struggle brought a lot of tension between these two countries as they both searched for newer ways to develop and enhance their rocket systems to deliver nuclear pay loads. It was during this time that an elaborate competition between the United States and the Soviet Union to be the first to land a man on the moon developed. This competition was known as the Space Race. The Soviets started out way ahead of the Americans in this race.
The USA then went onto create the first B-52 long-range bombers. These where able to fly 6,000 miles and deliver a nuclear payload. Such a development required massive financial backing from the goverment, something which America could afford to do and Russia could not. These also show that America was ahead in the arms race as the USSR where unable to transport nuclear weapons to anywhere near the distance that the Americans where able to do causing the USSR to become even more secure. On the otherhand it could be argued that it was the Russians who where ahead in the arms race with things such as the USSR's first Hydrogen bomb test in August of 1953.
John F. Kennedy spoke with hope while addressing the United States on September 12th. He spoke of the greatest journey that this nation is set on accomplishing. He spoke about making a gradual process to someday set foot on the moon, also to make a mark in history upon the moon, in time. John F. Kennedy gave the original, “We choose to go to the moon,” speech. Throughout this speech, Kennedy admits to the huge amounts of money being spent on the space program.
It seems highly unlikely that those thousands of people would have kept it a secret for so long. The Apollo Moon landings were among the most documented and observed events in history. The conspiracy "theories" that claim otherwise are really of nonsense without even a single convincing piece of evidence. Most of the questions raised are based on ignorance of basic physics and optics. Video special effects were in their infancy in the late 60's so; faking a landing on the Moon would probably have been more difficult than actually going there.
The first moon landing through the Apollo program has been one the most highlighted historical events in American History. History textbooks portray this event through a classical approach. Why not? It certainly would not be politically correct to teach young students that the moon landing may have not happened. If history books are traditionally written in a classical approach you can imagine what was said about the first moon landing, what would be said if they took a Revisionist approach?
The aim of this "quarantine," as he called it was to prevent the Soviets from bringing in more military supplies. He demanded the removal of the missiles already there and the destruction of the sites. On October 22, President Kennedy spoke to the nation about the crisis in a televised address. No one was sure how Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev would respond to the naval blockade and U.S. demands. But the leaders of both superpowers recognized the devastating possibility of a nuclear war and publicly agreed to a deal in which the Soviets would dismantle the weapon sites in exchange for a pledge from the United States not to invade Cuba.
We do not intend to “founder in the backwash of the coming age of space.” He also continue to appeal to the people with this quote, “We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade…” In perhaps the most popular anaphora in his speech, Kennedy strongly and passionately expounds on why we should go to the moon in the first place. The persuasion was practically rolling off his tongue as he said this. He wanted the people to be as dedicated as he was. This is the
The Moon Landing Briefly describe the background of the debate. The United States’ Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon on 20 July, 1969. Nine years earlier, U.S. President John F. Kennedy had said that by the end of the decade the country would put a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth. There have been six manned landings up until 1976, as no landings have occurred since then. The Moon landing conspiracy theories claim that some or all elements of the Apollo program and the associated Moon landings were hoaxes staged by NASA and members of other organizations.