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00:00 That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
00:07 The Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969 is entrenched in history as one of the most iconic
00:12 moments of the 20th century.
00:14 The NASA astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin gained worldwide fame as the first
00:19 human beings ever to set foot on the lunar surface.
00:22 But despite all of the fanfare, our journey to the moon has never exactly been straightforward.
00:27 And ever since America planted its flag, there have been claims that it all is not as it
00:32 seems.
00:33 This is Unveiled, and today we're answering the extraordinary question; how many people
00:37 have really walked on the moon?
00:40 Do you need the big questions answered?
00:42 Are you constantly curious?
00:44 Then why not subscribe to Unveiled for more clips like this one?
00:47 And ring the bell for more thought-provoking content!
00:50 In the late 1960s and early 1970s, NASA's Apollo program launched seven missions to
00:55 the moon.
00:56 This was successful while one, Apollo 13, failed but thankfully ended in a dramatic
01:01 recovery effort.
01:03 Apollo 11 took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to their target, while Michael Collins watched
01:08 on from lunar orbit.
01:09 It was a two-in-one general set-up that was then repeated for every mission until the
01:13 last one, Apollo 17 in 1972, which landed the astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison
01:19 Schmidt.
01:20 As he was the last to re-enter the module bound for home, Cernan remains the last human
01:25 being to walk on lunar soil.
01:27 In total, Apollo's 11-17 minus 13 enabled twelve astronauts to walk on the moon.
01:34 But due to a variety of reasons, most notably funding cuts, a low economic return and waning
01:40 public interest, the Apollo program was cancelled far earlier than had initially been planned.
01:45 The call to kill Apollo was made in December 1972, as the space race went quiet and the
01:51 world's leading scientists and engineers seemingly turned to other things.
01:55 But in the years and decades since, the speculation has never truly died down.
02:00 And there have emerged two particularly polarising, alternative views.
02:05 One, that we never went to the moon in the first place, and two, that we've actually
02:09 been far more times than most people know.
02:12 First off, those infamous claims that the entire thing is and was fake.
02:17 At the time, and certainly in the years since, various doubts have been cast over whether
02:22 NASA ever actually made it to the moon at all.
02:25 If it was hoaxed, then conspiracy theorists argue that it was done in order to make America
02:30 win the space race.
02:31 Up until the moon landings, the US had definitely been falling behind its rival, the USSR.
02:37 The Soviets had already claimed most of the other firsts, including the first satellite
02:42 and first person in space generally.
02:44 President Kennedy had famously promised to put an astronaut on the moon before the decade
02:49 was out, and NASA managed to do it with just a couple of months to spare.
02:53 For some, the timings are too convenient, the eventual closure of Apollo is too suspect,
02:59 and those grainy images of Armstrong, et al, actually on the moon leave a lot to be desired.
03:04 There are cries that the flags move when they shouldn't, that there are shadows on the
03:08 ground that shouldn't be there, and that the soil underfoot is either too disturbed
03:11 or not disturbed enough.
03:13 Another alternate line of thinking says that the Apollo program only ever existed to distract
03:18 people's attention away from America's involvement in the Vietnam War, and was seemingly
03:22 shelved when it was because the US withdrawal meant that Apollo was no longer needed.
03:27 For those who believe it was a hoax, Apollo 11 might even have been filmed in the back
03:31 of a trailer by no less than the Hollywood director Stanley Kubrick, paid for by money
03:36 from Disney.
03:37 And Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17 were staged in much the same way, until it all became
03:44 too difficult for NASA to continue the lie.
03:47 The kickback against the conspiracy has been just as fierce and determined, however.
03:52 Film experts have analysed the footage, focusing on alleged inconsistencies or errors, including
03:58 one claim that certain moon rocks are actually labelled studio props.
04:02 Any alleged labels have been explained away as coincidental debris on the film.
04:07 Experts have been consulted about the apparent lack of stars in NASA's archive of moon
04:11 footage as well, with the leading explanation being that the landings happened during the
04:16 lunar daytime, when the light from the sun outshone them.
04:19 In more recent times, further evidence that the moon landings did happen has come by way
04:23 of modern missions imaging the landing sites that are still visible on the surface.
04:28 NASA has released variously detailed photos from above of all of the Apollo locations,
04:33 while India's Chandrayaan-1 probe has snapped the site of Apollo 15 specifically, and China's
04:39 Chang'e 2 has also reportedly found unspecified traces of past Apollo activity.
04:45 Of course, now that we do have so many eyes and cameras on the moon, the conspiracies
04:49 have tended in a different direction as a result.
04:52 As well as theories insisting that we've never been to the moon, there are those that
04:55 are adamant that there are some things up there that shouldn't be.
04:59 For instance, that there are hidden bases on the far side, or that there are alien artifacts
05:03 lurking in the dust.
05:05 Apollo 18 conspiracy is perhaps one of the strangest of all, though.
05:09 Claimants say that the Apollo program actually didn't end when NASA and everyone else says
05:14 it did, and instead was continued but in secret.
05:17 Officially speaking, Apollo 18 never made it to the launch pad, let alone the moon.
05:22 But what if it was sent up?
05:24 What might have happened next?
05:26 In this case, the theory really does involve a made-for-theatres movie, also called Apollo
05:31 18, and released in 2011.
05:33 The film was written by Brian Miller, directed by Gonzalo Lopez-Gallego, and created in a
05:38 found-footage documentary style.
05:41 As part of a marketing strategy, it's made to seem as though the movie is something of
05:45 an exposé of what really happened at NASA when the Apollo program was officially ending.
05:50 The film has it that a secret final mission was set up, during which NASA astronauts found
05:55 a dead Soviet cosmonaut, and signs of alien life.
06:00 If true, it would mean two massive revelations - Russia got to the moon as well, and, well,
06:06 aliens exist.
06:07 But, unfortunately, it isn't true, and it is just a movie.
06:11 Although NASA, the real NASA, did feel compelled enough to issue a statement shortly after
06:16 the film's release.
06:18 The agency reportedly gave permission for various assets, including logos, to be used
06:22 in the movie, but had been under the impression that Apollo 18 would be a clearly fictional
06:27 piece.
06:28 When it turned out not to be, with some viewers apparently interpreting it as a record of
06:32 events that really happened, NASA sought to clarify, releasing an article titled "Apollo
06:38 18 Myths Debunked, NASA Style".
06:41 In it, Kay Grinter of the Kennedy Space Center confirms that the reason for axing Apollo
06:46 was "monetary, not biological".
06:49 The much more mundane issue of funding is again blamed for why we've never been back.
06:53 But what's your verdict?
06:55 Currently speaking, there still have only been twelve people that have ever set foot
06:59 on the lunar surface.
07:00 NASA's current Artemis program aims to raise that number, and soon.
07:05 All while the likes of Blue Origin and SpaceX compete in a new space race in the private
07:10 sector.
07:11 China's CNSA looks set to launch to the moon as well, while the likes of Russia's Roscosmos
07:16 and India's ISRO have made tentative moves toward the same.
07:19 So, could all of the current plans actually be aiming for something that we've never
07:23 really done before?
07:25 Did NASA fake the first moon landings all those years ago?
07:29 The overwhelming consensus is no, they didn't.
07:33 The Apollo program unfolded exactly as history remembers it, and it delivered some of humankind's
07:39 greatest achievements.
07:40 The rumours refuse to disappear, though, and while polls differ, it's thought that between
07:44 ten and twenty percent of people believe that the moon landings never happened.
07:49 The Apollo 18 theories are much newer and far less followed, but could perhaps gain
07:53 traction if anyone ever finds anything that's unaccountable if and when we do return to
07:58 the moon.
07:59 Should the grand plans of today ever come to fruition, then the coming years could be
08:03 truly significant in humanity's quest to venture into space.
08:07 After what might even be described as a "false start" in the 1960s and 70s, we're picking
08:12 up the baton again and running.
08:14 But also, in the here and now, even the most deep-rooted conspiracies might finally meet
08:19 their fate.
08:20 For now, it's a round dozen.
08:22 Although, it depends a lot on who you ask.
08:26 And that's how many people have really walked on the moon.
08:29 What do you think?
08:30 Is there anything we missed?
08:32 Let us know in the comments, check out these other clips from Unveiled, and make sure you
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