How Many People Have REALLY Walked On The Moon? | Unveiled - video Dailymotion

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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

08:36 subscribe and ring the bell for our latest content.

How Many People Have REALLY Walked On The Moon? | Unveiled

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