A video broadcast on the social network Instagram suggests that the space mission that took man to the Moon for the first time, in reality, never took place. It was 1969 when this great step was taken for Man. The images were broadcast on television, but since then several denialist theories have emerged.
The basis of the suspicions of this Instagram page is a video supposedly from NASA in one of its lunar missions made years later, in which a Rover (a small electric vehicle used to explore the Moon) moves with a certain speed on the Moon. lunar surface, raising a cloud. of dust. And the post says: “Does lunar dust react like it does on Earth?”
The publication then compares this video with other images taken on Earth, in which different people perform certain actions by projecting dust. An example of this is the video of a dancer, who kicks up dust with her foot, and the video of a moment in which there is a golf swing.
But let’s go in parts: after all, is the Lunar Rover video real or not? The answer is yes and “possibly” dates back to 1972, the Portuguese Space Agency tells the Observer.
“The Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) was sent to the Moon and used on NASA’s Apollo 15, 16 and 17 missions in the 1970s. The vehicle had a maximum speed of around 10 km/h and allowed it to cover a distance from 25 to 35 km. in each mission. The video possibly corresponds to the Apollo 16 mission, specifically to April 21, 1972,” explains the Portuguese Space Agency.
This footage was even posted on the “NASA Glenn Research Center” YouTube channel. And part of it was used in 2019 by NASA interns, who made a music video based on a song by artist Ariana Grande and then released it on social network.
???? “We will explore the universe because we are NASA!”????
Inspired by ours #Sagebrush missions to explore the Moon and Mars, @NASAInterns working on @NASAJohnson He remixed the song “NASA” by @ArianaGrande to create a music video. Press play and upload this???: https://t.co/9x0uy0Lqbp pic.twitter.com/POztP4g5NM
— NASA (@NASA) September 8, 2019
To explain why lunar dust reacts as shown in the video, the Portuguese Space Agency begins by highlighting that “gravity exists throughout the Universe”, contradicting the idea that this reality is different on the Moon.
And he adds: “A more massive body (like the Earth) ‘produces’ more gravity than a less massive body (like the Moon). Therefore, on the surface of the Moon there is, in fact, gravity that, in a simplified way, corresponds to 1/6 of the gravity on the surface of the Earth. “This means that any body will fall to the surface of the Moon, although more slowly than what happens on Earth.”
In the video, the Portuguese agency concludes, lunar dust really falls, but “slower than on Earth.”
This dust found on the lunar surface originates from broken rocks, which form the lunar surface, according to NASA’s website. This rock is quite harmful and has long been considered a problem to be dealt with by scientists and astronauts. This is because it affects the devices used by the Man on the Moon (because it clogs some equipment and causes others to overheat) and it also affects the suits used by astronauts, breaking them.
On Earth, existing dust is “softened” by erosion (through rain and wind), something that does not happen on the Moon. Therefore, explains NASA, lunar dust particles end up being very sharp. Furthermore (and once again contrary to what happens on Earth), on the Moon the dust particles are not compacted, which means that any activity on the surface causes a projection of this dust.
Conclusion
It is not true that the space mission to the Moon was fake, according to an assessment made from the video of a rover moving on the lunar surface (recorded years later, in 1972). This video, in which lunar dust is projected, is true, since on the surface of the Moon there is, in addition to some gravity, dust composed of fragmented rock that is not compact and is projected easily.
Thus, according to the Observer classification system, this content is:
MISTAKEN
In the Facebook classification system this content is:
FAKE: Claims about the main content are factually inaccurate. Generally, this option corresponds to “false” or “mostly false” ratings on fact-checking websites.
NOTE: This content was curated by Observador as part of a fact-checking partnership with Facebook.
Source: Observadora