All language subtitles for Truth.Behind.the.Moon.Landing.Series.1.Part.1.NASA.Nazi.Conspiracy.720p.HDTV.x264.AAC.MVGroup.org

If we went from the earth to
The moon, where is the evidence?

Man We would've never
Have met kennedy's deadline.

Of reaching there and returning
By the end of the decade.

Jenkins Could this have been
Produced in hollywood.

With special effects?

In '69, We landed on the moon.

Nasa stands for
"Never a straight answer."

Maybe there was no Moon landing?

Man We are a go with apollo 11.
Good luck and godspeed.

Narrator July 20, 1969...

The united states successfully
Lands the first man on the moon.

Armstrong
One small step for man,

One giant leap for mankind.

Narrator But seeing is not
Always believing.

Now a former fbi agent,

A conspiracy theorist
And former aerospace consultant,

And an american astronaut
Are all on a mission.

They'll question witnesses...

- that's the actual report?
- That's it.

Pick apart the evidence...

When I saw his name on one of
The documents, I was shocked.

Narrator Test theories
With new experiments...

It was basically a bomb.

And butt heads...

Look at that.
The apollo landing site.

Looks like evidence
Of a boulder to me.

Narrator To determine
Once and for all.

If one of mankind's
Biggest accomplishments.

Ever really happened.

History isn't Always correct.

That's what I'm trying to say.

Ooh. Wow.

America celebrates.

Being the first
To put a man on the moon...

Armstrong We came in peace
For all mankind.

Narrator
But conspiracy theorists.

Argue there's no way
It happened.

Dude, seriously,
That sounds fishy.

And they say
Science is on their side...

Declassified documents
Are right here.

Claiming that no human.

Could've made it through
The radiation of space...

Man Lift off on apollo 11.

Narrator
To land on the moon alive.

These two intense belts
Of very highly charged protons.

Are just gonna put out
So much radiation.

That it would basically fry
The astronauts inside.

Narrator But just how far
Would the u.S. Go.

To beat the soviets to the moon?

They brought nazis over
To be able to go to the moon.

Captions by vitac...
www.Vitac.Com.

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications.

Now, look,
There's evidence there.

- Like?
- The rover tracks.

Excuse me If I'm skeptical.

I was a special agent
With the fbi for four years,

But no one knows nasa
Like an insider.

As an astronaut,

Leland melvin has insight
Into nasa's capabilities.

That I could never have.

I want to show you what
We're looking at out here.

We are flying on sts-122.

This is the tail
Of the space shuttle atlantis.

Look at that, Right there.

I hate conspiracy theories,

And I know that
Mike bara is a big part.

Of the conspiracy community.

That claim the moon landing
Never happened.

There are a lot of people
In my community.

Who highly doubt Whether or not.

Nasa actually landed
A man on the moon.

Melvin But he was also
An aerospace consultant.

I think I can convince him
Once and for all.

That the moon landing
Really did happen.

Like we've always known
Since 1969.

Let's face it. We don't have
Any visual evidence,

Any video evidence.

Come on. Come on, dude.

I think I know as much about
The moon landings as anybody,

And at this point, I'm just
As sure I'm right as leland is.

Jenkins In the fbi,

We follow the leads
No matter where they take us,

No matter how unpleasant
Those places may be.

Is there any real evidence
That we went to the moon in '69?

Polls have shown that
1 in 20 people don't believe.

That man ever
Set foot on the moon.

The moon hoax conspiracy theory
Is real.

It's a living, growing thing.

So, I've got a guy in portland
That I would like you to meet.

He's been one of the people
That's been questioning.

The moon-landing scenario
For a long time,

So who wants To go with me?

I want to go. I want to hear
What he has to say.

Yes, I want to hear
What he has to say.

But I also want to use
My experience and training.

To dispute whatever whacked-out
Claims he has to say.

Bara I'm taking leland
To see clyde lewis.

Clyde's a leading
Conspiracy theorist.

And the host of "Ground zero,".

A nationally syndicated
Radio talk show.

I want leland to see that
Conspiracy theorists aren't just.

Tinfoil-hat-wearing geeks.

Most are extremely intelligent.

And have done the research
To inform their opinions.

Clyde could be
A real eye-opener for him.

Bara For years,
He's had a lot of questions.

About The moon landings...

You know,
Whether it really happened.

Melvin Right.
Why we really went.

Melvin You know,
I really hate this.

How do you take visual proof
And scientific data.

And just say it never happened?

These conspiracy theories
Are just crazy.

He's a fairly Grounded dude,

So that's why
I take him seriously.

Grounded is good.

Yeah, We like grounded, right?

Mike and I have
Very different opinions.

On what "Grounded" means.

This will be
An interesting conversation.

I'm clyde lewis,
And this is "Ground zero."

Tonight, a major discussion.

About project horizon
From the 1950s.

It was a very ambitious effort.

By the military
Here in the united states.

To have space dominance.

Of course, they wanted
To plant a flag on the moon.

Clyde, How are you, man?

Good to see you, Mike.

- This is leland.
- Hi, clyde. I'm leland, man.

Hey, leland. Good to see you.

- Nice to meet you.
- Good to meet you, too.

You bet.

Melvin Thanks
For bringing us over.

It's good To have you guys here.

This is where
It all starts, so...

Mission control like?

It is. It's mission control.

It's a lot like
What you're used to.

You know, a little bit more
Than what I'm used to.

Alright.

I'm known as the guy...

At times, the guy that questions
The 1969 moon landing.

You know,
There were the rumors that,

Before the moon landing,
To put a moon base up there.

So militarizing the moon?

- Yeah.
- Is that what...

It was a military objective
In the beginning.

To have an outpost on the moon,
And it was called horizon.

Is there any... any proof
That this happened,

And you have something?

Well, yeah, I have declassified
Documents right here.

That show that the proposal
Began in the 1950s...

I believe 1957, 1958.

First a dream
Of wernher von braun,

Already discussed by
The russians long before that.

Bara Wernher von braun was
An aerospace engineer.

Who designed rockets for germany
During world war ii.

And later became
A pioneer and architect.

Of the u.S. Space program.

Lewis This is before kennedy.

This was even before
Nasa was formed.

Melvin Clyde is
Presenting documentation.

For the earliest plans
Of the moon mission,

But I haven't seen anything.

Disproving
The moon landing in 1969.

Clyde, if they're this desperate
To get to the moon.

That they were Willing to invest.

This amount of money
And time and effort,

Then this is actually,
You know...

In some ways... It's not proof.

It's a more ambitious project
Than even apollo was.

Well, that's exactly right.
It was an ambitious project.

We're looking at
250,000 miles out.

I think a lot of people
Don't understand that.

That's how far the moon is.

You know,
The technology of the time.

Was the same equivalent
As a toaster oven...

Pretty, you know, primitive.

I mean, we have more advanced
Technology in our cellphones.

But why do you think
We were faking?

P.R.

The russians actually were
Ahead of us in the space program.

Long before we landed
Anything on the moon.

We were racing To the moon.

We wanted To show dominance.

I mean, we were like
The fat kid on the track.

Looking at the athlete, going,
"I'm gonna run a race.

I'm gonna beat you."

"I want to be like him."
"I want to be like him."

Armstrong
One giant leap for mankind.

You've got to understand...

What if we sent
Armstrong to the moon,

And he walks off the limb.

And immediately gets sucked
Into the moon,

And he's, like,
Grasping for air,

And here it is On national tv.

They wouldn't want that,
Would they?

I'm trying not To laugh here.

This is a radio host
Telling a former astronaut.

That nasa didn't have solid data.

On the gravity of the moon
And atmospherics.

There is no doubt that we fired
Three astronauts into space.

400, 500 miles out,
Before the van allen belt,

They could be orbiting around,

While down on the planet,
We have a nice studio set aside.

To keep the astronauts
From making any big mistakes.

Or anything going on.

Imagine this... the astronauts
Are kind of orbiting up there,

And then they splash
Back down again,

And no one is the wiser.

They had to make sure
They covered every single base,

Including having
A good p.R. Situation going on,

With no one dying On the moon.

For 24 years,
I've worked for nasa,

And throughout the course
Of those 24 years,

I have seen
The utmost in integrity,

Especially with
Our space program.

And there's a huge
P.R. Machine at nasa.

To make things look good.

For the american public
And everything,

But they have sacrificed
Their families...

Their children...

Everything.

To do this thing As americans.

But to say it didn't happen,
The '69...

Is there anything in history
That you question?

Do you believe that.

All these things started
The way they told you?

Do you believe that
History told you the truth?

I think there's
Revisionist history.

You know, And that's the thing,

Is that it's people
Who manipulate the story,

And when you question
The manipulation,

Immediately you're
A villain for doing so.

No, I'm doing it
Because I want to believe.

I want to believe that
My astronauts didn't lie to me.

In fact, my heart
Tells me they didn't,

But my brain is engaging now,
And my confusion is there.

There are so many things that
I have questions about.

That when I question,

Immediately
People get pissed off.

Now, why is that?

I think some people
Get pissed off.

Because of
The sacrifices that...

We lost these lives. Right.

And then someone is pissing
Over the graves.

I guess being so close to it
And listening to john young.

This man Of utmost integrity.

I would walk my dogs
Around to his house,

And he would pet
My dogs on the head,

And we'd have These discussions.

About him walking On the moon.

And I just... There is no way.

That I could ever see
A man like that lying.

It happened, but not
The way they said it did.

So you're calling
John young a liar?

No, I'm not.

I'm not.
I'm saying it didn't happen...

If you say It didn't happen.

And john young told me
That it did...

It didn't happen
The way they said it did.

He said it did.

In '69, We landed on the moon.

Nasa stands for
"Never a straight answer,".

And it's always been That way.

Ooh. Wow.

Don't punch him.

Bara I'm glad they stopped
When they did.

Clyde clearly got under his skin
And kept pushing.

I... I... you know,
I don't know if you noticed,

But I was starting to get
A little bit upset because...

Yeah, I did. Yeah.

How dare he insult my integrity.

And the integrity of those
That have worked so hard...

And, actually,
Those who have died?

I met neil armstrong.
I knew buzz aldrin.

You know, these...
These people are these...

They've worked Their butts off.

Regardless if it
Upsets leland or not,

I still question
Whether we went to the moon.

Clyde lewis really
Ticked me off,

But he did have
Declassified documents.

Backing up some of his claims.

That tells me that
The investigations.

That mike, chad, and I are doing.

Are valuable for people on both
Sides of the conspiracy theory.

Bara Clyde brought up
Wernher von braun.

He's central to
A huge conspiracy theory.

About the government's
Lies and cover-ups.

Related to our race to space.

I keep on coming across
Suspicious information.

In my research.

Operation Paperclip.

When I saw his name on one of
The documents, I was shocked.

Melvin Would we have
Gone to space.

Without these nazi
Scientists and engineers?

Jenkins The conspiracy theory
Is alive and well,

And so is our investigation.

I keep on coming across
Suspicious information...

Operation paperclip.

One of the more
Intriguing stories.

Lurking behind The moon landing.

Apparently, a secret
U.S. Government operation.

Back in the 1950s.

To bring former
Nazi scientists...

Nazis?

Yes.

Into the u.S.
To help start the space program.

At the start of world war ii,

German engineers were already
Developing rockets.

For space exploration,

But then, the command
From the third reich was,

"Make these rockets
Into weapons."

This led to the development
Of the v-2 in the late 1930s.

It was a game changer...

The world's first long-range
Guided ballistic missile.

The german rocketeers
Had learned.

To generate enough thrust.

To deliver one-ton payloads
Of high explosive

200 miles across
The european continent.

The germans were building
These rocket missiles.

At a breakneck speed.

The v-2 was such an effective
Delivery system.

That it provided the basis for
The present-day scud missile.

Bara I 100% believe that.

The u.S. Was so desperate
To beat the soviets to the moon.

That they recruit nazis to gain
Access to their technologies.

I've seen the evidence
That proves this.

Melvin You can't tell me
That our country's leadership.

Would bring in
Active war criminals.

To aid america's race
To the moon.

I've located someone that
First uncovered this story,

So we're going to florida.

Jenkins Whatever
Operation paperclip was,

It involves the earliest days
Of the space program.

We're meeting with
The investigative reporter.

Who broke the story.

Of the u.S. Government bringing
Nazis into the space program.

So we're getting ready to go
Talk to linda hunt,

Former reporter.

- Where was she a reporter?
- Cnn.

Hunt Under paperclip policy,

War criminals and ardent nazis.

Were supposed to have been
Excluded.

This is dieter grau,

Who, like most of those
Under investigation,

Lives in huntsville,

Where he worked for nasa
As director of a lab.

At the marshall space
Flight center.

Bara I've known about linda
For years.

She's won awards for
Her investigative journalism.

I want chad and leland to hear.

How america recruited
Not just german engineers,

But nazi party engineers.

To help get the u.S.
To the moon.

If this is true and they were
Working side by side with nazis.

To get into space,

That casts a huge shadow
Over nasa.

- Hello?
- Hello.

We really appreciate you
Being able to speak to us today.

We understand you broke

- the operation paperclip story.
- Yes.

Can you share a little bit
Of how that took place.

And how you broke that story?

I had a reputation As being...

Somewhat of a tenacious
Journalist.

Around '89, '90, I heard a rumor
That they brought nazis over.

For paperclip to work
In the space program.

In the national archives,
Some of the records were there,

So I started declassifying
The files.

Of the germans
Who were brought over.

It was a long struggle.

I mean, it was terrible.

So what did you have to do
To uncover all the details.

About this part of it?

Hardcore research, Which I love.

A lot of library research,
Backgrounding,

and then after the records.

How many people
Were brought over.

For operation paperclip?

1,500.

1,500 people?

Scientists, engineers, I mean...

Chemical warfare, Air force.

The myth was that these people
Were carefully checked...

And they didn't bring any war
Criminals or bad people over.

The minute I got
Some of the records,

It was obvious that,
You know, it wasn't true.

The records contained
Background investigations.

Done in germany
By army intelligence,

Which revealed a lot
About their nazi past...

Which they covered up.

They brought nazis over
To be able to go to the moon.

Crowd Sieg heil!

Hunt They brought von braun
And a hundred more.

To work In the space program.

When allied forces captured
The germans' v-2 rocket complex.

In 1944,

Von braun and more than
A hundred of his top engineers.

Had already worked out a deal
To get themselves to the u.S.

As part Of operation paperclip,

The team of nazi rocketeers.

Was installed
At fort bliss, texas,

To begin work designing rockets
For the u.S. Army.

Paperclip
Was a top-secret endeavor,

Orchestrated under
The joint chiefs of staff.

And carried out
By army counterintelligence.

Wernher von braun
Was really admired at nasa.

For his role
In the space program.

When I saw his name on one
Of the documents, I was shocked.

Von braun's file...

The records that I got were
Copies, but not the originals.

I think they'd been destroyed.

Why do you think
Those records of von braun.

Were destroyed
By our u.S. Government?

Because they showed
He was a member of the ss.

Frightening. Frightening.

They just covered it up.

He was a major in the ss.

How did You find that out?

I got a tip.

And I'm assuming that tip was
Within the military, correct?

I know nothing.

Here's his ss record.

Nasa... the same agency
That I trained and worked for.

Recruited nazis to develop
The very same technologies.

That I would utilize
Decades later.

This is truly disturbing.

It's really hard
To come to terms with this.

Would we have Gone to space.

Without these nazi
Scientists and engineers?

Narrator The test results
That could disprove.

Everything we believe
About the 1969 moon landing.

So, the capsules were made
Out of aluminum.

We're going to show
The blocking power of aluminum.

Would we have Gone to space.

Without these nazi
Scientists and engineers?

I don't think so.

It's hard for me to say that,

But I don't think so,
To be honest.

Our people weren't trained
Like that.

They didn't have The expertise.

They didn't have the knowledge
Or the experience.

Von braun and the group
Provided a base of education.

For them to be able
To go to the moon.

It's a real dilemma.

It's the end
Justifies the means.

Do you think That was worth it?

A survivor
Of the concentration camp...

I ask him the question,
And I'll give you his answer.

Maybe, but they should have paid
A little bit for their crime.

Jenkins I'll tell you what,
I'm kind of wrestling.

With knowing what our government
Was willing to overlook.

In order to meet Its objective.

Of trying to
Get to the moon first.

Melvin Well, yeah,
I mean, I was surprised.

That we've got nazis
Helping us get to the moon.

Melvin What linda told us
Was really shocking.

I had no idea
How desperate we were.

To catch up with the soviets
In the space race.

Jenkins Less than 20 years
After the nuremberg trials.

That sentenced nazis
To death and imprisonment,

Other known members
Of the nazi party and ss.

Were collecting
Government paychecks from nasa.

If nasa can cover up
A secret this big,

Who knows what else
They've hidden from the public?

Were they capable
Of faking the moon landing.

And keeping that hoax
A secret, as well?

What linda told us
Really makes you believe.

That nasa has Some dark secrets.

Bara This is why
Conspiracy theorists think.

Nasa's been feeding us
A litany of lies for decades.

Look, even if true
That we used former nazis,

It is so disturbing,

But it doesn't mean
That we didn't go to the moon.

I'm gonna call b.S.

What it shows is that america
Is willing to lie.

About things
That it's ashamed of,

And letting down
The late jfk's promise.

To get to the moon
Seems pretty shameful to me.

When von braun transferred
To nasa in 1960,

He made acquaintance.

With friend and colleague
James van allen.

In 1958, james van allen,

Analyzing data
From satellite missions,

Discovered two enormous belts
Of high radiation.

Surrounding the planet,

Trapped in place
By earth's magnetic field.

And these van allen belts
Are the foundation.

Of another
Major conspiracy theory.

Look, if nasa was willing
To work with our former enemies,

The germans, some of whom may
Have even been war criminals,

It seems to me that it wouldn't
Be that much of a stretch.

To assume that they were
Willing to take big risks.

With the astronauts
Being irradiated.

By the van allen belts.

Announcer Will a combination
Of radiation and weightlessness.

Be a hazard on long-duration
Manned space flights?

Jenkins The strength of
The radiation is so powerful,

Scientists at first thought they
Recorded a soviet nuclear test.

These belts were
A huge potential threat.

To our astronauts.

The intense radiation
Could've shot through them.

Like an atomic cannonball,

Causing lethal
Genetic breakdown.

Bara Radioactivity
Is measured in rads.

300 rads can be a lethal does.

The van allen belt
Has been gauged.

At thousands and thousands
Of rads.

The threat that it presents
Is very real.

This is not x-ray-level
Radiation.

The amount of radiation
In those belts would burn skin,

Melt bones,

And void the human dna structure
Of those astronauts.

Melvin
The inner van allen belt,

At an altitude roughly 600 miles
Above the earth,

Has a lot of really
Dangerous proton particles...

Flux alpha particles.

But the outer belt, from 8,400
To 36,000 miles in space,

Is possibly deadlier.

With an extremely high flux
Of electrons, or beta particles,

This is the subatomic radiation.

That penetrates skin
And body tissue.

Bara It was only recently
That scientists discovered.

That there was less radiation
Than imagined.

In certain parts
Of the van allen belts.

In the 1960s, what could
Possibly make nasa think.

They could rocket through them?

The alternative...
If they decided.

That that risk wasn't worth it,

Maybe they would make
Another choice.

Maybe they would choose
Not to go at all.

The primary conspiracy theory
Is that

Neil armstrong, buzz aldrin,
And mike collins.

Circled the planet
In a low-earth orbit.

While a staged
Moon-landing film aired,

And then they splashed
Back down to earth afterwards.

Maybe we never went
Through the van allen belts.

Maybe there was No moon landing.

We need to solve This mystery.

Our team is going to see
The apollo 11 capsule.

And investigate
Whether its construction.

Is substantial enough.

To have survived
Van allen belt radiation.

If it is, that could help prove.

That the craft
Made it through the belts,

Protecting the astronauts,

And even getting them
All the way to the moon.

Melvin The engineers at nasa
Know exactly what they're doing.

On earth, the atmosphere
And magnetic field.

Can protect us
From space radiation,

But aluminum and other materials
Used in those spacecraft.

Were able to absorb
A lot of that radiation.

That protection
Is what some question.

Melvin

So that's why we're here
In seattle.

We actually have The opportunity.

To get eyes on
A really unique artifact.

Jenkins To celebrate.

The 50th anniversary
Of the moon landing,

The actual apollo 11 capsule
Is touring the country.

That's the capsule that

Neil, buzz, and michael
Flew home in.

Man Roger,
We got you coming home.

- So, let's go see the castle.
- Let's go see...

That is awesome.

We actually have The opportunity.

To get eyes on
A really unique artifact.

Bring it.

Melvin
I have never seen the capsule.

This makes me really excited.

I have absolutely no doubt
That the engineers at nasa.

Researched and tested
And tested again.

And got this design
Exactly right.

Bara Chad has arranged for us
To scan the apollo capsule.

To find out just how protected
The astronauts were.

When they traveled
Through the radiation.

Of the van allen belts.

- This is pretty cool.
- This is really cool.

- "Destination moon."
- look at that.

They got an sr-71
And everything.

We're investigating the claim
That radioactivity in space.

Made it too dangerous
To send astronauts to the moon.

Well, yeah, I mean,
The argument is that,

If we really went To the moon,

You would require so much
Shielding that, basically,

The spacecraft would be
Too heavy to get off the ground.

You'd never get to the moon
And get back.

Because you're talking about.

These two very,
Very intense belts.

Of very highly charged Protons.

That are just gonna put out
So much radiation.

That it would basically
Fry the astronauts inside,

And the argument is
That you would need, like,

Up to a foot Of lead shielding.

So, I'm willing
To investigate this,

But, dude, you know
I've been to space, right?

Right. But in low-earth orbit.

You didn't go through
The van allen belt.

But you're gonna have to
Convince me of this.

- Okay.
- Okay?

Yeah, and that's why We're here.

Let's go take a look
At the capsule.

Let's find out.

- Alright.
- Okay.

So, there it is.

That is awesome.

To think three astronauts
Traveled to the moon and back.

In that tiny capsule,

Setting in motion all the events
That would come next.

And change my life.

This command module
Was developed and built for nasa.

To be the mothership
Of the apollo 11 spacecraft.

Man Ignition sequence started.

The 13,000-pound capsule
Is about 10 feet high.

And less than 13 feet
At its maximum diameter...

An incredibly tight space.

For three men to live and work
For eight days.

In total, its panels have
24 instruments, 566 switches,

40 event indicators,
And 71 lights.

Duke Hello, apollo 11. Houston.

How did it go? Over.

Collins Time to open up
The lrl doors, charlie.

Learning from the tragedy
Of the apollo 1 fire,

Nasa had this module designed
With a hatch.

That could open outward
In five seconds.

Earlier designs could take
Up to 90 seconds to open.

The capsule is constructed
Of a stainless-steel outer shell.

Surrounding
An inner shell of aluminum,

Several inches of
Fiberglass insulation between.

Since the 5,000-degree heat of
Re-entry could melt most metals,

The outer shell
Also had a resin shield.

Designed to char And melt off,

Absorbing and carrying away much
Of that heat in the process...

Man
Roger, we got you coming home.

Melvin Before splashing down
In the pacific ocean.

So, you know, Nobody disputes.

That this spacecraft
Went to space.

What they dispute is whether
It went to the moon and back,

Whether it could've survived.

The radiation environment
In space.

We're gonna prove that.

While I have my suspicions,
This is still really cool...

The capsule That actually took

Neil, mike, and buzz To space,

And, possibly, to the moon.

Because we're not allowed
To touch it,

Let alone get inside the capsule
To see how thick it is,

I've arranged
For a team to come over.

We'll be able to see how much
Shielding exists.

Inside the capsule.

Whenever I need high-tech gear
For investigations,

I call in specialists
Like darryn macdougall.

Since we're not allowed
To touch it,

Darryn's lidar scanner
Can compute the thickness.

Of the capsule walls for us.

Here's darryn With the scanner.

- How you doing?
- Good. How are you?

Good to see you.

We're really excited
You have the scanner here.

Can you tell us
A little bit about it.

And how it actually works? Sure.

It's a lidar scanner...
Light detection and ranging.

It's gonna take positions
Around here,

And it's gonna actually create
A 3-d model on a computer.

Alright, wonderful.
Well, let's see it go to use.

Jenkins
Lidar's the same technology.

Used in laser guidance,
Archaeology,

High-res map making,
And in driverless cars.

- Some light.
- Sure.

The footage will get
An exact read.

On just how protected
The astronauts were.

When traveling
Through the van allen belts.

Melvin Non-contacting,
Non-destructive,

But can get out information.

That's gonna maybe help us
Solve this mystery.

Yeah.

Bara Just looking at it,
It doesn't look like.

There's the lead
I think it would need.

To pass through
The van allen belts.

Jenkins We're gonna head back
To the situation room.

And analyze the results.

Jenkins It hinges on whether
There was enough protection.

To safeguard the astronauts,

And that's actually
Something we can test.

That has Radioactive stickers.

How dangerous is that Right now?

I got to tell you,
The outer skin was so ravaged.

By the return burn.

Into the earth's Atmosphere,

I was pretty shocked.

I feel like,
Given the radiation out there,

There needs to be
At least a foot of lead.

Making up the capsule walls.

To protect the astronauts.

You know, I remember those
Returns on the space shuttle,

Traveling
At 17,500 miles per hour.

Re-entering the atmosphere,
That shuttle heated up.

To 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yeah, you know, re-entry's
Challenging for any spacecraft.

There's no question about that,
But the real issue here.

Is the amount of shielding
That would be necessary.

To go through
The van allen belts.

I mean, that's really
The point of contention.

I got to tell you.
The results were staggering.

Less than three inches
Of steel and aluminum.

Okay, so three inches...
That's, like, wow.

It's pretty obvious that there
Was no way.

There was enough shielding
For them to be protected.

Going through
The van allen belts.

The walls of the capsule.

Were just not thick enough
To stop it.

Maybe there was No moon landing.

So, the idea...
If there's not enough shielding,

Is that evidence
That we didn't go to the moon?

Okay, three inches
Is pretty surprising,

But I'm sure there's
An explanation.

Maybe there is another way
To test this theory.

Jenkins
Really, it hinges on whether.

There was enough protection.

To safeguard the astronauts,

And that's actually
Something we can test.

There's a team
That's investigating.

How much protection
Is really needed.

For the van allen belt
Radiation.

Melvin We're heading to.

The carnegie institution
For science,

Where we'll test the radiation
Effects on a space capsule.

Jenkins Whenever
My investigations require.

Analysis of energy
And radiation,

I go to michael walter
And his team at carnegie.

To break down The information.

We're gonna need to test
Just how dangerous.

The van allen belt Radiation was.

Before we can draw
Any conclusions.

We're really wanting to see
What risks are posed.

By the radiation going through
The van allen belts.

Right.

There was a lot of radiation
Exposure potential.

During the apollo missions,

And the van allen belts,
Of course,

Are a big part of that,

And so a lot of the conspiracy
Crowd have argued that,

In order to survive
The radiation intensity.

That the astronauts
Went through,

The thing would have to Be built.

Out of A lot stronger material,

You know, shielded With lead...

That it simply wasn't possible
To go through.

Without getting burnt
To a crisp.

What exactly does it take.

To block the radiation
Of the van allen belts?

We need to understand
What that radiation's all about.

These are particles, and these
Particles are three kinds...

Protons, electrons,
Or beta particles,

And alpha particles,

Which are two protons
And two neutrons.

The inner van allen belt
Has a lot of proton flux,

And it's very dangerous,

So what nasa did
Was simply avoid it.

Because it's Relatively smaller.

And you can manage
To get around it.

But you can't get around
The outer belt,

And the outer belt
Has a very high flux.

Of beta particles...
Those are electrons.

So what we're gonna do today.

Is test the material
That the spacecraft was made of.

Was sufficient to block
Most of the radiation.

And that the radiation that
Did get through wasn't lethal.

Because the time spent
In the radiation belt.

Was relatively short.

What you're saying basically.

Is it's not just
The intensity of the radiation.

Or the type Of the radiation...

It's also the exposure time
That matters.

Exactly.

So, we have a plexiglass mock-up
Of the capsule.

We have two different kinds
Of radiation sources here.

That emulate
The kind of radiation.

That exists
In the outer van allen belt,

Which is what
The capsule went through.

That has Radioactive stickers.

How dangerous is that Right now?

These aren't dangerous.

The flux is so low
That it's much, much less.

Than getting an x-ray
At a dental office.

Alright, just "Caution...
Radioactive material".

Kind of alerts My, senses.

Of course.

Here is
Our alpha particle emitter.

It's radioactive.

And you can hear All the counts.

Going into That geiger counter.

It's about A millirad per hour.

Bara I'm curious to see what
This radiation test shows us,

Because
It will definitively tell us.

Whether or not the astronauts
Could've survived a trip.

Through
The van allen radiation belts.

So, what we're gonna do
Is we're gonna show you.

The stopping power
Of just the plexiglass.

In our mock-up capsule Here.

Dr. Walter is placing
His plexiglass replica.

Of the apollo 11 capsule.

On top
Of the radioactive pellet.

He's gonna measure
How much radiation.

Gets through The barrier.

Put that there.

Here's our capsule.

We'll lower
Our geiger counter in.

So what we're gonna do
Is we're gonna show you.

The stopping power
Of just the plexiglass.

In our mock-up capsule Here.

Jenkins
We're testing if the materials.

The apollo 11 capsule
Was made of.

Would be able to withstand
A lethal dose of radiation.

From the van allen belts.

Put that there.

Bara If this scaled-down test
Of these materials.

Cannot block significant levels
Of radiation,

It means the astronauts
Did not go to the moon.

There's our capsule.

Jenkins The van allen belts
Have been gauged.

At millions upon millions
Of millirads.

Even a scaled-down test
Like this.

Can determine the percentage
Of radiation that gets blocked.

Melvin
The disk is emitting a low dose.

Of radioactive protons,
Or alpha particles...

Approximately
One millirad worth...

Not enough to be harmful,
But we're gonna see.

How much can get through
A piece of plexiglass.

And we're getting
A couple of counts...

0.05 millirads per hour.

With a simple piece of plastic,
We're able to drop.

The radioactivity
Of alpha particles by 99%.

In terms Of the alpha particles,

No problem.

So, now, let's test
The beta particles.

There's a much higher flux
Of beta particles.

In the van allen belt,
And they're much smaller.

They're electrons,

And so they can penetrate
Through material.

Bara
So, this is a crucial test.

Since beta particles have
A much easier time.

Breaking through
Protective surfaces,

They pose a much greater danger
To the astronauts.

We are going to put the highest
Flux that we can in here.

"Highest flux" Meaning...

Meaning The most electrons...

Possible? Possible.

So, we've got a whole bunch
Of disks here.

Emitting beta particles.

And you can see that The flux.

Is about 2 millirads per hour,

So considerably higher
Than what we had.

With the alpha particles.

- Okay.
- Okay?

Okay, so now We're going to look.

At the blocking power
Of a thin layer of plexiglass.

Okay, so, now we're down
To about 0.9 to 1.

So we've blocked about
Half of... half of them.

Bara Half of the beta particles
Are still getting through,

And last time I checked,

They don't cover you
With a plastic-lined apron.

When you go get an x-ray
At the dentist.

They cover you
With a lead-lined apron.

There are
Some conspiracy theories.

Saying that the capsule
Needed to be made of lead.

In order to stop any of these
Particles from penetrating.

What is your thoughts
Behind that?

Well, lead would be great
Because it's very dense,

And so it would stop all these
Particles in their tracks.

The problem is
It's really, really heavy,

And you would never get
The spacecraft off the ground.

So the capsules were made
Out of two materials.

The inner shell was made
Out of aluminum,

And then there was an outer
Shell that was made of steel.

So what we're gonna do here.

Is we're gonna show
The blocking power of aluminum.

Melvin
Now we're getting to a test.

Of the actual material
Used on apollo 11.

This is what we came
To find out...

If three inches
Of aluminum and steel.

Provide enough of a barrier
Against space radiation.

So, I've got An aluminum plate,

Which is about
2 millimeters thick,

And, if you lift that up,

We'll put one plate
Over the disks.

And now the counts are down.

To about
0.1 or 0.2 millirads per hour.

Wow.

So you've blocked everything
In terms of the particles.

That are the most dangerous
In the outer van allen belt.

With just plexiglass
And a little bit of aluminum.

Right.

Well, there you go.
Science wins again.

All of these
Conspiracy theorists.

Should've really done
Their homework.

Before they started doubting.

The talented men and women
Of nasa.

That did send apollo 11
To the moon.

There's no doubt that before
The first time that they...

That they went through.

That there was
An unquantified risk.

To going through
The van allen belt,

But what nasa knew.

Is that they had mapped
The van allen belt.

To a degree where they knew
Where the hot spots were.

And the areas
Of the lowest radiation flux,

And so they planned
Their trajectories.

In such a way
To have the minimum exposure.

There were a lot of risks
With the moon missions.

Just getting off the ground,

You know,
Making it up into orbit,

Putting somebody on the moon
And getting them off...

Those were All much higher risks.

Than the risks of going through
The van allen belt.

Okay, that's why
We do the tests.

But, like dr. Walter said,
There are plenty of other risks.

So this test doesn't completely
Close the book.

On nasa Faking the moon landing.

You don't need lead shielding
To go to the moon.

You don't need lead shielding
To go to the moon.

I think the radiation test
Was awfully convincing.

With just a thin sheet
Of aluminum,

This stopped 99% of
The alpha and beta radiation.

The science demonstrated it,
And, you know,

There's all types
Of radiation out there.

Some of it's not harmful,
But if it is, agencies like nasa.

With all their scientists
And engineers,

Can figure out
How much shielding we need.

Yeah, I mean, look.

1%... I mean, you can get.

A higher dose of radiation
Than that.

Just by flying to denver.

And stepping off an airplane
Into the sunshine,

So I think
We can pretty much say that.

The idea that
The van allen radiation belts.

Would stop us
From going to the moon is...

All b.S.

Alright, so, the
Scientific proof that I saw.

Changed my mind.

We could have made it safely
Through the van allen belts.

But that still doesn't prove.

That we actually made it
To the moon in '69.

There is one other thing I'd
Like to bring up with you guys.

Did you know that we've
Only scratched the surface?

There are endless
Conspiracy theories out there.

Here we go.

Maybe there was No moon landing.

Alright.

Our investigations Continue.