Top 10 Apollo hoax claims

Sceptic: The Stars and Stripes appears to be waving in the wind, which is impossible without an atmosphere. Some of those so-called scientists at Nasa should have done their homework a bit better
Believer: The flag did not need wind to move, and does not move in any of the videos unless touched. When it is set in motion, the lack of atmosphere and hence air resistance mean the flag takes a long time to settle Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: Shadows cast by objects on the surface point in different directions, which proves there were several light sources – as in a TV studio
Believer: A low sun and uneven surface can distort the angles of shadows in images. And if there are multiple light sources, why does each object only cast one shadow? Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: A third person would have had to be there with a camera to take photographs of astronauts arriving on the moon and blasting off again. They must think we're stupid!
Believer: Footage of Neil Armstrong’s small step was shot by a camera mounted on the outside of the Eagle lander. Pictures of Armstrong’s first step taken from the surface of the moon are actually Buzz Aldrin descending the ladder, snapped by Armstrong. Remote cameras left on the moon could easily record the departure of lunar modules Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: If the Apollo astronauts had really travelled to the moon, they would have been cooked by a giant belt of lethal space radiation
Believer: These 'Van Allen belts', where the Earth’s magnetic field concentrates solar radiation, would be dangerous only if people lingered there for several days. In fact the astronauts whizzed through in a matter of hours, receiving a radiation dose no greater than a medical X-ray Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: A moon rock photographed during Apollo 16’s mission is marked with the letter C. It’s a prop, which shows the whole thing was staged. Doh!
Believer: The C doesn’t appear in the original Nasa negatives or prints. Under close magnification it looks like a hair or fibre that has contaminated a later reproduction Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: Boots would only have left their imprint on the lunar surface in moist material. Try leaving your footprint on a dry sandy beach
Believer: Particles of moon dust have a different size and shape from sand and don't need moisture to hold a compressed shape. Many powders on Earth can behave in the same way. Try walking in spilt talcum powder Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: There was no exhaust flame spurting from beneath the lunar module when it blasted off from the moon. It's clearly a model being pulled up on a wire
Believer: The Saturn V rocket that carried Apollo into space burnt liquid oxygen and kerosene, creating a dramatically fiery plume. The lunar lander, on the other hand, was propelled by a mixture of nitrogen tetroxide and Aerozine 50, which doesn't. Its exhaust gases were transparent Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: Space is full of stars, as any 10-year-old will tell you, so why do they not appear in photographs taken on the moon?
Believer: The astronauts were taking pictures of brightly lit, shiny white objects. Under those conditions photographers shoot with a fast exposure time and small aperture. That makes it impossible to capture faint objects in a dark background, such as stars Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: An Australian lady called Una Ronald saw a coke bottle kicked across the moon during the Apollo 11 landing. How careless! It must have been filmed in a studio
Believer: Where to start? Una, if she exists, saw something that the rest of the watching world missed, and of which zero evidence survives. This coke is unlikely to be the real thing Photograph: Nasa

Sceptic: Nasa could end all the moon conspiracy claims tomorrow by using the Hubble Space Telescope (above) to take pictures of the equipment left behind. But of course it doesn't. I wonder why not?
Believer: While Hubble has sent back astonishing images from the ends of the universe, the galaxies, supernovae and nebulae it has revealed all have one thing in common: they are very, very big. The largest piece of man-made rubbish on the moon is what remains of the Eagle lander, about 10m across. That’s just too small for Hubble to see. Still believe the moon landings were faked? Photograph: Nasa