If you were alive at the time and old enough to understand the political situation AC you would know they were scary times, it was touch and go with the USSR and the US, talk of nuclear war was everywhere. It was plain to see the USSR was way ahead of the US in the space race and this could not be allowed to continue, a quick fix was badly needed, and whoever reached the moon first would be the undisputed top dog and win the favour and admiration of the
World into the bargain, a nice prize in World politics.
The truth is no living thing can get through the Van Allen Radiation belt, the Russians knew this and never tried, it was a political manuver and it paid off at the time. To this day no human or animal has gone any further into space than orbiting distance.
I've seen every documentary made on the subject 'Did they or did they not' and I could go on forever, I felt embarrassed for the NASA spokesman on TV the other night, he was trying to explain the awkward questions and his eyes were all over the place, poor chap I didn't envy him.
As the years go on and the more the flimsy photographic record and the bad technology are studied the more questions will be asked, but the truth will out in the long run. I think it's getting harder to fool the people these days.

If it was a fake how did the mirror on the moon get there? Scientists and countries totally un connected with NASA and the USA bounce laser beams off it to measure the distance the earth is from the moon.

As conspiracy theories go this is the weakest. Daft!

So that's where my pet rock went!