Now, as NASA delays its highly anticipated return to the moon to 2026, social media has once again been flooded with claims that man has never visited our lunar satellite.

The delayed missions have even led some sceptics to claim that ‘they can’t figure out how they did it the first time’.

It has been more than 50 years since humanity first set foot on the moon. And ever since, conspiracy theories that the landing was faked have been rife. Despite appearing to be waving in the wind, the flag taken by the Apollo 11 seen here with Buzz Aldrin is held up by a metal rod and is hanging crumpled in the Moon’s low gravity

As NASA delays its eagerly anticipated return to the moon to 2026, social media has once again been flooded with claims that man has never visited our lunar satellite

The delayed missions have even led some sceptics to claim that ‘they can’t figure out how they did it the first time’

‘They’re never going to fake another “moon landing”, one user wrote. ‘Artemis II or III will end in “disaster” and “human spaceflight” will be postponed indefinitely…’

READ MORE: NASA delays its eagerly anticipated return to the moon due to ‘safety concerns’

Citing safety concerns, NASA announced that Artemis II, which will complete a lunar fly-by, has been delayed until September next year.

Meanwhile, Artemis III, which will once again put astronauts on the moon, won’t now take place until September 2026.

These sudden and unexpected delays have ignited a wave of conspiracy theory content on X (formerly Twitter).

One commenter wrote: ‘The way you guys are preparing to land on the moon again it seems like it’s the 1st time you are actually planning moon Trip.’

Another wrote: ‘It seems like they can’t figure out how they did it the first time.’

And another added: ‘They’re never going to fake another “moon landing”‘.

Why do people claim the moon landing is a hoax?

The moon landing hoax theory is usually traced back to a 1976 book by Bill Kaysing titled ‘We Never Went to the moon: America’s Thirty Billion Dollar Swindle’.

The book was released at a moment of low trust in the Government and spread quickly.

Theorists claim that America didn’t have the capability to land on the moon in the 1960s and so faked it to win the space race.

The ‘evidence’ generally consists of trying to find flaws in the photos of the moon landing which suggest they were staged.

The moon landing conspiracy claims that America never completed the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969.

Rather, conspiracy theorists believe that NASA faked footage in a studio here on Earth, which was broadcast to people around the world.

The motivation was allegedly the US’s desperation to win the space race, but some wilder theories claim that it was faked because the moon does not exist or is flat.

Strangely, these theories also frequently claim that the moon landing footage was directed by Stanley Kubrick who had released 2001: A Space Odyssey the previous year.

These ideas have once again resurfaced on social media following the NASA delays, with one commenter writing: ‘Nasa is a hoax, Moon landing was a hoax, Kubrick fingerprints everywhere.’

Another X user, using the name The Flat Earther, wrote: ‘It seems that NASA is now so incompetent that they are unable to stage another fake moon landing, despite having access to superior CGI’.

One X user even called the Moon landing ‘one of the biggest frauds in human history’ and shared supposed ‘behind the scenes’ footage of the Moon landing filming.

However, as X’s community notes feature pointed out, this footage was actually from the 2018 film, First Man, starring Ryan Gosling.

The moon landing conspiracy claims that America never completed the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969

Conspiracy theorists believe that NASA faked footage in a studio here on Earth, which was broadcast to people around the world

One X user even called the Moon landing ‘one of the biggest frauds in human history’ and shared supposed ‘behind the scenes’ footage of the Moon landing filming

How do we know NASA landed on the moon?

Despite the claims of conspiracy theorists, we have good evidence for a moon landing in 1969.

There are items such as the flag and lander which were left behind that can be seen with high-powered telescopes.

There are photos and footage taken on the moon that have held up to years of scrutiny and examination.

There are reflectors installed on the moon that can bounce lasers back to Earth.

Jodrell Bank telescope also recorded the radio signature of the exact moment of the moon landing.

We even brought back 840lbs of moon rock that has been verified by labs around the world.

Of course, none of these theories have any truth to them.

When the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon, the crew did more than just walk around and take pictures.

They also placed a retroreflector array on the moon’s surface consisting of 100 glass prisms that function like a giant mirror.

This allows observatories on Earth to bounce lasers off the moon and accurately determine the distance between the two.

These mirrors still function to this day, allowing anyone to easily test this for themselves.

Besides this, the landing was actually observed live by astronomers on Earth.

At the Jodrell Bank radio telescope in Cheshire, Sir Bernard Lovell and his team accurately recorded the precise path of the lunar lander.

On the recordings of the radio signals, which still exist in the Jodrell Bank archives, you can even see the moment that Neil Armstrong took manual control of the craft.

If you’re still not convinced, then you only need to look at the flimsy evidence offered by the conspiracy theorists.

One of the most common conspiracy claims is that the shadows in a photo taken by Neil Armstrong are not parallel.

But even on Earth it is easy to observe situations where two parallel lines do not appear parallel.

This is the radio information from the Joderell Bank telescope which shows the exact moment that the Apollo 11 mission landed on the moon

READ MORE: Nine astonishing facts about our Moon that will leave you staring at the sky in awe

To debunk this myth all you need to do is go outside when the Sun is low and you can see this effect for yourself.

Another common claim made by conspiracy theorists focuses on an image of Buzz Aldrin saluting the American Flag.

In the photo, the flag can be seen cheerily waving, but of course there is no wind on the moon – so how is this possible?

The answer is, in fact, very obvious.

A closer examination of the flag in the photo clearly shows that there is a metal pole keeping it held up.

The flag is crumpled after being stored for four days en route and remains wrinkled precisely because there is no wind and little gravity on the moon.

Finally, conspiracy theorists point out that all the pictures of the Moon fail to show any stars in the sky.

If the image were taken on the Moon, shouldn’t the lack of atmosphere result in a fantastic starry sky?

However, anyone who has ever tried to take a picture of the sky at night will know this isn’t the case.

Conspiracy theorists claim that the non-parallel lines in this photo taken on the Moon by Neil Armstrong prove it was taken under studio lights, however, this same effect occurs on Earth any time the sun is low in the sky

While you cannot see any stars in this image of Buzz Aldrin, this is due to a constraint on the photographic technology which cannot simultaneously show the bright lunar surface and dim stars

You will notice that the astronauts and vehicles are brightly lit by the Sun because they are taken in the lunar day.

To capture any clear images of the lunar surface, the camera needed a low aperture and fast shutter speed, which means that stars simply wouldn’t show up on film.

It might seem odd that a 50-year-old conspiracy would still gain such an explosive reaction.

However, Dr Daniel Jolley, a social psychologist at the University of Nottingham, told MailOnline that this theory has survived because of three key ingredients – a perceived powerful actor, a hidden agenda, and a motive.

In this case, NASA is the actor which is perceived as being too powerful, covering up its failures is the hidden agenda, and the motive is to win the space race.

‘It really ticks off those three ingredients,’ Dr Jolley explained.

‘Because it fits in with the context of people distrusting the government at the time [of the landing] and because it’s a big event it really hit a nerve.’

READ MORE: NASA-backed spacecraft carrying JFK’s DNA will only survive for 40 HOURS

At the time of the moon landings, many people had begun to distrust the government.

Dr Jolley says that the Moon landing conspiracy may have been born out of people trying to make sense of the world while dealing with this radical distrust.

He said: ‘It all comes out of that place of suspicion. If there is this one bad group trying to harm you, then there’s probably another group trying to do the same thing.’

This also explains why so many of the commenters on X sharing conspiracies about the Moon landing also promote anti-vax and flat Earth conspiracies.

‘You don’t just necessarily distrust scientists, you probably distrust many different people so these conspiracies align together because of this central worldview,’ Dr Jolley said.

Pictured, the crew of Artemis II, which was supposed to take place in 2024. Victor Glover (second from left) is the first person of colour selected for a moon trip, while Christina Koch (second from right) is the first woman. They have been chosen alongside Reid Wiseman (left) from Baltimore, Maryland and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen (right)

Likewise, Professor Karren Douglas, a Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Kent, told MailOnline that conspiracy theories arise when people’s psychological needs are frustrated.

Professor Douglas said: ‘People are looking for ways to understand what is going on and looking for ways to cope with difficult situations and unexpected and upsetting information.

‘A simple explanation is also often not very appealing. People assume that a big event must also have a big or more sinister cause, which is why conspiracy theories can be appealing in many cases.’

However, while they might seem curious and even entertaining, Dr Douglas also warns that these theories can be dangerous.

She added: ‘Conspiracy theories have consequences, and can affect people’s, intentions and behaviours.

‘Conspiracy theories historically have been linked with prejudice, extremism, genocide, risky health behaviour, climate denial, and more recently some quite disturbing behaviour.’