There’s one thing I don’t quite get about the people who believe the Apollo missions to the moon were faked. There are plenty of other – smarter – people who have discredited the claims that Hollywood had more to do with Neil Armstrrong, Buzz Aldrin et al going to the moon than Houston. And I’m not going to work through those claims one by one.

But here’s the thing I don’t get. If the moon landing was faked, why hasn’t anyone faked a Mars landing yet?

Surely the Soviets had plenty of motivation. They needed to restore pride in their technological superiority. And what about Nixon, during the dark days of Watergate? Or Ronald Reagan as part of a death blow to Communism? No one tried. The technology to fake a trip is better. People have more skills. But no one even thought about faking a Mars landing?

So while thousands of people in the 60s apparently lied about the US space program and pretty much got away with it, no one has ever bothered faking a trip to Mars. Makes you wonder.

Photo: h.koppdelaney