As you know, the four American astronauts who recently joined a space mission to the Moon didn't actually land on the lunar surface. They only orbited the Moon. Still, they traveled further into deep space than any human has ever gone before. Let’s call that a victory for mankind. They also saw the "far side" of the Moon (the side we can't see) for the first time. However, China had previously landed a craft on that far side. That, too, was a victory.
Last year, We took a trip to Tenerife—a journey I haven’t written about on the blog yet. It was to celebrate our wedding anniversary and to meet Osvaldo Oliva, a Cuban friend who studied with me in the Soviet Union.
In Tenerife, within the Teide mountain range, there is a volcano. Inside the caldera known as Las Cañadas, there is a volcano formed 170,000 years ago that is still considered active. It last erupted in 1909 and has a very high potential to erupt again. The TV movie La Palma is a good fictionalized drama based on true events regarding such occurrences.
We all know that Americans first landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. After that, they went about six more times until 1972. I think it stopped because they realized it was extremely expensive and didn't yield enough profit, even from a research perspective. So, why did America actually go to the Moon?
If we think the way America thought?
Back then, space was actually being conquered by the "infant" Soviet Union. It was a country that had only been established for about sixty years. It was a nation that had faced a World War, lost 20 million people, and yet managed to rise. To make matters worse for the U.S., the Soviets were spreading socialism around the world. Cuba had its revolution in 1953. America’s history was about 200 years old, and by then, it was the most powerful country in the capitalist world. Could they afford to lose to the Communists?
In those days, the "Soviet big shots" were getting all the publicity. By then, they had sent the dog Laika into orbit (though that faces criticism now). After that came Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space, and Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman. They were significantly ahead. Europe and other countries weren't even close. To save face, America had to do something radical. So, they prepared the Moon mission.
After America went and brought back soil samples, the Soviet Union sent Luna spacecraft to bring back soil samples using a robotic arm. Those didn't get much publicity back then.
Oliva tells me that scientists say that after the volcano erupted, this area of Tenerife looks like the surface of the Moon or even Mars. When I checked, it turned out to be true. At that moment, I wondered: Did America actually go to the Moon? You can find a vast amount of information on the web claiming they didn't—conspiracy theories. Bill Kaysing, who worked at a company called Rocketdyne, was the first to popularize this story, calling the first Moon landing a hoax.
So, one might truly wonder—since Tenerife belonged to Spain at the time, was sparsely populated with very few tourists, and was part of a relatively poor country—if such a "mission" was filmed there. Did they bring Neil Armstrong there and film the landing? Is that why the American flag appears to wave in the wind? Well, take a look at these pictures.
However, if someone were to ask me now whether America actually went to the Moon in 1969, my answer would be Yes. My reasons include the fact that they brought back about 300kg of moon rocks, and that countries like the Soviet Union and Japan were watching the mission very closely. Furthermore, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been able to take photos of the equipment left behind by the original astronauts.
But who knows... maybe they did some practicing in Tenerife!
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
AJITH Dharma 04/05/2026
