The legendary astronaut, who passed away in 2012, became the first man to walk on the lunar surface after commanding NASA’s mission on July 21, 1969. Along with Buzz Aldrin, the pair directed the lunar lander down to the Moon, in what became a tense situation, coming dangerously close to running out of fuel, but thanks to some manual overriding of the computer by Armstrong, they safely landed at Tranquillity base. Much to the relief of the millions watching back on Earth, Armstrong emerged from the Eagle and delivered his “one small step” speech before burying the US flag into the surface, signifying the end of the Space Race.
But, for years, this monumental achievement has been overshadowed by claims from conspiracy theorists that the whole thing was staged on a film set, so in 2011, Armstrong – who was 81-years-old at the time – headed to Australia, where he was interviewed by the Certified Practicing Accountants Organisation’s CEO Alex Malley.
Mr Malley said: “On landing, of course, there was celebrations that took to a great extent, I don’t think it ever stopped.
“Ever since that time there have been people who have claimed that the Moon landing never happened.
“Imagine that, after all the effort and all the passion, that there are still people that would say that.
“What was your initial response to that? When I talked to you, you said something incredible about the number of people involved?”
Armstrong outlined what he thought would be definite proof for anyone who visits the Moon in the future.
He said: “I don’t recall what I said, but people love conspiracy theories, I mean they are very attractive.
“But it was never a concern to me because I know that one day somebody is going to go fly back up there and pick up that camera I left. So they will be sure then.”
But, Mr Malley recalled something else that Armstrong had previously told him, to which the former astronaut soon remembered and agreed.
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He said: “Well I recall, and I think it was a fantastic response, see I hang off every word you say.
“It was about the fact that 800,000 staff at NASA couldn’t possibly keep a secret and knowing how people work I think that is so compelling.
“But in that conversation as well, you alerted me to the fact that someone has put together the most marvellous combination of your landing against Google Moon mapping.
“This, side-by-side, clearly endorses, not only that, but every crater, the flag, there’s been no property development we’ve decided when we looked at the footage.”
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An incredible video was then played for Armstrong, showing his original landing, next to what can be seen on Google Moon today.
Commentating on the footage, Armstrong said: “This slide shows the trajectory to the surface, the actual powered descent of the lunar module to the surface took 12. minutes and 32 seconds and this is just the final three minutes.
“In the left screen, you will see the original 1969 movie film that we took from the window of the lunar module Eagle and on the right side, you will see what the crew saw looking out the window in front.
“There is a shaded area there that shows you the exact duplicate of the area that’s on the left, so you can compare the craters and see.”