A recent TV program resurfaced old questions - including several dozen e-mails to the NASA Web site - about whether or not NASA really sent astronauts to the Moon between 1969 and 1972. We did. NASA first rebutted the questions in 1977, and several private Web sites have answered the TV show specifically or the whole hoax theory generally. One subject not raised at all in the program was the more than 800 pounds of lunar rocks that astronauts brought back to Earth. Geologists worldwide have been examining these samples for 30 years, and the conclusion is inescapable. The rocks, clearly formed in the absence of oxygen and water, could not have been collected or manufactured on Earth. An in-depth discussion of the analysis of Apollo lunar samples is available from the Lunar and Planetary Institute Web site.

Meanwhile, back in the 21st century, the STS-98 crew is preparing to come home after undocking from the International Space Station. Landing is scheduled for Sunday.

Full story at: http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/apollo.html