Why would they waste hundreds of thousands of dollars of rocket fuel on a hoax? Aren't lots of independent observers tracking this capsule there and back again? Some of whom would love nothing more than to point at a hoax and say, "Aha! Your government are lying to you! And here's our proof.." But they don't.

Can bitter enemies on the chessboard of earth agree to keep huge secrets because it helps them tell the same lie to their own peoples? I seriously doubt it.