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Flags from Apollo moon landing still standing, photos reveal
Fox News ^ | July 30, 2012 | Clara Moskowitz

Posted on 07/30/2012 7:11:53 PM PDT by DogByte6RER

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Comment #41 Removed by Moderator

To: CaptainKrunch
Not sure what episode number, but Mythbusters did a good job of completely debunking every major contention of the conspiracy nuts.

An excellent episode, particularly their investigation of "moonwalking" ... but it must be said they came up a little short on the footprint. They were not able to reproduce it, I thought, under their experimental conditions, but bluffed their way through. A mere blemish, but in these matters, blemishes count.

42 posted on 07/30/2012 9:43:07 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: 45semi
I remember a few years ago, on the fiftieth anniversary of the introduction of Hasbros GI Joe action figure I was posting a comment on FrontPage Magazine how I had one of those as a kid. I remember saying ‘’But with those darn pre-configured hands of his I could never get him to hold on to the rifle''. Someone posted back saying, "Must have been one made in France''.
43 posted on 07/30/2012 9:49:45 PM PDT by jmacusa (Political correctness is cultural Marxism. I'm not a Marxist.)
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To: Yardstick
Of course these are the Mooninites, who did actually commit a devastating attack against earth, as some of us may recall.
44 posted on 07/30/2012 9:56:54 PM PDT by dr_lew
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To: DogByte6RER

45 posted on 07/30/2012 10:07:42 PM PDT by South40 ("Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance." Hussein Obama, Cairo, Egypt, June 4, 2009)
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To: DogByte6RER
LROC's most frequently asked question answered:LRO slewed 19° down-Sun allowing the illuminated side of the still standing American flag to be captured at the Apollo 17 landing site. LROC Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) observation M113751661L, LRO orbit 1897, November 25, 2009; 52.5 cm resolution, angle of incidence 56.73° from 44.87 kilometers [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Mark Robinson
Principal Investigator
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera
Arizona State University
 

The most common questions to the LROC team before launch concerned what will we see at the Apollo sites? Will we see the Lunar Module descent stage and rovers? What about rover tracks, or the American flags? As we now know, the NAC images clearly show all of the above items (see links to earlier posts at the bottom). Personally I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did.

What they look like is another question (badly faded?). Much has been written about the Apollo flags, a comprehensive summary is available at the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.

Charlie Duke captures John Young saluting the flag while jumping, (twice). A great demonstration of the lower gravity on the Moon. Apollo 16 Lunar Module (LM) Orion and the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) are in the background. View the re-master original indexed at the Apollo 16 Lunar Surface Journal, HERE - MET: 120:25:42 - (AS17-113-18339) "He is off the ground about 1.45 seconds which, in the lunar gravity field, means that he launched himself at a velocity of about 1.17 m/s and reached a maximum height of 0.42 m. Although the suit and backpack weigh as much as he does, his total weight is only about 65 pounds (30 kg) and, to get this height, he only had to bend his knees slightly and then push up with his legs." Video Clip ( 3 min 21 sec 0.9 Mb RealVideo or 30 Mb MPEG ) [NASA].
The opening image was taken early in the mission, and is one of the best views of the American flag because the spacecraft was pointed towards the illuminated side of the flag, and Sun was low enough (56° incidence angle) such that distinct shadows were cast.

The flag was captured in this image of the Apollo 16 site with the spacecraft slewed 15° towards the Sun; the shadowed side of the flag is seen by LROC. NAC frame M175179080L, orbit 10950, November 6, 2011; native resolution 40.4 cm per pixel, angle of incidence 41.91° from 23.56 kilometers [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11. Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct! The most convincing way to see that the flags are still there, is to view a time series of LROC images taken at different times of day, and watch the shadow circle the flag (see movie below; the flag is just above the LM descent stage).


Visit the full resolution NAC of the Apollo 16 site HERE. A full resolution version of the Apollo 12 time series is available HERE.

Explore all the Apollo sites on LROC's new Featured Sites webpage!

Related Posts:
Exploring the Apollo 17 Site
Apollo 11 Low Altitude
Apollo 12 Low Altitude
Apollo 14 Low Altitude
Apollo 15 Low Altitude
Apollo 16 Low Altitude North Ray Crater
Apollo 17 Low Altitude
Apollo 17 Low Altitude Shorty Crater

46 posted on 07/31/2012 12:17:44 AM PDT by Prospero
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To: dr_lew

The shape of things to come.

47 posted on 07/31/2012 2:43:34 AM PDT by Right Wing Assault (Dick Obama is more inexperienced now than he was before he was elected.)
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To: DogByte6RER

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico — “NASA has begun drafting guidelines to protect the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 landing sites, listing them as off-limits, and including ground-travel buffers and no-fly zones to avoid spraying rocket exhaust or dust onto aging, but historic, equipment”


Oh, oh. The Apollo “truthers” will grab onto that and claim NASA wants the sites off-limits because they don’t want future astronauts/cosmonauts to see there is nothing there.


48 posted on 07/31/2012 7:55:46 AM PDT by chessplayer
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To: Past Your Eyes

i thought the mother ship from INDEPENDANCE DAY blew it down.


49 posted on 07/31/2012 8:47:26 AM PDT by bravo whiskey
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To: dr_lew

Nope.


50 posted on 07/31/2012 8:49:31 AM PDT by Past Your Eyes (What if there is no tomorrow? There wasn't one today.)
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To: DogByte6RER

I thought the “moon landings” were faked by the Masons? /s


51 posted on 07/31/2012 9:11:54 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator (Ki-hagoy vehamamlakhah 'asher lo'-ya`avdukh yove'du; vehagoyim charov yecheravu!)
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To: dr_lew

Oh of course, the Mooninites — I remember those guys.


52 posted on 07/31/2012 4:00:07 PM PDT by Yardstick
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To: dr_lew
An excellent episode, particularly their investigation of "moonwalking" ... but it must be said they came up a little short on the footprint. They were not able to reproduce it, I thought, under their experimental conditions, but bluffed their way through. A mere blemish, but in these matters, blemishes count.

Gravity would have a lot to do with inability to replicate on Earth the regolith footprint on the Moon. The force of Gravity would have a far different effect on overcoming the friction keeping the particles from falling. Here on Earth, a natural sand or powder snow slope is limited to a certain angle by gravity, about 50º or less, because any steeper, and gravity causes it to collapse. On the Moon with only ⅙ of a G of gravitational pull, a much steeper slope is possible before that slope would collapse. I would be willing to bet one could replicate it using fine grind dry cement powder as I have seen some very detailed impressions last quite a while in such a media. Put it in a vacuum where no errant gust of wind can add its chaos to the gravitational force and the impression could last quite a while.


Shoe imprint in fairly coarse gray sand,
fine portland cement would be far more detailed.

53 posted on 11/07/2015 4:44:20 PM PST by Swordmaker ( This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue....)
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