The Flags Are Still There

Sorry, Euro-hipster communists: the moon landings weren’t faked by the U.S. government. The folks behind the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) recently released images showing the Apollo landings’ flags were still standing, except for Apollo 11. Buzz Aldrin said they knocked it down as they left the Moon’s surface.

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).

Some of the images from the Apollo landings are stunning — and for real!

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2 Comments

  • bb2 says:

    some trivia… the moon lacks an atmosphere, so there is no wind present. The flag is actually suspended from an upside down “L”. The unkempt look of the flag is due to the fact that it is not completely unfurled because the gravity pulling down on the fabric is only 1/6 that experienced on earth.

    What is fascinating about this (and many, many other things) is the fact that NASA, et al had to plan for all of these things prior to launch. They really had to think of every little detail. Explorers Cartier, Columbus and Cook knew they could stop along the way to replenish certain supplies. On Space missions, there’s no 7-11 nor Home Depots to run to if you need to modify your flag pole last minute.

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