moon Flag visible from earth?

I am writting a paper in my Anglish class about the moon landings (if i think they happened or not) and i was wondering If you pointed a powerful enough telescope towards the landing site could you see the Flag and foot prints? and/or have you done it yourself?

Originally posted by Nip
I am writting a paper in my Anglish class about the moon landings (if i think they happened or not) and i was wondering If you pointed a powerful enough telescope towards the landing site could you see the Flag and foot prints? and/or have you done it yourself?

You won't be able to see any of the Apollo artifacts left there with the current Earth based telescopes. I believe you'd need a telescope with a mirror that's about 200m in diameter. Currently the largest is 10m. The atmosphere also creates a bit of distortion as well. The best method to view the Apollo landings sights would be to a probe in a low lunar orbit. Which NASA will be doing in 2008, but you won't be able to see footprints or the flag clearly. You will be able to see the Lunar decent module and lunar rover and things like that though.

Also, all 6 flags on the Lunar surface have more than likely disintegrated by now, due to being exposed to the Sun and what not for long periods at a time. I don't think a thin piece of fabric will hold up very well for close to 40 years.

wasnt the us flag made of nylon? or something strong like that, they wanted it to last for a while

[edit on 3/2/2007 by SG-17]

Originally posted by SG-17
wasnt the us flag made of nylon? or something strong like that, they wanted it to last for a while

I honestly don't know, but that seems like it would be the material to use. I don't think it would last for ever though. I've seen it mentioned elsewhere that they might not have lasted this long or at least not be in the best of shape at any rate. It's mostly just speculative at this point.

I wouldn't be suprised that the flag got hit by a meteorite, seeing as there are so many metorite strikes a day on the moon.


I doubt the footprints survived.


THR

I don't think even the Hubble space telescope can resolve items so small as what was left from Apollo on the moon. But the flag and footsteps as well as remains of the lunar landers and rovers should all still be there waiting to be rediscovered when we finally do return to the moon.

the flag would probably be pretty hard to spot as from what i understand, was blown over when the craft lifted off. there would probably be a fair amount of lunar dust and debris on it that would conceal a good deal of it.

ok thx alot guys I won;t put "you can see the flag from earth" in my paper

Originally posted by Nip
I am writting a paper in my Anglish class about the moon landings (if i think they happened or not) and i was wondering If you pointed a powerful enough telescope towards the landing site could you see the Flag and foot prints? and/or have you done it yourself?

May I suggest extra homework on that 'English' class?

Hubble needs major adjustments to see anything on the moon...

There is only one image I can find on the net. Its Aristarchus Crater and even that was supplemented by data from Clementine



svs.gsfc.nasa.gov...

The 200 inch scope at My Palomar... I wrote them looking for images of the Moon...

The response....

Subject:
Re: Images
From:
Scott Kardel
Date: Wed, 06 Dec 2006 09:34:36 -0800
To: Ron Schmidt

Hi Ron,

I haven't seen any images of the Moon from Palomar either. It is possible that some were taken long ago, but astronomers would rather explore the Moon with spacecraft and use the big telescopes for observing much, much fainter objects.

Clear skies,

- Scott

W. Scott Kardel
Public Affairs Coordinator, Palomar Observatory
Telephone: (760) xxx-xxxx
E-mail: [redacted].caltech.edu
WWW:www.palomar-observatory.org

We drove up the mountain in San Jose to the Lick Observatory... looking for moon pictures [we had a few specific ones we wanted) They only sell one poster and a few 8x10's] We were told the image library is at the University and is presently unavailable...

We tracked it down to an Archive in Santa Cruz... and we were told we could make an appointment to see the photo library...

Upon arrival we discovered that we could have access to the historical images... but NOT the moon photos...

There is no telescope on Earth that can show an object the size of a lander, much less a flag... even in most satellite images all you get is a circle on a tiny spec that they say is the lander

Yet on Mars we can see the lander...

You want to pass English... leave the Moon Hoax out.... I have found that English teachers are not easily amused with wild ideas...

To JRA

As to that flag... don't forget the raging terminator dust storms that NASA is telling us about... I bet they play havoc on flags

there is no atmosphere on the moon, atleast not a strong one. The flag should still be there unless it was hit by a meteor.

I watched a tv program awhile ago that said the footprints should last for about 2 million years, unless they are hit.

Explain to me how something would magically deteriorate in space. maybe a little sunbleached, but thats about it. deterioration comes from elements

Originally posted by 30 Seconds
Explain to me how something would magically deteriorate in space.

The Moon Pixies made it go away... it was an eyesore

maybe a little sunbleached,

Try burned to a crisp by Cosmic Radiation and Solar Radiation in a thin atmosphere... Ever leave a piece of fabric or nylon outside in Las Vegas? Two years tops and the nylon disintegrates to powder... a great boon for the lawn furniture people

deterioration comes from elements

Yeah like the tremendous sand storms that follow the terminator around the moon... powerful enough to be of major concern to NASA and create gorgeous Moon Fountains at sunrise and sunset

Originally posted by 30 Seconds
there is no atmosphere on the moon, atleast not a strong one. The flag should still be there unless it was hit by a meteor.

I watched a tv program awhile ago that said the footprints should last for about 2 million years, unless they are hit.

Explain to me how something would magically deteriorate in space. maybe a little sunbleached, but thats about it. deterioration comes from elements

Over the course of millions of years, dust from impacts will gradually cause the footprints to be covered up.

Originally posted by 30 Seconds
Explain to me how something would magically deteriorate in space. maybe a little sunbleached, but thats about it. deterioration comes from elements

More than a bit Sun bleached I would think. With no atmosphere to filter the Suns UV rays and the long periods of exposure to the Sun over the past 40 years. That would probably take its toll on the nylon material.

But like I said over a year ago in this thread. That's just speculative.

Originally posted by ngchunter
Over the course of millions of years, dust from impacts will gradually cause the footprints to be covered up.

So your not buying NASA's dust storms huh?

I think there is a Russian flag on the Moon.
Delivered by remote control.

Still the message is you can't do it... see anything on the Moon.

Originally posted by zorgon

Originally posted by ngchunter
Over the course of millions of years, dust from impacts will gradually cause the footprints to be covered up.

So your not buying NASA's dust storms huh?

Nice dodge. Lunar "dust storms" are probably too insignificant in nature to cover up the footprints on a short time span. In order for a charged particle of dust to leave the lunar surface the electrostatic force must exceed adhesive forces, which are probably greater inside the bootprints where the lunar soil has been packed together by the boot. Ironically, the evidence for "moonstorms" comes from an experiment designed to monitor the rate of micrometeroite dust falling on the moon. Whether transport of lunar surface fines or micrometeorite dust falls become the dominant factor in erasing the footprints is debateable.

[edit on 27-7-2008 by ngchunter]