![Apollo 17 flag found, LRO slewed 19° down-Sun allowing the illuminated side of the still standing American flag to be captured at the Apollo 17 landing site. M113751661L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].](http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h71/DogByte6RER/?action=view¤t=M113751661L_with_inset50cm.png)
Posted on 07/30/2012 7:11:53 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
(LRO slewed 19° down-Sun allowing the illuminated side of the still standing American flag to be captured at the Apollo 17 site.)
An enduring question ever since the manned moon landings of the 1960s has been: Are the flags planted by the astronauts still standing?
Now, lunar scientists say the verdict is in from the latest photos of the moon taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC): Most do, in fact, still stand.
"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," LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson wrote in a blog post today (July 27). "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!"
Each of the six manned Apollo missions that landed on the moon planted an American flag in the lunar dirt.
Scientists have examined images of the Apollo landing sites before for signs of the flags, and seen hints of what might be shadows cast by the flags. However, this wasn't considered strong evidence that the flags were still standing. Now, researchers have examined photos taken of the same spots at various points in the day ...
![Apollo 16 Flag Salute, John Young captured saluting the flag while jumping! 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 [NASA/Charlie Duke].](http://s61.photobucket.com/albums/h71/DogByte6RER/?action=view¤t=AS16-113-18339_4web.png)
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
"...gave proof through the night, that our flag was still there..."
Wow!
You would think they would have been blown over by a hurricane or something by now.
“Even on Earth, the colors of a cloth flag flown in bright sunlight for many years will eventually fade and need to be replaced. So it is likely that these symbols of American achievement have been rendered blank, bleached white by the UV radiation of unfiltered sunlight on the lunar surface. Some of them may even have begun to physically disintegrate under the intense flux.”
Bleached white. Sure as hell wouldn’t be able to see colors after all this time.
Sort of ... good guess!
Okay, THAT was hilarious. I am still laughing at poor Stinky Pete and the white African American Studies expert with the “thuglife” t-shirt.
The conspiracy went so far as to remove September 31st from the calendar, if I might point out.
I can’t believe “Buffalo Butt” was the first man on the moon.
I can’t believe the USPS dropped stopped orbit to earth letter delivery. No wonder FedEx is beating the pants off them.
Of course the right answer could be provided by her fellow D-Moron compatriot Congress idiot Hank Johnson, who would respond that the rover couldn't get too close to the flag because the combined weight would capsize Mars.
lol — okay, I might have made that up.
And I see the gargomytes in your pic are communicating to us in the “universal language”.
President Obama, America did that (while you were likely somewhere else.)
President Obama, America did that (while you were likely somewhere else.)
Old Glory. Long May She Wave.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.