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 ...
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
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.
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]. |
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 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]. |
The shape of things to come.
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.
i thought the mother ship from INDEPENDANCE DAY blew it down.
Nope.
I thought the “moon landings” were faked by the Masons? /s
Oh of course, the Mooninites — I remember those guys.
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 â 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.
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.