quote Originally posted by Smoooooth GT: I still am not sure how the flag moved [b]IF it was really there AND in a metal frame?? I mean was the frame melting or what?? [/B]

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/mars/reference/flag/flag.html again

Of course a flag can wave in a vacuum. In the shot of the astronaut and the flag, the astronaut is rotating the pole on which the flag is mounted, trying to get it to stay up. The flag is mounted on one side on the pole, and along the top by another pole that sticks out to the side. In a vacuum or not, when you whip around the vertical pole, the flag will ``wave'', since it is attached at the top. The top will move first, then the cloth will follow along in a wave that moves down. This isn't air that is moving the flag, it's the cloth itself.

New stuff added March 1, 2001: Many HBs show a picture of an astronaut standing to one side of the flag, which still has a ripple in it (for example, see this famous image). The astronaut is not touching the flag, so how can it wave?

The answer is, it isn't waving. It looks like that because of the way the flag was deployed. The flag hangs from a horizontal rod which telescopes out from the vertical one. In Apollo 11, they couldn't get the rod to extend completely, so the flag didn't get stretched fully. It has a ripple in it, like a curtain that is not fully closed. In later flights, the astronauts didn't fully deploy it on purpose because they liked the way it looked. In other words, the flag looks like it is waving because the astronauts wanted it to look that way. Ironically, they did their job too well. It appears to have fooled a lot of people into thinking it waved.

This explanation comes from NASA's wonderful spaceflight web page. For those of you who are conspiracy minded, of course, this doesn't help because it comes from a NASA site. But it does explain why the flag looks as it does, and you will be hard pressed to find a video of the flag waving. And if it was a mistake caused by a breeze on the set where they faked this whole thing, don't you think the director would have tried for a second take? With all the money going to the hoax, they could afford the film!

Note added March 28, 2001: One more thing. Several readers have pointed out that if the flag is blowing in a breeze, why don't we see dust blowing around too? Somehow, the HBs' argument gets weaker the more you think about it.
http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html#flag

All you doubters just go ahead and doubt. If you got in a rocket, flew to the moon, and looked at the flag with your own disbelieving eyes, you'd say "well, someone put it here after the fact - it wasn't left by the Apollo astronauts."

There is no proof strong enough to convince the conspiracy theorists and doubters. To them, you can't even prove water is wet.

I thought china had a plan for close up pictures sometime in the next few years. Which should prove that they did.

quote Originally posted by JohnnyK: I thought china had a plan for close up pictures sometime in the next few years. Which should prove that they did.

That won't prove anything. You've got people saying pictures taken ON the moon are fake. It wouldn't be hard for the Chinese to fake pics, too.

People also ignore the fact that the USSR independantly verified our landing on the moon.

the moon landing was a hoax? i stayed up all night in 1969 to watch a hoax?
and all those times my family drove to the cape to watch apollo and shuttle launches, they were hoaxes too?
gee, i bet the holocaust was a hoax. and world war 2, and the destroyer my father served on? let's see, my father went with us to the hoax cape, and served on a hoax destroyer! of course! my father was a hoax!

the internet, it's a hoax too! youre all hoaxes! aaaaaaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

wait, if my father is a hoax, maybe I am a hoax too. it's all perfectly logical. it all makes sense now! i know, it's a conspiracy. SHHHHH! theyre listening. dont let on you know. get out of my head! leave me alone! aaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!

hey! watchoo lookin at?
[This message has been edited by lurker (edited 09-30-2002).]

[This message has been edited by lurker (edited 09-30-2002).]