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Why does the flag look rippley in the picture at the top? Had he just planted it?
by tocomment 14y ago
Why does the flag look rippley in the picture at the top? Had he just planted it?
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- emmelaich 14y ago(hope you're not trolling) It's rigid, but made to look like it's in a breeze. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Flag_Assembly http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Flag_Assembly I
- tocomment 14y agoI know, it does sound like I am but I'm genuinely curious.
- ktizo 14y agoThis might help you - http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html
- tocomment 14y agoI can see how a bar would hold it stretched out, but what is giving the appearance of motion? And making the bottom corner look somewhat lifted up?
- capnrefsmmat 14y agoGiven that there is no air resistance on the Moon, any residual motion when it was planted would remain for some time. If the astronaut started it flapping when he planted it in the ground and adjusted the arm, it would probably flap for quite a while.
- mseebach 14y agoIt looks to me like it's still crumbled and creased from being packed up tightly.
- tocomment 14y agoMaybe with 1/6 gravity the creases stay folded up more than they would on Earth?
- ben1040 14y agoThis page, linked off the above mentioned Wikipedia article, is actually a pretty interesting read on the engineering challenge of shipping a flag to the Moon in such a manner that people in space suits could unpack it and set it up. http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/flag/flag.htm http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/history/flag/flag.htm The first U.S. flag on the moon was deployed by Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin during their historic EVA on 20 July 1969 (at 4 days, 14 hours and 9 minutes mission-elapsed time). The flag was seen worldwide on live television (Fig. 6). At their technical crew debriefing, Armstrong and Aldrin reported few problems with the deployment. They had trouble extending the horizontal telescoping rod and could not pull it all the way out. This gave the flag a bit of a "ripple effect," and later crews intentionally left the rod partially retracted.
- Jun8 14y agoThe first answer to this (idiotic) question is the correct one: http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/12051/if-there-is-no-gravity-on-the-moon-why-is-the-american-flag-waving http://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/12051/if-there-is...
- Luc 14y agohttp://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-usflag.html http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/alsj-usflag.html "Armstrong and Aldrin reported few problems with the deployment. They had trouble extending the horizontal telescoping rod and could not pull it all the way out. This gave the flag a bit of a "ripple effect," and later crews intentionally left the rod partially retracted."
- datalus 14y agoLittle known fact, astronauts are trolls.
- astrodust 14y agoFact: The whole manned mission to the moon was just to troll the USSR.
- snowwrestler 14y agoThe flag is fabric and was packed very tightly into a small container. The extender bar stretches it out, but does not eliminate the creases and wrinkles from being packed so tightly. On Earth, fabric tends to relax over time as it is pulled downward by gravity and absorbs water vapor from the air. Not much of either on the moon.