# Can we see the USA flag on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022 "2002-12-02T19:53:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022/41 "2002-12-03T21:58:28Z")
There’s one other point to consider – you’d be trying to look at the flag edge-on. ---
**Author:** ![Drum\_God](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drum_god/32/44_2.png) [@Drum\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drum_God)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022/42 "2002-12-03T22:10:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Nametag \* > \*\*Uh, if they’re in Montana, they’re looking at the near side of the moon, and “dark side” refers to the part of the near side that’s dark **at that time**. Apparently, this dark part is visibly lit by artificial lights in the 24th century. \*\* Okay… I was typing in a hurry and the words did not come out clearly. What I really meant is, if cities were on the moon, could one see their lights when looking into the night side (as in the dark side of the terminator) of the moon from Earth? On the moon, did the Apollo astronauts see Earth’s cities? Of course, when looking at terrestrial cities, you have the atmosphere and its weather and pollution in the way. ---
**Author:** ![zwaldd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a9adbd/32.png) [@zwaldd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zwaldd)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022/43 "2002-12-03T22:47:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Scuba\_Ben \* > \*\*There’s one other point to consider – you’d be trying to look at the flag edge-on. \*\* True - from just a few hundred feet above, probably even less, it would be difficult to differentiate the edge-on top of a non-waving flag from any other scratch in the terrain. ---
**Author:** ![bernse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@bernse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bernse)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2002, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022/44 "2002-12-03T23:26:00Z")
Didn’t the flags get knocked over when the Ascent burner got lit on the LEM? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022/45 "2002-12-04T00:11:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bernse \* > \*\*Didn’t the flags get knocked over when the Ascent burner got lit on the LEM? \*\* On one of the launches, I think that happened. There is a private company that’s planning on sending unmanned craft to the Moon to photograph the landing sites, among other things. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022/46 "2002-12-04T01:54:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BioHazard \* > **Why can’t the VLT take hundreds of photos each one 1/100 of a pixel offset then use a computer to combine them all?** That would work if the main limitation was motion blur. As I explained, the main limitation is the distortion caused by the earth’s atmosphere. Once you overcome that with adaptive optics, you face the diffraction limit which you can only overcome by increasing the aperture or using interferometry. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-we-see-the-usa-flag-on-the-moon/140022.md?page=2)