# Is the American flag still on the moon? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 12, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983 "2007-09-12T22:28:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/41 "2007-09-13T15:58:11Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] How well do you suppose you would do calling heads or tails for a quarter on the Washington Monument, if you were looking from Miami? Tris [/QUOTE] I bet I could hit about 50%… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/42 "2007-09-13T16:44:41Z")
[QUOTE=Astroboy14] I bet I could hit about 50%… 😃 [/QUOTE] [Really?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8976092&postcount=29) ---
**Author:** ![Astroboy14](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/df705f/32.png) [@Astroboy14](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astroboy14)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/43 "2007-09-13T17:09:01Z")
[QUOTE=Contrapuntal] [Really?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=8976092&postcount=29) [/QUOTE] :smack: That’ll teach me to skim while I’m doing other things… or not. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/44 "2007-09-13T17:16:40Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Nitpick: 2,500 times as far. [/QUOTE] Hey, there are 52,800 ft in a mile, right? :smack: Tris ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/45 "2007-09-13T18:23:39Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] Ooh, ooh! I’ll give you $54 for the Apollo 17 flag! Pleeeeeeeease! [/QUOTE] So _thats_ what happend to them. I thought the metal munching moon mice got to them! ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/46 "2007-09-13T18:40:59Z")
Oh, and it turns out you only have to try to look at that quarter from Richmond, not Miami. Tris ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/47 "2007-09-13T18:47:05Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Oh, and it turns out you only have to try to look at that quarter from Richmond, not Miami. Tris [/QUOTE] \ The odds just improved! 51% now… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/48 "2007-09-13T18:50:27Z")
[QUOTE=Triskadecamus] Oh, and it turns out you only have to try to look at that quarter from Richmond, not Miami. [/QUOTE] _holds up a quarter_ ---
**Author:** ![Iggins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Iggins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggins)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/49 "2007-09-13T20:01:20Z")
[QUOTE=Q.E.D.] _holds up a quarter_ [/QUOTE] Tails! ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/50 "2007-09-13T21:01:39Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Many celestial sights are actually larger than you’d expect, sometimes a lot larger. They’re just really dim. For illustration, [check out this remarkable image](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061228.html) comparing the true size of the Andromeda Galaxy with our Moon, in terms of the amount of sky they take up as viewed from Earth. I don’t know about you, but I found it quite an eye-opener. [/QUOTE] Look out! It’s coming right for us!! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/51 "2007-09-13T22:41:14Z")
[QUOTE=cmyk] Look out! It’s coming right for us!! :eek: [/QUOTE] Not only that, it’s like a second moon in the sky!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/52 "2007-09-13T22:43:56Z")
[QUOTE=Chronos] I have a telescope which could see the flag on the moon. You’d just have to get the telescope to the Moon, too, first. Preferably within a mile or so of the landing site. [/QUOTE] Not if it was a very large flag. ---
**Author:** ![SiouxChief](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d6d6ee/32.png) [@SiouxChief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiouxChief)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/53 "2007-09-13T22:53:18Z")
[QUOTE=Cervaise] Many celestial sights are actually larger than you’d expect, sometimes a lot larger. They’re just really dim. For illustration, [check out this remarkable image](http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061228.html) comparing the true size of the Andromeda Galaxy with our Moon, in terms of the amount of sky they take up as viewed from Earth. I don’t know about you, but I found it quite an eye-opener. [/QUOTE] Really? Wow. Really!??! So, if Andromeda were just brighter, that’s how big it would appear in our sky? I had no idea. That is quite possibly the coolest thing ever. I always assumed that every galaxy would appear only as big as a star. Is there anything else I don’t know? Any other “much bigger than you thought when viewed from earth” objects out there? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/54 "2007-09-13T23:24:32Z")
Here’s the [article](http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/06nov_loworbit.htm) I’d been thinking about, with respect to lunar orbits. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/55 "2007-09-13T23:29:28Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] Here’s the [article](http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/06nov_loworbit.htm) I’d been thinking about, with respect to lunar orbits. [/QUOTE] Thanks for going to the trouble of looking that up. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/56 "2007-09-13T23:35:13Z")
[QUOTE=SiouxChief] Is there anything else I don’t know? Any other “much bigger than you thought when viewed from earth” objects out there? [/QUOTE] Yes - the Great Wall oif China is so big it can be seen from anywhere on Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/57 "2007-09-13T23:42:23Z")
[QUOTE=SiouxChief] Really? Wow. Really!??! So, if Andromeda were just brighter, that’s how big it would appear in our sky? I had no idea. That is quite possibly the coolest thing ever. I always assumed that every galaxy would appear only as big as a star. Is there anything else I don’t know? Any other “much bigger than you thought when viewed from earth” objects out there? [/QUOTE] You can see it with your naked eye, though it appears as a smudge of light. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2007, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/58 "2007-09-13T23:45:01Z")
Another way to picture the “seeing the flag” problem is like this; look at the pictures of the Earth taken from the Moon or from Lunar orbit; [here’s a good picture.](http://www.geography4kids.com/extras/dtop_space/moonearth.html) Now, imagine what kind of telescope you’d need in order to be able to make out a house at that distance, let alone a flag. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/59 "2007-09-14T15:54:54Z")
[QUOTE=Grey] Space is big. [/QUOTE] I keep telling my daughter; she still can’t parallel park. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983/60 "2007-09-14T16:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] I keep telling my daughter; she still can’t parallel park. 😉 [/QUOTE] I couldn’t find the cartoon on the web, but Sidney Harris had a little ditty: Space is big. Space is dark. It’s hard to find a place to park. Burma Shave. I’ll scan it if I can find it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-american-flag-still-on-the-moon/418983.md?page=4)