We can view the Flag of USA interred on the moon, with a potent telescope?

Question

I know that many people don´t believe in that travell to the moon(i also don´t believe)

But what is the answer of the NASA to this question?
The flag is too small so we cannot see ?
The flag was lost in the sapce?

Look at this pictures:
Apollo 11:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a11/as11-40-5877.jpg
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/ap11ann/kippsphotos/5920.jpg

Apollo 17:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/a17/AS17-134-20388.jpg

Why apllo 11 does not make any whole or another effect on the floor???

Answer 1

Even the Hubble Space Telescope, which does NOT have an atmosphere in the way, has a resolution of three to four meters at that distance. The six flags and the six lunar modules are smaller than that.

BTW, "interred" means "buried".

Answer 2

The Hubble telescope would be your best shot at seeing the flags on the moon, but even that doesn't work.

The Hubble, as currently configured, has a resolution of 0.1 arcsecond (after correction of the design flaw of the mirror). If you do the math, that means that each pixel on the CCD cameras in the Hubble records an area of about about 5-10 meters in diameter at the distance to the moon (~ a quarter million miles). The largest piece of equipment we left on the moon after the six landings were the bottom portions of the LEM, each of which is only about 3-4 meters in diameter. So even the best telescope cannont resolve the largest piece of equipment.

Now, consider that the flags on the moon are posted roughly vertically, and that the diameter of the flagpole itself is about 3 cm at best, and the flag is no larger than a 3'x5' (about 1x1.5 meters), and it suddenly becomes glaringly obvious that we won't be able to see the flags on the moon until we build a much, much, MUCH larger telescope to replace Hubble.

Or we could just send more missions to the Moon and get photos of the old equipment . . . oh, but wait. Those missions would obviously have been faked too, right? Sheesh.

Answer 3

No existing telescope can see something as small as the flags on the Moon. It would take a telescope with a mirror about half a MILE in diameter (300 times larger than the Hubble Space Telescope) to see the flags on the Moon.

This assumes theoretically perfect optics and no atmosphere blurring the image, so it would have to be a telescope in orbit. This is based on Dawe's limit, which says the smallest resolvable detail is 4.56/D, where D in the diameter of the Mirror in inches and the resolution is in arc seconds, plus some trigonometry to calculate what fraction of an arc second a two foot flag on the Moon 240,000 miles away would represent.

Answer 4

Actually, there are six different flags at six different landing sites, all on the "light" side of the Moon (Apollo 11,12,14,15,16 and 17).

The Apollo 11 flag is lying flat on the Moon's surface because Armstrong and Aldrin didn't know enough to plant it far away from the LM's ascent-engine exhaust blast.

In any case, it is impossible to resolve an object that small with any current earthbound or earth-orbiting telescope.

But there's no need for that, all one needs to do is aim a laser at the mirror left behind at the Apollo 11 site. That's how we get those super accurate stats from astronomers who say the Moon's orbit is decaying by 1cm (or whatever) every 10 years.

Answer 5

Sigh... The flag is too small to see with even the best telescopes, but you can bounce a radio signal off the receiver left on the moon and scientists do this all the time.

Note: It's not true that "many" people don't believe that astronauts traveled to the moon. You are in very small minority of people who can be shown extensive proof yet still disbelieve.

Answer 6

You probably could see it if you knew exactly where to look with a correct telescope.. Perhaps you dont understand just how big the moon is. It's a quarter of the size of the Earth. Finding a flag on something that size is like looking for a needle in a haystack.

So.. good luck!

Answer 7

Don't look for the flag as proof. There are large and more reflective items left behind. Look for the lunar lander's pad or the car or the weather equipment.
I'm with you.

Answer 8

Interesting comments here. So, you all are saying there really aren't spy satellites overhead that can count the pimples on your neck? Figures....

Answer 9

stand in the street and loudly yell"HELP" until answer is found