What made the American flag blow during the 1969 moon landing?

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   bethperryposted 11 years ago

   What made the American flag blow during the 1969 moon landing?
   
   This week my husband and I watched historical footage of the 1969 moon landing when we noticed the American flag that was planted was sailing. Since there isn't supposed to be wind on the moon what accounts for the blowing flag in this footage?

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2. 81

   Becky Katzposted 11 years ago

   According to this site, http://www.universetoday.com/19932/flag-on-the-moon/ there is a rod at the top of the flag to keep it standing out. The motion you saw while they were putting the flag up was the oscillation from them moving it upright to get it stuck into the ground. Good question and it made me curious too.

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      bethperryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the link, Becky!

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      lone77starposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Awesome. I always admired the astronauts who went to the moon. This clears up a longstanding curiosity.

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      DS Dubyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Great answer I've often wondered the same thing.

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      Becky Katzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Amazing what a Google question will answer, isn't it?

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3. 77

   JohnGreasyGamerposted 11 years ago

   I saw this on Qi (Quite Interesting, a factual game show hosted by comedian Stephen Fry), and the answer is because there's little gravity but it can still move. If the flag couldn't move, neither would the astronauts or the dust below. Think of entering the Moon's atmosphere as walking through water or going into jelly - your movement is impeded, kind of like walking into slo-mo all of a sudden.
   
   The reason isn't because of any gas moving it; it's just because the flag was unsettled and therefore moved to the low gravity ^^

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      bethperryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      JohnGreasyGamer, that makes sense!

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      JohnGreasyGamerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Before I saw the full explanation of the moon landing on Qi, I was in favour of the landing being a hoax. Even Mitchell and Webb made a good parody of how it would've been faked. ^^

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4. 56

   Angelina Ricciposted 11 years ago

   A rod at the top, like a magician used for a trick.  I knew the woman who designed the boots that first touched the moon.  She loved to tell that story.  "How was I to know what the surface would be like?"

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5. 72

   Alastar Packerposted 11 years ago

   This is a hot topic, especially with the passing recently of Armstrong. Beth, the moving flag isn't the only anomaly connected with the first landing. According to at least one source that's been correct on other things, the first landing was staged. The ones following were real. I admit that's far-fetched. The source also says the astronauts in 1969 actually thought they were landing on the moon. Too much info to go into here and i'm not wholly convinced, but it is interesting.

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      bethperryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Alastar, it does sound far-fetched but yeah, I've heard the rumor. One source told me that the "proof" was in the lack of stars in the footage. But I don't know, I'm not much of a space buff. But such things are interesting

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