We did NOT go to the Moon!

[American Patriot]

Umm... yeah, we did too.

Idiots. lol

New NASA photos reveal American flags planted during moon landings proudly yet wave FOUR DECADES after last Apollo mission

By Daily Mail Reporter
PUBLISHED: 12:40 EST, 29 July 2012 | UPDATED: 13:52 EST, 29 July 2012

Four decades after the last astronauts landed on the moon and planted an American flag in lunar soil, scientists wondered: 'Does that star spangled banner yet wave?'





Finally new images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) have given proof in the night, that the flags are, indeed, still there.


All but one of the six flags left by American astronauts remain standing, according to an analysis of the shadows they cast on the surface of the moon.


Still there: The flag planted by Apollo 17 astronauts in December 1972 -- the last manned mission to the moon -- is seen here in this image taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera


Planted: Astronauts in each of the six Apollo moon landings planted American flags in lunar soil. The Apollo 15 mission in 1971 is seen here



During each of the six American moon landings, astronauts left American flags behind as symbols of their nation's scientific and engineering achievement.



The first was the monumental July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landing -- in which Neil Armstrong declared on live television, 'one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.'


The final mission was Apollo 17 on December 14, 1972.


Scientists used new, detailed images from NASA's lunar camera to determine that the flags were casting shadows that circled them as the moon moved in its normal orbit -- proving that they were still standing on their poles.


'From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11,' Mark Robinson, an investigator with the lunar satellite program, wrote on Friday.


O say, do you see? This is the flag planted by the Apollo 16 mission in April 192



Long shadow: Pete Conrad planted this flag on the Apollo 12 mission in November 1969 -- it is still standing



'Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct!'



The American missions to the moon remain the only manned flights to touch down on a heavenly body.


Dr Robinson wrote that one of the most common questions he and his team have received since the launch of the lunar orbiter in 2009.


'Personally I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did,' he wrote.


'What they look like is another question (badly faded?).'



The conditions on the surface of the moon are harsh. Temperatures swing between 250 and -280 degrees Fahrenheit

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...#ixzz227pW58FX

[American Patriot]

Above, even if the flags might have been damage by time (heat and cold alternating several hundred times from egg-frying hot to nearly-nitrogen-freezing cold) you can see tracks from the Lunar Rover on the image!

Apollo Moon Landing Flags Still Standing, Photos Reveal

Clara Moskowitz, SPACE.com Assistant Managing Editor
Date: 29 July 2012 Time: 02:18 PM ET

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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera images of each Apollo site taken at roughly the same orientation but with different sun angles to show the travel of shadows. Combined with knowledge of the Apollo site maps which show where the flag was erected relative to the Lander, long shadows cast by the flags at three sites - Apollo 12, Apollo 16, and Apollo 17 - show that the these flags are still “flying”, held aloft by the poles. There is no indication of a flag shadow in this Apollo 11 image. CREDIT: NASA View full size image

An enduring question ever since the manned moon landings of the 1960s has been: Are the flags planted by the astronauts still standing?
Now, lunar scientists say the verdict is in from the latest photos of the moon taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC): Most do, in fact, still stand.
"From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11," LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson wrote in a blog post today (July 27). "Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct!"


Each of the six manned Apollo missions that landed on the moon planted an American flag in the lunar dirt.
Scientists have examined images of the Apollo landing sites before for signs of the flags, and seen hints of what might be shadows cast by the flags. However, this wasn't considered strong evidence that the flags were still standing. Now, researchers have examined photos taken of the same spots at various points in the day, and observed shadows circling the point where the flag is thought to be. [Video: Moon Photos Prove Apollo Flags Still Stand]
Robinson calls these photos "convincing."
"Personally I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did," Robinson wrote. "What they look like is another question (badly faded?)."
Most scientists had assumed the flags hadn't survived more than four decades of harsh conditions on the moon.
"Intuitively, experts mostly think it highly unlikely the Apollo flags could have endured the 42 years of exposure to vacuum, about 500 temperature swings from 242 F during the day to -280 F during the night, micrometeorites, radiation and ultraviolet light, some thinking the flags have all but disintegrated under such an assault of the environment," scientist James Fincannon, of the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, wrote in the Apollo Lunar Surface Journal.
In recent years, photos from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter have also shown other unprecedented details of the Apollo landing sites, such as views of the lunar landers, rovers, scientific instruments left behind on the surface, and even the astronauts' boot prints. These details are visible in photos snapped by the probe while it was skimming just 15 miles (24 kilometers) above the moon's surface.
LRO launched in June 2009, and first captured close-up images of the Apollo landing sites in July of that year. The $504 million car-size spacecraft is currently on an extended mission through at least September 2012.