I've never seen the video in which the flag is supposedly blown by a gust of air, and can't seem to find it on anybody's site. Does anybody have a link to it? Or does it even exist?

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"Ignorance has caused more calamity than malignity" H.G. Wells

"Getting lost is part of exploring." Uniqua in "Backyardigans-Heart of the Jungle"

There's no one video clip. Just go find any clip that shows the astronauts manipulating the flagpole and you'll see what the hoax believers are talking about. Try http://www.apolloarchives.com and the ALSJ for starters.

That's it??? The wind only blows when they manhandle it??? Good grief...

I did find the video of the Apollo 17 flag deployment in the ALSJ and Cernan even says "It does wave when you do that". I can't see how anybody can mistake that for blowing in a breeze...

__________________
"Ignorance has caused more calamity than malignity" H.G. Wells

"Getting lost is part of exploring." Uniqua in "Backyardigans-Heart of the Jungle"

There are actually a few different hoax believer misconceptions regarding the flag. The very naive don't know about the crossbeam that extends from the top of the staff to hold the flag out horizontally. They argue that the only way the flag could be held in that position is by wind.

Then they wonder why there are wrinkles and folds in the flag. They expect it to be perfectly planar, even if held up from the top. This ignores fabric memory, as well as the preference of the astronauts for the slightly rumpled look.

The remaining belief simply denies inertia. They believe that moving the flag pole shouldn't cause any motion of the flag relative to its various poles and crossbeams. They argue that the only thing that would cause the flag to appear to resist that motion would be air resistance. (Of course, those of us who own this type of flag can't duplicate the Apollo flag motion in an atmosphere, so I'm wondering what experiment the hoax believers did to confirm their hypothesis.)

Finally those who have been taught about inertia point to the continuation of motion after the astronaut releases the flagpole. They do not consider the pendulous effect of the flag; that something induced to pendulum motion by an external force will continue to swing after the external force is removed. In addition to this, there is considerable spring energy in the pole and crossbeam which continues to oscillate after the astronaut's release.

In short, there isn't a single video the hoax believers have been able to put forth which cannot be explained with relatively simple references to Newtonian physics, statics, and dynamics.

Okay, I guess that's why I was confused. I've seen the flag deployment videos before, although a while ago, and don't remember seeing anything out of the ordinary... Well, except for putting an object up in an airless environment that has 1/8 earth's gravity [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_smile.gif[/img]

__________________
"Ignorance has caused more calamity than malignity" H.G. Wells

"Getting lost is part of exploring." Uniqua in "Backyardigans-Heart of the Jungle"

The flag-waving argument is a good example of a hoax belief. It's based on what hoax believers say will happen on the moon, which in turn is based on an incorrect understanding of why certain things happen on earth. That same sort of shortcoming addresses the arcs of dust behind the rover wheels, photography in shadows, and the direction of those shadows. People misunderstand why things happen the way they do on earth, therefore they misinterpret the things that happen on the moon.

Like this? [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_wink.gif[/img]





<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: The Bad Astronomer on 2002-07-06 14:32 ]</font>

Oh, come on, BA... that picture was obviously taken in a studio with multiple spotlights! That backdrop isn't even the tiniest bit believable!

Good photo BA. But try showing that to David Percy! [img]/phpBB/images/smiles/icon_razz.gif[/img]

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~AstroMike