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  • Shadow of flag on the moon is missing. Why?

    Kaustubh Katdare

    Kaustubh Katdare

    @thebigk
    Updated: Oct 26, 2024
    Views: 1.4K
    NASA has recently uploaded the archive of photographs from their moon landing missions on Flickr. The conspiracy theorists have been questioning the photographs for a long time and I found one such comment that's worth pondering. Here's one iconic photograph that NASA has released -

    NASA-Flag-Moon-Shadow

    But the strange thing about this photograph is that the shadow of the flag is missing! Can someone provide a reasonable explanation of why is the shadow of the flag not visible?
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  • Ramani Aswath

    Member • Oct 5, 2015

    Kaustubh Katdare
    Can someone provide a reasonable explanation of why is the shadow of the flag not visible?
    I made some measurements with vernier calipers.I estimate that the sun is just 15 degrees above horizontal.This means that the shadow of an object is about 3.5 times the height of the object. The base of the flag is about 7 cms above the base.This means that its shadow will be about 25 cms away. This is way beyond the edge of the photograph which is only about 11 cms away from the base.
    What about the shadow of the pole is the next question. There are two issues here.

    Try this experiment. If there is a horizontally fitted tube light in the room, hold your hand vertically from elbow to finger tips with the palm edge on to the light a few feet away from the light and look at the shadow. There will be no shadow. Turn the hand to the horizontal position. The shadow appears.
    This is what happens with a distributed source of light instead of a point source. The pole is thin compared to the apparent size of the sun and so does not cast a defined shadow. However, a little distance to the right of the shadow of the astronaut's right leg one can discern a faint grey line parallel to the leg's shadow. If one looks at the wavy wire lying on the ground and its shadow one can see that shadow is not so visible where the wire is curving up.
    I am sorry to disappoint. But I am afraid that the photo is real and not a photoshopped one.
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  • Anoop Kumar

    Member • Oct 7, 2015

    I don't think flag pole is so thin to not cast any shadow.

    While there is another photo from <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2180664/American-flags-planted-Apollo-moon-missions-wave-40-years.html" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">American flags planted during Apollo moon missions still wave after 40 years | Daily Mail Online</a>
    article-2180664-144737E5000005DC-402_634x415
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  • Ramani Aswath

    Member • Oct 7, 2015

    Anoop Kumar
    I don't think flag pole is so thin to not cast any shadow
    The shadow cast by a distributed light source is narrower than one cast by a ppoint source. It can be easily measured. Even in the first photo the shadow is seen though faint.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Oct 7, 2015

    The story doesn't stop there. Apparently the moon dust does not leave the track. I need some logical reasoning for the absence of track on either side of the rover's wheels -

    640px-Apollo15LunarRover
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  • Ramani Aswath

    Member • Oct 7, 2015

    I think that the vehicle took a left turn and stopped. The tracks of the left front wheel seems to curve to the right.
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  • Kaustubh Katdare

    Administrator • Oct 7, 2015

    Not really. There are several photographs where the tracks aren't visible. Makes an impression that the rover was put on the land using a crane. If you look at the tests they conducted prior to the launch - between 1965 - 69; you'll see that NASA wasn't even able to land properly on the ground.

    Plus, they took several attempts to even land on Mars. It's highly unlikely that they risked human lives on the moon with computing power comparable to that of a calculator. Of course this can be refuted and we can keep debating.

    There are several such questions which haven't been answered convincingly. I think as with most of the conspiracy theories, the discussion is alway unending. The believers will believe; the non believers will have their own reasoning.

    The only way to figure out is to go to the moon independently and verify. I've always wondered why has that not been done so far.
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  • durga ch

    Member • Oct 7, 2015

    cynicsm has no end and no logical explaination will seem logical enough.Hence, its not the responsibilty of anyone to convince or provide logical explaination. Its better if someone who has such doubts do all the research they want and satiate themselves rather than expecting someone else to reason out- as no reason will seem valid.
    Its a pity that such a feat has been dismissed and subjected to such ridiculous cynicism. Ramani Sir has on some occasion mention that ISRO scientists who are old enough did confirm moon landing. now if cpnspiracy theorists dont want to beleive scientists of that age- then i dont know what they will beleive in given that they were either not scientists or were unborn.I feel its not worth energy trying to convince a non believer. Its similar to trying to convince an atheist about imaginary ppl.
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  • Ramani Aswath

    Member • Oct 7, 2015

    Here is one with the earth hanging low in the sky:
    upload_2015-10-8_14-1-59
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