Should explain flag waving. fair enough redders.
The flag placed on the surface by the astronauts flapped despite there being no wind on the Moon.<SUP class="noprint Template-Fact" title="This claim needs references to reliable sources from September 2009" style="WHITE-SPACE: nowrap">[
citation needed]</SUP> Sibrel said "The wind was probably caused by intense air-conditioning used to cool the astronauts in their lightened, uncirculated space suits. The cooling systems in the backpacks would have been removed to lighten the load not designed for Earth’s six times heavier gravity, otherwise they might have fallen over".
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- The astronauts were moving the flag into position. Without air drag, these movements caused the free corner of the flag to swing like a pendulum for some time. A horizontal rod, visible in many photographs, extended from the top of the flagpole to hold the flag out for proper display. The flag's rippled appearance was from folding during storage, and it could be mistaken for motion in a still photograph. The top support rod telescoped and the crew of Apollo 11 could not fully extend it. Later crews preferred to only partially extend the rod. Videotapes show that when the flag stops after the astronauts let it go, it remains motionless. At one point the flag remains completely motionless for well over thirty minutes. (See inertia.) See the photographs below.
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Cropped photo of Buzz Aldrin saluting the flag (note the fingers of Aldrin's right hand can be seen behind his helmet).
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Cropped photo taken a few seconds later, Buzz Aldrin's hand is down, head turned toward the camera, the flag is unchanged.
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Animation of the two photos, showing that though Armstrong's camera moved between exposures, the flag is not waving.
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The flag is not waving, but is swinging as a pendulum after being touched by the astronauts. Here<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-117>
[YouTube 3]</SUP>
is a three-minute video from Apollo 15 showing that the flag does not move except when the astronauts move it. Here<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-118>
[YouTube 4]</SUP>
is a thirty-minute Apollo 11 video showing that the flag does not move.
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