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More thoughts on the lunar monument: a giant American flag

I think we should build a huge American flag on the moon that would be visible from earth using regular telescopes of the kind the average person could afford to buy.

Because the Moon has no atmosphere, there isn't any wind or anything else that would disturb the flag. Therefore it's possible to lay out a flat using very lightweight material. Perhaps reflective Mylar? An unmanned rocketship carrying all the flag materials would be launched separately, so that when the men get there it will be waiting for them and they can lay out the flag.

This would give the astronauts something useful to do, because otherwise there isn't really any purpose for them being there. We are certainly capable of exploring the moon and taking pictures using robotic vehicles like the one we just landed on Mars. But I don't think we have the technology to build a robot capable of laying out the giant American flag.

posted Saturday, January 17, 2004