Should the American Flag burn?

This is about the american flag on the moon.

The moons temperature:
Mean surface temperature (day) 107°C
Maximum surface temperature 123°C

On the Moon Lander craft:
Several layers of thermal blanketing material were placed between the shroud and the flag assembly, limiting the temperature experienced by the flag to 180 degrees Farenheit . (footnote 12) (this is while on the lunar lander)

180 degree farenheit = 82.222 degree celcius

it take 100 degrees celsius to boil water.

if this $5.50 american flag was in 107 degrees celcius and there was air it would burn right? if there's no air... it still should be throwing off its materials that would burn, and turn a charcoal colour, right?

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Construction and Testing
All of the work on the flag assembly and on the flag shroud was performed in the workshops at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Alterations to the flag were done in the fabrics shop, the sheet metals shop constructed the flagpole, and another shop anodized the flagpole -- electrolytically coating the aluminum to give it a gold color and a stiff protective surface. Tubing used in the construction of the pole was about an inch in diameter with a wall approximately 1/32 of an inch thick. The telescoping feature of the pole was created by using different sizes of tubing that slid neatly into each other. A capped bottom allowed the upper portion of the pole to slide easily into the lower portion. The base of the lower section was designed with a hardened steel point to make it easier to drive into the lunar soil.

Cost of materials was relatively low -- the flag was purchased for $5.50 and the tubing cost approximately $75. The cost of the shroud has been estimated at several hundred dollars due to the materials involved. Construction of the prototypes was achieved in several days, and after a week the team had made a few backup assemblies, and some to be used for crew training purposes. Demonstration tests were performed where the flag assembly was folded, packed, unpacked, erected and deployed to assure that it would operate properly. Kinzler flew to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to participate in a mockup review of the lunar flag assembly on 25 June 1969. The astronauts were included in several of these tests as part of their EVA training so that they would be familiar with deployment procedures. (footnote 13)


history.nasa.gov...

I don't know if it did burn, but it isn't the perfect flag left in 1969. It can't burn at all since it is lacking oxygen. If things get hot enough it would melt first. I heard that the flag is just a white square, since the sun's UV rays have decomposed the colors.

reply to post by fleetlord


Good point, no oxygen no burning, so i guess there is your answer.
That is of course if it is really up there in the first place.



Which it is

Originally posted by pazcat
reply to post by fleetlord

 

Good point, no oxygen no burning, so i guess there is your answer.
That is of course if it is really up there in the first place.



Which it is

nonono i understand its up there....
and i understand it wont actually burn due to no oxygen.

But when something gets hot enough here on earth, the atoms start moving fast enough that they come of whatever it is and those atoms, that vapour, is what burns and what we see ignite as a flame. however, in direct sunlight, that flag should still be hot enough to excite those atoms to move off the flag. if there was oxygen you would see a flame, but with no oxygen, the atoms will just go off into space, leaving behind the atoms that dont get excited enough such as carbon...

My point is shouldn't the flag have turned to charcoal as it would have been perhaps cotton, or silk?

Originally posted by DaRAGE
The moons temperature:
Mean surface temperature (day) 107°C
Maximum surface temperature 123°C

The Moon's surface temperature has little to no effect on the flag's temperature. The temperature of the flag depends on the colour and the type of material used. Nylon in this case. Depending on the type of nylon, the melting point seems to be somewhere between 185C to 254C from what I can find. I don't see any reason why it should burn, but as fleetlord said, it has either completely faded or disintegrated from long exposure to unfiltered UV rays over the past 40 years.

reply to post by jra


Oh k then. Thank you for your input.

The Apollo flags were ordinary 3 by 5 foot nylon American flags purchased at Montgomery Ward.

No Air = No fires.

Suface Temps not affecting flag.

been there, done that
www.abovetopsecret.com...