Apollo Moon flags still standing, images show

I always wondered what kind of telescope one would need to look at the stuff we left on the moon (flag, cars, what was left of the rocket, ...). Anybody know or tried that? Is equipment like that even accessible to a regular joe like me?

If going back to the moon to examine the condition of the flags is the excuse we need to go back, then I'm all for it! I just hope they do some real science while they are there.

This reminds me of a passage from Arthur C. Clark's <i>Imperial Earth</i>, set in 2276, in which a retrospective video on the first flight to the moon segues to a shot showing Tranquility Base at the (then) present time, complete with fallen flag and space tourists waving to cameras in the background.<p>There's an ongoing preservationist debate over whether or not to re-plant the flag or leave it where it is.<p>Other than UV bleaching and depolymerization of plastics (including the nylon the flag is made from), and slow micrometeorite ablation, these relics should stand for billions of years.

I would love to visit these sites someday in person.

Based on the lighting from the rest of the image, shouldn't the flag shadow be longer and falling the other direction??

Why does the flag look rippley in the picture at the top? Had he just planted it?

For those interested, here are some of the underlying posts on the LROC site itself...<p>1. <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/620-Question-Answered!.html" rel="nofollow">http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/620-Questi...</a><p>2. <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/619-A-New-Tool-For-Exploring-NAC-Images!.html" rel="nofollow">http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/index.php?/archives/619-A-New-...</a><p>We have a huge amount of interesting images.

1. One half of my brain thinks: Why shouldn't they?<p>2. Other half thinks: Amazing!