Invariably and unfortunately, one of the most com­mon debates surrounding space explora­tion always arises from those doubting the veracity of the lunar landings, starting from 1969 to 1972.

During these three years, six Apollo missions successfully landed on the lunar surface (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17), but claims that these landings were faked have become a favourite topic of conversation for conspiracy theorists.

Although the landings were most certainly not faked, the main question that invariably gets asked is whether the landing sites, specifically the ‘flag on the moon’, can be viewed using a ground telescope.

The answer, unfor­tu­nate­ly, is no – purely because of the sheer scale of the moon that few can fathom.

Tiny craters that can be seen only with difficulty through some of the largest telescopes are still kilometres across. Although the moon is smaller than the Earth, it is still massive!

This means that seeing a flag just a metre in size using a ground-based telescope is somewhat impossible.

However, ima­ges from on board the Lunar Reconnaissance orbiter have shown landing sites of some of the Apollo missions – such as images of the Apollo 17 landing site, imaged here.