Why does NASA avoid placing visible American flags on spacecraft?
I was just noticing the huge red flag on the Chinese moon lander and realized NASA no longer does this. In photos of probes and landers, you often see a little JPL sticker and sometimes larger ESA logos (i they contributed to an instrument), but rarely will you find a prominently placed proud American flag in the...
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answers:
Robert say: They are too politically correct.
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Ronald 7 say: They don't like to brag
It is symbolic anyway
Under the International Space Treaty
Any body beyond Earth can not be owned by one single Nation
The Moon as such can not be claimed by the USA, even though they planted the Stars and Sripes there
Neither can the Chinese or the Russians
It is not for sale either
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Raymond say: Most "NASA" missions are international missions for which NASA provides coordination. The spacecraft and the instruments on board are often a combination of portions made by different countries.

China wanted to participate in such missions (they specifically asked to be part of the International Space Station, for example) and they were vetoed by... the USA. Therefore, China is doing everything on its own, without any help from the other space programs. Thus, the Chinese lander is... chinese.

It shows the flag of China, just like, back in 1966, the very first successful soft lander on the Moon carried the flag of the USSR. The second one had the US flag.
Back then, each country was working on its own, for the purpose of boosting its own image to the rest of the world.
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Dixon say: Why would they? It's kind of childish really.
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CarolOklaNola say: The next generation if rockets have in production since September 2011. Those rickets will ha e American flags on them, but not huge ones. The military has a smaller version of the Orion manned capsule.

Do a Google search on Space Launch System. You might learn something new.
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Mike G say: Thanks for telling us that you're disturbed.
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Jeffrey K say: It costs a million dollars per ounce to launch something into space. NASA can't waste money sending up flags or even painted flags. The probes only include what is necessary for them to function.
There is a huge American flag painted on NASA'S rocket construction building at Cape Kennedy.
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Davros say: They do put the stars on stripes on their craft, but NASA is well past the point of trying to be a PR stunt for American exceptionalism. They also feature logos of the agencies and institutions involved in creating the probe, but even if they have an ESA or JAXA partner sticker, it's hardly the same as having EU or Japanese flag etc. which almost certainly don't feature.

NASA doesn't have to overlay a crying eagle or a windblown effigy of George Washington on every released image. NASA's achievements stand on their own merits and need no introduction.

Besides, it is relevant that a lot of non-Americans work for or with NASA. International cooperation is key to space exploration. For instance I know the zealous chanting of "USA! USA! USA!" by NASA staff when New Horizons reached Pluto did not go down too well with their European, Canadian and Japanese partners. In hindsight I guess it turned out to be a foreshadowing of Trumpian nationalism, and such display aren't good for fostering cooperation.

China on the other hand, that's a whole different story. China are out to prove their testicles are the same size as America's and are not at all shy at waving them in everyone's faces in order to demonstrate it (bet that's an image no one wanted today)!
China craves a positive international image and it uses it's space program as part of it's PR campaign. They tightly control outgoing information to make sure they always look brilliant and successful. Everything from the spacecraft to the press releases need to have a certain national polish on it before the world gets to see it. I don't like how they go about it, but I hope with time they will learn to loosen up a lot more. The future needs the world's space agencies to work together, not show off against one another.
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Nyx say: Why do they need to do that?
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Acetek say: they do.
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