What occurred to the flags Apollo astronauts left on the moon?

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What occurred to the flags Apollo astronauts left on the moon?

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January 14, 2025

What occurred to the flags Apollo astronauts left on the moon?

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Apollo 11’s flag elevating on the traditional lunar floor took all of 10 minutes throughout Neil Armstrong’s and Buzz Aldrin’s two-and-a-half hour moonwalking journey in July 1969.

However that seminal occasion in vexillological historical past was not with out lots of debate, dialogue and early worries that have been run up the coverage flagpole about “who owns the moon?” (Vexillology is the research of the historical past, symbolism and utilization of flags.)

Matthew Ward is a senior lecturer in historical past on the College of Dundee in Scotland. He notes that the American flag is distinctively highly effective and appears to be current within the imagery of virtually each key occasion in American historical past, from Apollo moon landings to firefighters elevating the flag over the ruins of the World Commerce Middle on 9/11 in 2001. “It’s tough to consider another flag that is so closely invested in which means. The Stars and Stripes expresses the spirit, historical past and identification of a complete nation,” Ward factors out.

Symbolic exercise

Within the early Nineteen Nineties, Anne Platoff, then working with Hernandez Engineering Inc. in Houston, Texas put collectively a NASA contractor report titled, “The place No Flag Has Gone Earlier than: Political and Technical Facets of Inserting a Flag on the Moon.”

Platoff explains that Apollo 11’s flag-raising on the moon was strictly a symbolic exercise. On condition that america was a signatory to the United Nations Treaty on Outer Area, the nation forfeited any territorial declare to the moon.

“Nonetheless, there have been home and worldwide debates over the appropriateness of the occasion,” Platoff explains. Congress amended NASA’s appropriations invoice to stop the house company from unfurling flags of different nations, or these of worldwide associations on the moon throughout missions funded solely by america.

Platoff notes in her report that the authorized standing of the moon clearly wouldn’t be affected by the presence of a U.S. flag on the lunar floor, “however NASA was conscious of the worldwide controversy which may happen because of this.”

an astronaut in a bulky white spacesuit plants an american flag on the dusty grey surface of the moon

Throughout Apollo 12’s November 1969 mission, moonwalker Pete Conrad erects the American flag. (Picture credit score: NASA)

Flagpole design

In Platoff’s report, she factors out that NASA engineers have been challenged by the prospect of Apollo astronauts elevating a flag on the moon.

“They designed a flagpole with a horizontal bar permitting the flag to ‘fly’ with out the good thing about wind to beat the consequences of the moon’s lack of an environment. Different elements thought of within the design have been weight, warmth resistance, and ease of meeting by astronauts whose house fits restricted their vary of motion and skill to understand objects,” Platoff explains.

Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin later recounted in an article written for “Life” journal that as he seemed on the flag, he sensed an “virtually mystical unification of all folks on this planet at that second.”

Aldrin additionally described what it was like when he and Armstrong have been capable of put up the flag, a pennant that was bought regionally in Houston for $5.50.

“Simply beneath the powdery floor, the subsoil was very dense,” Aldrin recalled. “We succeeded in pushing the flagpole in solely a few inches. It did not look very sturdy.”

an astronaut in a bulky white spacesuit plants an american flag on the dusty grey surface of the moon

Astronaut David Scott salutes Previous Glory throughout 1971 Apollo mission. (Picture credit score: NASA)

Solar rot

In finishing up her analysis, Platoff discovered that the six flags positioned on the moon by Apollo moonwalkers have been totally different sizes.

Moreover, the Apollo 17 flag planted in December 1972, this system’s final moon mission, was uniquely noteworthy; that flag had been displayed within the Mission Operations Management Room throughout the different Apollo missions, after which emplaced on the moon by the final moonwalking crew, Eugene Cernan and Jack Schmitt.

What’s not identified is the situation of these flags right this moment. Even when the flags have remained standing when crews rocketed off the moon, it’s virtually sure that they don’t seem to be in the identical situation as once they have been first deployed on the lunar floor. “Probably the nylon of the flag has degraded as the results of extended publicity to daylight,” Platoff senses, a harmful consequence that is tagged “solar rot.”

The lunar flags are more likely to have turn into brittle and will have disintegrated over time. Doable meteoroid impacts might additionally pose a menace to the flags, Platoff concludes.

Platoff is now a librarian, historian and vexillologist on the College of California, Santa Barbara.

“One factor that I hold seeing in articles is that the flags can be bleached white from publicity to daylight. Whereas this does occur to some flags on Earth, I’m not positive in regards to the chemical course of concerned and if that might happen in a lunar atmosphere,” Platoff tells Area.com.

an astronaut in a bulky white spacesuit plants an american flag on the dusty grey surface of the moon

Putting a salute in 1972 is Apollo 16’s Charles Duke, Jr. (Picture credit score: NASA)

Wished: important considering

As Platoff writes in her 2011 analysis paper, “Six Flags over Luna: The Function of Flags in Moon Touchdown Conspiracy Theories,” whether or not the flags have remained standing or have endured many years of publicity to the cruel lunar atmosphere, “their legacy as an emblem of the human exploration of house stays intact.”

The importance of those photos “will endure lengthy after the deaths of those that participated on this historic endeavor,” Platoff stated.

As for these backing the conspiratorial faking of Apollo moon landings, Platoff is adamant in regards to the matter.

“Refuting the moon touchdown hoax conspiracies just isn’t tough to do,” Platoff defined to Area.com. “There’s loads of proof on the market to show that the Apollo landings have been actual and that human beings have walked on the lunar floor.”

The actual drawback, Platoff provides, is the important considering deficit.

an astronaut in a bulky white spacesuit plants an american flag on the dusty grey surface of the moon

On the Apollo program’s final moonwalk in December 1972, Apollo 17’s Gene Cernan with the American flag. (Picture credit score: NASA)

“Do you actually assume it will be attainable to take care of the extent of cooperation from everybody concerned within the Apollo Program to take care of the hoax for fifty-five years? Or is it extra believable that individuals working collectively have been capable of harness the facility of science and know-how to realize the aim of touchdown astronauts on the moon and bringing them dwelling safely?”

Individuals who deny that the Apollo moon landings occurred, Platoff concludes, “are free to imagine what they need, however that does not make them proper.”

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