The United States has had a presence on the Moon since 1969, when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on its surface. And a custom was established since then: nail the stars and stripes flag to the natural satellite.
But that nylon flag, 0.9 meters by 1.5 meters It is not the only one found on the Moon. A good part of the astronauts who traveled in subsequent years did so, although of course, the most significant is the one who arrived on July 20, 1969, on the Apollo 11 Mission.
How many American flags are there on the Moon? What happened to them? Were they affected by the climate of the area?
According to NASA, In the following years, five more flags were flown, all with similar characteristics to the one Armstrong planted at Tranquility Base.
The astronauts who had the honor of nailing them to the surface were the commanders:
- Charles Conrad (Apollo 12, 1969), in the so-called Ocean of Storms.
- Alan Shepard (Apollo 14, 1971), in Fra Mauro.
- David Scott (Apollo 15, 1971), in Hadley – Apennine.
- John Young (Apollo 16, 1972), in Descartes.
- Gene Cernan (Apollo 17, 1972), in Taurus – Littrow.
And what happened to each of them? He Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA has confirmed in images where they are.
In the case of Apollo 11, The flag is no longer standing, since the takeoff of the module caused it to fall.
After realizing the situation, the rest of the commanders nailed the flags away from each lunar module, so that they would remain firm. But some endured and others did not, almost always determined by the force with which the astronauts planted them.
The antlers of the flags of Apollo 12, 16 and 17 seem to still be standing, according to the images; It cannot be determined if those of Apollo 14 and 15 as well.
There is another peculiarity that stands out in each of the banners: they are created with a mechanism that allows them to be open in the lunar environment, that does not have air.
The mechanism was created by Jack Kinzler, chief of NASA’s technical services division, and consists of a hem sewn along the top edge, for a metal rod to slide. This provides rigidity to the flag, making it appear as if it were “saluting.”
It didn’t work with the Apollo 12 one, that ended up falling, as we see in this image.
Finally, The pole of each one is 2.4 meters, Just enough to make it look appropriate for the photo.
Most likely, the fabrics are already destroyed, although it cannot be seen in the images from the lunar orbiter. Dr. Mark Robinson, quoted by Space, He noted that the Moon’s extreme weather and ultraviolet conditions probably killed them.
“Personally, I would be surprised if there is anything left. You know, if you leave a flag outside during the summer, it starts to fall apart. Nowimagine the extreme ultraviolet environment on the moon and the cycle of heat and cold, and it’s been 40 years, so if the flags are still there, they’re probably in pretty bad shape,” Robinson said.
The rest is history. NASA’s Artemis III Mission hopes to deliver a new flag to the Moon.