An expert in space exploration has disclosed the current status of the six USA flags that NASA planted on the moon.
On July 21, 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made history as the first and second humans to set foot on the Moon.
In celebration of the Apollo 11 mission’s success, they planted a seven-inch-deep pole into the lunar soil and raised a nylon US flag.
It is believed that NASA’s decision to have astronauts plant a flag during the first moon landing was inspired by former President Richard Nixon’s inaugural address in January 1969.
In the subsequent Apollo missions, five additional American flags were placed on the moon.
But what has become of these six flags, and are any of them still standing today?
Astrophotographer Robert Reeves has provided some insights, noting that not all of them have endured the passage of time.
In a YouTube video, Reeves elaborated on why determining the fate of these flags is challenging.
“The Moon is about a quarter million miles away. The smallest objects on the Moon that can be seen with any Earthbound telescope, even the largest research telescope, are only a little under a mile across.
“Since the flags left on the Moon by the Apollo astronauts are only about four feet wide, unfortunately, they’re a thousand times smaller than what we can spot from the Earth.”
“Not even the powerful Hubble Space Telescope can see the flags.”
Despite the inability to see the flags from Earth, Reeves mentioned that NASA has other methods to monitor their status.
He introduced NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a robotic spacecraft that has been orbiting the Moon since 2009.
Recent images captured by LRO have shown the shadows of flags from the Apollo 12, 16, and 17 missions.
This suggests that three of the six flags are still standing, but what about the others?
Unfortunately, the LRO has not been able to detect the flags at the Apollo 14 and 15 sites.
“Scientists believe those flags weren’t just bleached, but their nylon was completely disintegrated by solar ultraviolet radiation,” Reeves explained in his YouTube video.
Thus, the condition of the Apollo 14 and 15 flags from 1971 remains uncertain.
Reeves also addressed the fate of the first flag planted by Armstrong and Aldrin.
They placed the Apollo 11 flag 27 feet from the Lunar Lander Eagle’s centerline.
According to Celestron, the flagpole did not survive the rocket exhaust during liftoff.
There is a possibility that the nylon flag could be recovered in the future, as experts believe it might have been preserved under a layer of moon dust.
However, given that the last crewed NASA Apollo mission to the moon was in December 1972, it may be a long time before this theory can be confirmed.