NASA astronauts planted six US flags on the lunar surface during the Apollo missions more than half a century ago.. Scientists believe that even if these flags still remain on the Moon, they are most likely not in the same condition as they were originally, writes Space.
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This July it will be 56 years since the first astronauts in history landed on the Moon.. It was NASA astronauts from the Apollo 11 mission who planted the first ever US flag on the surface of the Moon.. After that, astronauts from other Apollo missions placed five more flags of this country on the Moon. Considering that astronauts from no other country in the world have flown to the Moon since then, only these six flags may still be on the surface of the Earth's satellite.
When American astronauts first planted the flag of their country on the Moon, it caused heated discussions in the world, because this event was regarded as political. Some countries perceived this event as the United States designating its claims to the Moon.
And yet it is known that this was just a symbolic event, which in no way meant that the United States wanted to appropriate the Moon. According to international law, which is still in effect today, no country in the world can make territorial claims to the Earth’s satellite. That is, in fact, the Moon cannot belong to any country in the world. Although during the Apollo program, the US Congress decided that no flag of another country could be planted on the Moon if the mission to the Earth's satellite was financed entirely from the American budget.
NASA engineers were initially very puzzled by how to make it possible for astronauts to plant a US flag on the moon.. As a result, engineers created a flagpole with a horizontal crossbar, which would allow the flag to “fly” on the Moon even given the fact that there is no wind there. Also, when creating the flagpole, its weight was taken into account (it should not have been heavy) and resistance to temperature changes (the temperature of the Moon changes very sharply in the range from approximately minus 100 to plus 100 degrees Celsius). Of course, the engineers paid special attention to the design of the flagpole, because the astronauts had to install the flag on the surface of the Moon without much effort, given the limited movements in the spacesuit.. That's why the first US flag was planted on the moon in just 10 minutes in 1969.
Interestingly, all six US flags flown during the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972 were of different sizes but had virtually the same flagpole design. So far, the last American flag on the Earth's satellite was planted by NASA astronauts from the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. NASA is preparing for the next landing of astronauts on the Moon in 2027, and perhaps the astronauts will plant the seventh US flag there.
What happened to those flags on the moon In fact, scientists don't know for sure. That is, it is unknown in what condition they are. Even if these flags still remain on the surface of the Earth's satellite, they most likely are not in the same condition as they were originally.
Scientists believe the nylon the flags are made of has been severely damaged by sunlight over many decades.. It is believed that the flags may have become fragile and eventually disintegrated. Also, the flags could be severely damaged by meteorites that constantly fall on the surface of the Moon.. Meteorites also often fall to Earth, but most of them burn up in the atmosphere.
But there is no atmosphere on the moon.
As Focus already wrote, scientists turned solar flares that occurred over 3 years into sound. Researchers have announced data on energy and radiation emissions on our star, which were collected by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft.
Focus also wrote about what would happen to the body of an astronaut who died on the Moon. The changes that will occur will be different from what happens to a deceased person on our planet.