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Viral pic: NASA shares 51-year-old photo of US flag on Moon with Earth in distance
The pic of the US flag on the Moon with Earth in the background was taken 51 years ago by Eugene A. Cernan or Harrison H. Schmitt during the Apollo Mission.
“Perspective is everything,” wrote NASA Artemis on Instagram while sharing a picture taken 51 years ago by an astronaut. It shows the US flag deployed on the surface of the Moon. What’s more, the Earth is visible in the distance in the shape of a crescent.
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NASA Artemis further shared that the flag was deployed in EVA-1 by the crew on the Apollo Mission. The organisation added, “The lunar module crew spent 75 hours on the lunar surface, deploying a US flag early in EVA-1 — their mission’s first walk on the Moon. This particular flag had flown in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) in Houston during Apollo and was noticeably larger than the flags deployed on the previous missions.”
“Six US flags in total were planted on the lunar surface, one during each Apollo mission,” they shared.
According to NASA Artemis, the flags deployed on the surface of the Moon no longer exist on the lunar surface. However, the flagpoles were still standing and casting shadows in the pictures taken decades later by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. “Experts believe it’s highly unlikely the Apollo flags could have endured the decades of exposure to vacuum, temperature swings from 242 °F (117 °C) during the day to -280 °F (-173 °C) during the night, micrometeorites, radiation, and ultraviolet light,” the organisation further added.
An image description shared by NASA Artemis mentions that the US flag was deployed on the Moon at the Taurus-Littrow landing site by the crewmen of the Apollo 17 lunar landing mission. The lunar feature in the near background is South Massif, and Eugene A. Cernan or Harrison H. Schmitt took this picture.
Take a look at the picture taken decades ago here:
The post was shared four days ago on Instagram. It has since accumulated over 43,000 likes. A few even flocked to the comments section of the post to share their thoughts.
Here’s what people have to say about this post here:
“Windy day on the moon,” posted an individual.
Another enquired, “Are the flags that will be taken up with Artemis last longer, or will they be similarly ‘biodegradable’?”
“Just curious, but where are the stars?” shared a third.
A fourth commented, “A video would be so cool.”
“This is an incredible shot!” joined a sixth.
A seventh added, “Wow! Amazing.”
What are your thoughts on this?
