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US flags still standing on the moon after 40 years

It may have been over 40 years since
Neil Armstrong took one giant leap for mankind but a collection of US flags placed on early manned voyages to the moon still remain standing today.

US flags still standing on the moon after 40 years
Nasa astronaut John W. Young lands on the moon in 1972 (Picture: AFP/Getty)

The latest photos from Nasa show that five out of six flags, placed on Apollo missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972, are still intact.

However the original American banner placed by Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, on the first moon landing in 1969, was blown over as Apollo 11 made its triumphant return to earth.

US, moon landing
A view of the US flag at the Apollo 16 moon site (Picture: AFP/ASU)

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Mark Robinson admitted he was ‘now certain’ the flags were still in place having viewed the ultra-detailed Nasa images.

‘The most convincing way to see that the flags are still there is to view a time series of LROC images taken at different times of day, and watch the shadow circle the flag,’ he wrote in a blog post.

‘The LROC is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11.



There have been six manned moon landings since Apollo 11 first made history, with China this week announcing plans to attempt its first moon landing in 2013.


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