THE American flags famously planted on the moon by astronauts four decades ago are still standing, it emerged today. Dramatic images taken by a NASA spacecraft show five out of six of the red, white and blue flags left by Apollo astronauts remain in the soil. The only one without a shadow is the one planted during the Apollo 11 landing but this matches Buzz Aldrin's account that it was knocked over by engine exhaust as they lifted off from the moon. The Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter was designed to produce the most detailed maps yet of the lunar surface. Each of the Apollo missions planted an American flag in the soil at their landing sites. Scientists had previously scanned photos of the landing sites for the flags and seen what looked like shadows but this was not considered conclusive. Now researchers have studied photos taken at different times during the day and seen shadows circling the points where the flags are thought to be. Prof Mark Robinson, the chief scientist for the spacecraft's camera instrument LROC, wrote on a blog: “From the LROC images it is now certain that the American flags are still standing and casting shadows at all of the sites, except Apollo 11. “Astronaut Buzz Aldrin reported that the flag was blown over by the exhaust from the ascent engine during liftoff of Apollo 11, and it looks like he was correct! “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. “Personally I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did. What they look like is another question (badly faded?)” LRO began its mission in lunar orbit in September 2009. It aims to identify mineral and other resources on the moon as well as spot good landing sites for future missions. The first of the six American moon landings was the monumental Apollo 11 landing on July 20 1969. During this mission, astronaut Neil Armstrong famously declared live on TV: “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The final mission was Apollo 17 on Dec. 11 1972. — Agencies
