Apparently, yes, you can: that star-spangled banner yet waves. Five out of six them, anyway, when it comes to the flags raised on the moon by the Apollo astronauts. That’s the news from the some of the most recent images from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. (The flags themselves are not so easy to see, but their visible shadows tell the story.) The exception: Apollo 11. On his blog, LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson writes: “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!”
You can read more and find related images and video at Robinson’s blog, here.
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Today my husband told our space-obsessed 5-year-old that Neil Armstrong died. At bedtime, Cooper pulled MOONSHOT off the bookshelf, and we read it as a tribute to Armstrong. It is still one of our all-time favorite books.
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