The fourth of July is the time of the year when American flags get all the attention.
Speaking of which, wouldn’t you like to know about what may have possibly become of those flags that were planted on the moon by the crews of all the Apollo missions?
Astronauts have by far left behind flags on six trips to the moon.
When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the first flag on the moon, it was an act of pure symbolism. A U.N. treaty would not allow the U.S. or any other country to claim the moon as its territory, reports CBS News.
The flags waving behind are now among the most defining images of our time.
But what happened to them is a question University of California Santa Barbara librarian Annie Platoff has been trying to answer.
Her research can account for four of the flags, including the one planted by the Apollo 17 mission. She believes the first two from Apollo 11 and 12 did not survive the ignition gases of the lunar liftoff.
Chances are that the flags, which were made from nylon, are probably darkened and maybe more than a bit tattered, says Annie Platoff's theory.
"I would guess, over time, 40 years, the combination of sun-rot and micro-meteor impact is probably devastating. I mean it's not a pretty picture to paint," Platoff said.
“The only way you're going to test these theories is to go back to the Moon and look at the flag," she added.
