They have been on Earth's satellite for almost half a century
In 1969-72, American astronauts planted a total of six Stars and Stripes on the Moon. Many years have passed since then and a lot of moon sand has flowed under the bridge. Despite the lack of air, the flags have worn out badly during this time. They were last seen in 2012 when they were captured by the Lunar Orbiter (LRO). Then at least five of the six flags were in an upright position. However, after decades in the bright sun, the colors certainly faded. According to scientists, now the flags are most likely almost completely white.
All flags were priced at $ 5.50 ($ 32 in modern prices). The AnninFlagmakers company made them from viscose, the fibers of which disintegrate when exposed to ultraviolet light. This means that the fabric of the flags is not only completely burnt out, but, it is possible, is very dilapidated. To this should be added, writes Metro, and temperature conditions: two weeks of the brightest sun and centigrade heat, followed by two weeks of a lunar night, when the thermometer, if it had been calculated for this, would have dropped to -150 ° C.
NASA is not going to change flags on the moon. The agency intends to send astronauts into distant space, but space chiefs decided to fly around the satellite of the Earth. There are plans to fly to Mars around 2033.
The last hope remained with commercial space exploration companies. It is possible that instead of the state agency, the stars and stripes on our satellite will be replaced by the owner of Amazon, multi-billionaire Jeff Bezos, who dreams of colonizing the moon.
