Buzz Aldrin saw Apollo 11’s flag topple in Eagle’s exhaust as the crew left the Moon in 1969. It has likely spent 57 years flat in the lunar dust, its nylon bleached or even destroyed by ultraviolet light—while orbital images show three later Apollo flags still casting shadows.

Buzz Aldrin saw Apollo 11’s flag topple in Eagle’s exhaust as the crew left the Moon in 1969. It has likely spent 57 years flat in the lunar dust, its nylon bleached or even destroyed by ultraviolet light—while orbital images show three later Apollo flags still casting shadows.

Aldrin's brief glimpse, the missing Tranquility Base shadow and decades of lunar exposure reconstruct the likely fate of Apollo 11's ordinary nylon flag. The post Buzz Aldrin saw Apollo 11’s flag topple in Eagle’s exhaust as the crew left the Moon in 1969. It has likely spent 57 years flat in the lunar dust, its nylon bleached or even destroyed by ultraviolet light—while orbital images show three later Apollo flags still casting shadows. appeare…