Stations of the Flag: Apollo 11


 Stations of the Flag

Apollo 11

Our last stop on the Stations of the Flag is a quarter of a million miles away, on the surface of the Moon.  On July 20, 1969. Several hours after  the Eagle had landed, many of us watched on television as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted the American flag on the surface of the Moon.  This iconic photo, showing the flag with Buzz Aldrin, was taken by Neil Armstrong.

 The surface was too hard for the flag assembly to get a firm purchase and there was concern that it would topple over on camera.  It did survive, but did fall from the blast of the lunar module's launch to rendezvous  with the command module. Five other US flags have been planted on the Moon, all now bleach white from solar radiation. 

Conspiracy proponents have claimed that the landing was faked in a studio, citing perceived irregularities in the flag's display.  Unlike some other parts of the American Flag mythos, the planting of the Apollo 11 flag is real and documented.

The fifty star flag was the onr planted on the Moon


 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

"Alaina's Book of Animals," Another Homemade Book

Image
 Alaina's Book of Animals Another Handmade Book The books I have made as gifts, one-off or just a few copies range from mostly pictures to all text.  A mostly pictures one-off is a book I printed on Tyvek for Alaina's second birthday,   Alaina's Book of GrGrandad's Animals  is simply an assortment of some of my animal themed paintings with identifying labels. .  
Read more

Artists of W 18th Street: Margo Mavrantonis Johnson

Image
  Artists of W 18th Street Margo Mavrantonis Johnson Margo Mavrantonis Johnson is a W 18th St artist who is still active, although no longer living on our block.  Margo is retired from her art teaching career but continues to paint professionally.  She paints a variety of subjects, but my favorites are the structures and streetscapes from her frequent European trips, especially to her second home, Greece.  We treasure her Christmas cards which depict a peripatetic snowman who has visited New Castle, Tuscany and Greece, but has yet to experience a meltdown.       Margo has a studio and gallery representation in the Opera House, 304 Delaware  Street in old New Castle, Delaware, and a web site at https://margojohnson.artspan.com/exhibits.html.  There is an extensive gallery of her work there.      
Read more

Artists of W 18th Street: John Matassa

Image
 Artists of W 18th Street John Matassa  Several years after Ralph Scharff moved from 2625 W 18th St another artist and family moved in.  John Matassa wasn't a native of the area, but paintings of the landscape and architecture of the Brandywine Valley were part of his eclectic output.  I remember John more for his drawings than his paintings. He was born and received his art education in New England, but had a career as an art teacher at Wilmington Friends School in parallel to his professional art career. We do not own any of John's art, but a portfolio of detailed Delaware steamboat paintings are posted at https://steamboats.com/museum/matassa1.html.  I have not been able to find the back story for this collection or its present location.  Several are clearly marked "Wilson Line," the Wilmington based steamship line founded in the 1880s and lasting until the 1960s.  Here is the "City of Wilmington."    Hagley Museum owns a John Matassa Draw...
Read more