US flags planted on moon during Apollo missions 40 yrs ago still exist

New York -  The iconic American flags planted by astronauts on the moon during Apollo missions are still flying after more than four decades, NASA has revealed.

All six Apollo missions to the lunar surface planted the Stars and Stripes during their fantastic voyages, but the flags’ fate has been a mystery until NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera captured the shadowed side of the flag planted at the Apollo 16 site.

The most recent photos of the moon taken by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera show that the flags still exist — except the one planted by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin after they became the first humans to touch the lunar surface July 20, 1969, New York Daily News reported.

“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!” LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson as writing wrote in a blog post Friday.

Each of the six manned Apollo missions that touched down on the moon planted flags at their landing sites.

The flags were not meant to be symbolic of territorial claims. Instead, they were intended to signify “humanitarian accomplishment,” Smithsonian curator Allan Needell told CBS News.

Scientists have long searched for proof that the flags survived after the final manned Apollo mission, Apollo 17, left the moon Dec. 14, 1972.

The LROC photos, which were taken at various times of the day and show rotating shadows around the points where the flags are believed to be, offer “convincing” evidence that the icons still exist, Robinson said.

It was feared the flags would be lost due to the rough lunar environment.

“Personally I was a bit surprised that the flags survived the harsh ultraviolet light and temperatures of the lunar surface, but they did. What they look like is another question,” Robinson wrote.