Astronaut Planting Flag on Moon Coloring Page: PDF

Flags and Footprints: The Apollo Moon Landings

The First Flag on Another World

On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong planted the first flag on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission, a moment watched live by an estimated 600 million people on television, the largest television audience in history up to that point. The flag was purchased from a government catalog for a modest price and had to be specially modified before the flight to survive both the vacuum of space and lunar temperature swings.

Engineering a Flag With No Wind

Because the Moon has no atmosphere and therefore no wind, NASA engineers sewed a telescoping horizontal rod into the top hem of each flag so it could be extended to hold the fabric outward, creating the appearance of a flag rippling in a breeze that does not exist. During Apollo 11, the rod did not fully extend, leaving a slight ripple in the fabric that is still visible in the mission's famous photographs.

Six Flags Across Six Missions

Between 1969 and 1972, astronauts planted a total of six American flags during the six successful Apollo lunar landings - missions 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17. Apollo 11's flag was famously knocked over by the exhaust blast when the ascent module lifted off to return to lunar orbit, a detail confirmed decades later by images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which photographed shadows cast by the remaining five upright flags.

Footprints That May Last Millions of Years

Because the Moon has no atmosphere, no flowing water, and almost no geological activity, footprints and equipment tracks left by Apollo astronauts are expected to remain visible for millions of years, disturbed only by slow, gradual dust accumulation from micrometeorite impacts. Scientists consider the six Apollo landing sites historically significant and have proposed protective boundaries to keep future lunar missions from disturbing the preserved tracks.

Why the Outer Space Treaty Matters Here

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967, signed by the United States and dozens of other nations, explicitly states that no country may claim sovereignty over the Moon or any other celestial body, which is why NASA has always described the Apollo flags as a symbol of achievement rather than a territorial claim. A small plaque left at the Apollo 11 site reads "We came in peace for all mankind," reinforcing that the mission's flag was about accomplishment, not ownership.

What Craters Tell Scientists About the Moon

The round craters scattered across the lunar surface, like the ones shown around the astronaut in this coloring page, formed over billions of years from asteroid and meteorite impacts, since the Moon lacks the wind and rain that erode craters on Earth. Because these craters stay preserved almost unchanged, scientists use their number and depth to estimate the age of different lunar regions, a dating method that also helps date other rocky surfaces across the solar system.

Why Earth Looks So Small From the Moon

From the lunar surface, Earth appears about four times wider than the Moon looks from Earth, since Earth's diameter is roughly four times greater, yet it still fits comfortably within an outstretched thumb held at arm's length. Apollo astronauts described watching Earth go through phases just like the Moon does, and because the Moon rotates so slowly relative to Earth, Earth appears to hang almost motionless in the same patch of black sky throughout an entire moonwalk.