NASA Radio:"Eagle (this is) Houston, looking good" After 21h and 36m on the surface of the Moon it was time for the first people to walk here, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to start heading home NASA Radio: "nine, eight, seven, six, five, abort stage, engine arm ascent, proceed" In this video we will look at what the
astronauts left behind on what is one of the most significant historical
sites that no one has visited since During the astronauts takeoff Buzz Aldrin observed
the site from a window noticing that the engine's spearing exhaust was whirling up Moon dust and
caused the American flag to tip over falling to the ground. A special mounting mechanism had
been designed for the flag as with no wind on the moon it had to be held upright by a horizontal
crossbar. The flag itself however made of nylon is not a custom-made product but was ordered
through the standard government supply catalog In addition to the flag, other commemorative
items that serve no scientific purpose were left on the moon. Attached on the ladder of
The Descent stage there is a metal plaque featuring the signatures of the Apollo 11
crew and then U.S president Richard Nixon The astronauts also placed a number of small objects
with symbolic meaning on the surface. These items were stored in a shoulder pocket on Buzz aldrin's
spacesuit and he almost forgot to leave them on the moon and was reminded to do so by Armstrong
while he was already on the ladder to re-enter the lunar module. From there Aldrin dropped the
objects onto the lunar surface. Part of it was an Apollo 1 Mission patch to honor the astronauts
that had died in a tragic accident two and a half years prior. Their cabin had caught fire during a
launch rehearsal killing all three crew members The astronauts also left two commemorative medals
to honor the Soviet cosmonauts Yuri Gagarin and Vladimir komarov: two space Pioneers
that died in different tragic accidents Even amidst the Cold War the aim was
to express mutual respect for those who risked their lives for the exploration
of space. Another object that was placed to express the spirit of international
cooperation is a small silicon disk Tt contains Goodwill messages from the leaders
of 73 countries around the world. In addition it features the names of Congress members responsible
for NASA legislation as well as names of NASA senior staff. The astronauts also left a gold
Olive Branch as a symbol of Global Peace. Besides these purely symbolic objects
we can find instruments that we used for experiments such as this seismometer
that can measure ground vibrations The device, powered by solar panels,
records data on the strength, duration and approximate direction of seismic
events and transmits this data to Earth Unfortunately just three weeks after the moon
landing the device stopped sending data back presumably because it overheated in the midday
Sun. The temperature fluctuations between day and night are much more extreme than on Earth.
This is because the sun's heat is not absorbed by an atmosphere, which could distribute
it and retain it during the night Further we find another experiment, the lunar
laser retro reflector, it acts as a special kind of mirror reflecting incoming light in exactly
the same direction from which the beam originates This means scientists on Earth can direct
a laser beam towards this device which will reflect the light back to Earth. Since the
speed of light is known, this instrument can be used to measure the exact distance between
the Earth and the moon. And it is the mission's only experiment that still works to this day.
Other experiments that the astronauts carried out can only be recognized by the traces
they left behind. The astronauts took rock samples and drilled into the ground measuring the
resistance. They also hung up a special sheet for the duration of their stay in order to measure
the solar wind outside of Earth's magnetosphere Because the astronauts had to bring this sail
back to Earth, only the pole remains on the moon Close to the Lander we find an area that is
cluttered with objects. This is the trash we left behind. A number of rock samples were brought
back to Earth and in order to be able to take as much as possible of those the astronauts tossed
away equipment that had already served its purpose Also the black and white camera which had
transmitted both the first steps on the moon, and the raising of the flag to a worldwide
audience stayed behind on the moon In addition to commemorative items, scientific
experiments, and tossed away equipment, the astronauts left one other thing behind: their
footprints, which are often used as a metaphor for the achievement that this journey represents.
The paths that the astronauts took are clearly visible in the moondust and they reveal one path
that was taken far away from the landing site Towards the end of the extra vehicular
activity Neil Armstrong took the chance and went on an unplanned trip to
the little West crater. After the astronauts left, the site's condition
is expected to only change slow, not so much in periods of weeks or months but decades centuries
and even greater intervals. And so today more than 53 years after Apollo 11 left, it can be assumed
that solar radiation has visually changed the site Without a significant atmosphere to protect
the moon, the intense ultraviolet radiation of sunlight will have an impact on the materials
used in the mission. It is widely assumed that the colors of the U.S flag have faded
over the years. In addition the materials were exposed to the extreme temperature
fluctuations alternating between 14 days of 100 degrees celsius heat and then 14 days
in the dark at negative 150 degrees celsius And so it's likely that the nylon flag is
also tattered and disintegrated as other materials will have suffered and will be covered
in dust. Ultimately however these are assumptions to the best of our knowledge, what's left is a
truly fascinating historical site that unlike archaeological sites on Earth is superbly
preserved but yet hardly studyable. If you find find yourself far away from
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