An Important Event in Vexillological History: "The Political and Technical Aspects of Placing a Flag on the Moon"

The North American Vexillological Association, or NAVA, hosts an annual meeting to discuss flags. At the 26th meeting in 1992, held in San Antonio, Texas, the Driver Award for the Best Paper went to Anne M. Platoff, for “Where No Flag Has Gone Before: Political and Technical Aspects of Placing a Flag on the Moon.”. In it, Platoff describes in detail the design of a flagpole with a horizontal bar, which allowed the flag to “fly” without the benefit of wind to overcome the effects of the moon’s lack of an atmosphere. Other factors considered in the design were weight, heat resistance, and ease of assembly by astronauts whose space suits restricted their range of movement and ability to grasp items. The total cost of the flag and its apparatus was estimated at “several hundred dollars”; the flag itself was purchased for $5.50 at a general store.

The following is an excerpt from Platoff’s paper.

Work on the lunar flag assembly began about three months prior to the Apollo 11 mission. Robert Gilruth, Director of the Manned Spacecraft Center (MSC) and a member of the Committee on Symbolic Activities, asked Jack Kinzler, Chief of Technical Services Division at MSC, for ideas regarding the EVA. Kinzler suggested that a full-size U.S. flag could be deployed using a specially designed flagpole. He drew up a preliminary sketch (Fig. 2) and the idea was presented to the committee. Working with Deputy Division Chief Dave McCraw, he worked out the details of the lunar flag assembly over several days. The design was based on a number of engineering constraints. For example, to compensate for the lack of an atmosphere on the lunar surface, the flag assembly included a horizontal crossbar to give the illusion of a flag flying in the breeze.

Two other major constraints were the weight of the assembly and the stowage space required. The team designed the entire assembly to be as lightweight as possible — when completed it weighed only 9 pounds and 7 ounces.

They reduced the size of the package by developing a two-part telescoping pole apparatus with a telescoping crossbar. It was also necessary to design a flagpole that could be easily assembled and deployed by astronauts wearing space suits. Space suits used for the lunar surface EVA were pressurized to approximately 3.7 pounds per square inch and, as a result, the amount of force that the astronauts could apply with their gloved hands was limited and their range of movement was restricted (Fig. 3).

A 3 × 5 ft. nylon flag, obtained through the government supply catalog, was altered by sewing a hem along the top. The crossbar, hinged to the pole, went through this hem, and a loop sewn around the bottom of the flag secured it to the pole. An astronaut would unfurl the flag by extending the telescoping crossbar and by raising it first to a position just above 90 degrees. He then lowered it to a position perpendicular to the pole where a catch prevented the hinge from moving. The upper portion then slipped into the base portion of the flagpole, which had been driven into the ground using a lunar geological hammer. A red ring was painted around the base of the assembly 18 inches from the bottom to aid the astronauts in judging the distance that the pole had penetrated the surface.

Finally, it was necessary to protect the flag during the descent portion of the lunar landing. To make the flag easily accessible during the EVA, it was mounted on the left-hand side of the ladder on the Lunar Module (LM) (fig. 4).

This also reduced the amount of equipment that had to carried inside the already crowded vehicle. It was estimated, however, that the LM ladder would be heated to 250 degrees Farenheit by the descent engines as they fired during the descent staging phase of the landing. The ladder would experience temperatures up to 2,000 degrees Farenheit during the 13 seconds of the touchdown phase. Tests run on the flag determined that it would withstand temperatures of only up to 300 degrees Farenheit . These conditions made it necessary to design a protective shroud for the flagassembly. The shroud design (Fig. 5) was the work of the Structures and Mechanics Division of the Manned Spacecraft Center. It consisted of a stainless steel outer case separated from an aluminum layer by Thermoflex insulation. Several layers of thermal blanketing material were placed between the shroud and the flag assembly, limiting the temperature experienced by the flag to 180 degrees Farenheit .

All of the work on the flag assembly and on the flag shroud was performed in the workshops at the Manned Spacecraft Center. Alterations to the flag were done in the fabrics shop, the sheet metals shop constructed the flagpole, and another shop anodized the flagpole — electrolytically coating the aluminum to give it a gold color and a stiff protective surface. Tubing used in the construction of the pole was about an inch in diameter with a wall approximately 1/32 of an inch thick. The telescoping feature of the pole was created by using different sizes of tubing that slid neatly into each other. A capped bottom allowed the upper portion of the pole to slide easily into the lower portion. The base of the lower section was designed with a hardened steel point to make it easier to drive into the lunar soil.

Cost of materials was relatively low — the flag was purchased for $5.50 and the tubing cost approximately $75. The cost of the shroud has been estimated at several hundred dollars due to the materials involved. Construction of the prototypes was achieved in several days, and after a week the team had made a few backup assemblies, and some to be used for crew training purposes. Demonstration tests were performed where the flag assembly was folded, packed, unpacked, erected and deployed to assure that it would operate properly. Kinzler flew to Kennedy Space Center in Florida to participate in a mockup review of the lunar flag assembly on 25 June 1969. The astronauts were included in several of these tests as part of their EVA training so that they would be familiar with deployment procedures.

Packing of the flag assembly followed a written 12-step procedure which required up to 5 people to ensure that it was tightly packed. Wooden blocks and plastic ties were used by the team to keep the packed flag together as they progressed through the steps. These packing aids were removed when the flag was placed into the thermal package. After the flag was rolled into the thermal package a thermal rip strip made with Velcro was used to close the package. The strip had a pull-tab at the top to make it easier for the astronauts to open the package once they were on the lunar surface. This thermal package was then installed into the metal shroud following a 4-step procedure. A small block of Thermaflex insulation was placed around the bottom and top ends of the pole to protect the flag ends from hot brackets. The flag packing for the Apollo 11 flight was performed in Jack Kinzler’s office and was approved by the Chief of Quality Assurance who was present during the procedure. Once the flag thermal package was properly stowed inside the shroud, it was taken to the launch site at KSC to be mounted on the ladder of the LM.

Because the final decision to fly the flag and attach the plaque was made so close to the launch date, a Lear jet was chartered to fly Kinzler, George Low (Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program), Low’s secretary, the flag assembly, and the commemorative plaque to KSC before the launch. The flag and plaque were installed on the LM of Apollo 11 at 4:00 in the morning as the spacecraft sat atop its Saturn V rocket ready for launch. Kinzler had written an 11-step procedure for mounting the assembly on the ladder and personally supervised the installation.

Proper installation was vital if the astronauts were to be able to deploy the flag on the lunar surface. An astronaut first released the shroud “pip” pin by squeezing it and then pulling it out, and then released the main flag assembly “pip” pin. A spring tension against the flag poles was released when the pins were pulled allowing easy removal of the shroud. The astronaut then pulled the Velcro strip off the insulation package and discarded the wrapping materials.

How much of future NASA budgets will be dedicated to the engineering feats that national bragging rights demand? Could future missions include robots whose primary mission is to plant flags? Could the solar sails of future spacecraft be adorned with rising suns, stars and stripes or Communist Party insignia? These seem like insignificant questions, but the history of manned spaceflight is draped in national symbolism – and as the projects of whole nations, future budgets will need to include room for a few good flags too.

Meanwhile, the flag that Neil Armstrong placed on the moon is still there, says NASA. But others are convinced it was blown over by the engine blast when the ascent module took off. There are no plans yet to return to investigate, or to resurrect the flag if it has fallen.

Secrets of the First Moon Landing
In Case They Didn’t Come Back From the Moon
Our Space Advances Have Fallen Way Short
The Moon Motherboard