Citizen

There have been SIX manned missions on the Moon. Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, and 17. All had extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface. All Planted the American Flag on the moon.


Astronaut John Young (Apollo 16) leaping off the lunar surface as he salutes the American flag. (Photo Courtesy of NASA)



THE LUNAR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE


This works great on camping trips, especially at the close of a campfire. Other suggested uses are Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, Church groups, Military groups, summer camp, or another nighttime activities or ceremonies. The following reading should take approximately 3 - 5 minutes.

Since we have no flag out here to salute or retire tonight, we are going to do something called The Lunar Pledge of Allegiance. This is how it goes.

Would everyone please rise.

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On a, historic day in 1969, three great American astronauts, Neil Armstrong (who is by the way an Eagle Scout), Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin Jr., and Michael Collins took an unforgettable flight to the moon in a spacecraft called Apollo 11. After entering lunar orbit, astronauts Aldrin and Armstrong transferred to the lunar module, appropriately called The Eagle. The Eagle slowly descended to the surface of the moon, and on July 20 it landed safely. A few hours later Nell Armstrong, in his bulky suit, descended the ladder, stepped out onto the surface of the moon (the firs man ever to do so), and said these historic words:

" That's one small step for a man,
One giant leap for mankind."

He then proceeded to plant an American flag on the moon and that very flag still stands there today, over 25 years later. It is that great and proud flag that we salute tonight, the Stars and Stripes. The 13 red and white stripes symbolizing the 13 colonies that originally constituted the United States. The 50 white stars on a blue ground, one for each state in the Union - states that our Founding Fathers guaranteed us would be free and independent states. A flag that is an honored symbol of our nation's unity. A flag that symbolizes the protection, under the Constitution, of the rights and privileges of all Americans. It means that we have a duty to serve when needed, and it allows us to speak freely. It means that government will be of the people by the people, and for the people, it is a flag that assures us of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. A flag that allows us to secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our prosperity. A flag that represents freedom for every American, liberty and justice for all. A flag that means, from sea to shining sea, we are one nation under God.

So don't you trample on Old Glory. Don't you dare burn our flag. Treat it with the respect it deserves. As citizens, our patriotism - the love, loyalty and devotion I pledge allegiance to the flag,

Of the United States ofGod, indivisible,

With liberty and justice for all.
~   ~   ~
Copyright @ 1997 by PAL Publishing House,
341 Maple Lane, Conroe, Texas 77304.
All rights reserved

To print a copy (for your own use) of just The Lunar Pledge with no graphics and other background information, click here, then click your browser's print button. You must hit your browsers "Back" button to return back here.

Where No Flag Has Gone Before:
Political and Technical Aspects of  Placing a Flag on the Moon

NASA Contractor Report 188251 #
Written by Anne Platoff - August 1993
Abstract

The flag on the moon represents an important event in vexillological (Study of Flags ) history. This paper examines the political and technical aspects of placing a flag on the moon, focusing on the first moon landing. During their historic extravehicular activity (EVA), the Apollo 11 crew planted the first flag of the United States on the lunar surface. This flag-raising was strictly a symbolic activity, as the United Nations Treaty on Outer Space precluded any territorial claim. Nevertheless, there were domestic and international debates over the appropriateness of the event. Congress amended the agency's appropriations bill to prevent the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) from placing flags of other nations, or those of international associations, on the moon during missions funded solely by the United States. Like any activity in space exploration, the Apollo flag-raising also provided NASA engineers with an interesting technical challenge. They designed a flagpole with a horizontal bar allowing 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. As NASA plans a return to the moon and an expedition to Mars, we will likely see flags continue to go "where no flag has gone before." #

Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin (Apollo 11) deploy the first U.S. flag on the moon on 20 July 1969. (Photo Courtesy of NASA- JSC Photograph S69-40308 #
#    For more details on placing the American Flag on the moon.
Check out NASA Contractor Report #188251: - located on the Web at:
http://www-sn.jsc.nasa.gov/explore/Data/Lib/DOCS/EIC045.html


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