The Apollo Program
In the 1860s and 1870s, the United States initiated and implemented the Apollo Program. With the successful completion of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong successfully walked the moon, and this manned spaceflight project also ushered in a new era of human exploration of the moon. The United States and the Soviet Union were engaged in space races, so in just a decade or so, the United States spent $25 billion on the project.
The Apollo program was originally proposed in 1960, when Eisenhower was in power, but because the cost of the project was too large, it did not have the full support of Eisenhower. Without the president's approval of the use of space funding, the Apollo program could only be put on hold for the time being.
John F. Kennedy later ran for president in November of the same year, promising that if he succeeded in becoming president, he would make the United States surpass the Soviet Union in space and missile research. John F. Kennedy was elected president, but he did not initially devote a large sum of money to the space industry as he promised.
With Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin entering space for the first time, Kennedy was only able to approve funding to support the Apollo program and fulfill his campaign promises as soon as possible.
In October 1968, Apollo 7 successfully carried people around the earth. In December 1968, Apollo 8 successfully returned to Earth after a manned flight around the moon. In March 1969, the Apollo 9 lunar module successfully docked with the service module. In May 1969, Apollo 10 took the lunar module into lunar orbit. In July 1969, Apollo XI was successfully completed, and Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the moon.
American flag on the moon "windward display"
On July 20, 1969, Houston time, the lunar module Eagle successfully landed near the Still Sea on the lunar surface. Armstrong and Aldrin then prepare the items needed to exit the cabin in the cabin. Six hours later, Armstrong was the first to walk out of the lunar module on the moon and turned on the TV camera to start a global live broadcast on the lunar surface.
Armstrong then took his left foot in front of the camera and famously said, "This is a small step for a man, but a big step for man." The image was teleported live to Earth via satellite, and some 300 million people around the world witnessed it at the same time.
Armstrong then took out a lunar flag component, a flagpole and an American flag, in front of all the humans watching the live broadcast. He then gave a military salute to the unfolding American flag.
Although the Apollo 11 project held such a huge live broadcast after the moon landing, many people said that it was a "moon landing scam", believing that it was a huge scam created by John F. Kennedy to pull votes for re-election. One of the most heated discussions is that the American flag should not be "waved in the wind" on the moon.
Originally, in the image data of the Apollo 11 mission, it could be seen that the ground was a gray lunar surface, and there were clearly visible shoe prints on the ground. On the left is part of the structure of the lunar module, and on the right is Armstrong, wearing a spacesuit, leaning forward. In the middle of the photo, we can see a wrinkled American flag. The flagpole is straight on the ground, and there is a horizontal bracket at the top of the flagpole.
Although the American flag has brackets fixed on both sides, the flag in the center looks crumpled. And people see that the flag seems to be swinging from side to side, looking like it is "waving in the wind". It is this kind of picture that has caused heated discussion, because the universe has no wind, so the national flag should not be "waved in the wind".
Subsequently, the official also explained that the US flag was actually an optical illusion in the "windward display". When the flagpole was made on land, it took into account that there was no wind on the surface of the moon, so it was made into a right-angle bracket. Because the space of the lunar module was limited at that time, the flag and flagpole were fixed to the support of the lunar module before being brought to the moon.
The ability of the American flag to unfold on the moon is a credit to the right angle bracket. However, due to the "boat and cart strain", the flag of the general material has become wrinkled after being brought to the moon. Coupled with the delay in the inertia of the moon due to armstrong's deployment of the flag, the flag took on a "fluttering" posture.
But this explanation did not satisfy everyone, and according to a survey, 37% of americans at the time expressed disbelief that the moon landing was really successful. So whether the United States successfully landed on the moon in 1969 has always been a mystery.
Later, China's Chang'e 5 successfully landed on the moon, and also displayed the Chinese flag on the lunar surface, which also happened to prove the authenticity of the US moon landing.
The Chinese flag exposes the truth about the U.S. moon landing
On December 4, 2020, China's National Space Administration announced a picture of the Chang'e-5 probe displaying the Chinese flag on the lunar surface. In the combined panoramic camera of the probe and the lifter, the snow-white flagpole of the secondary hinge structure, not far from the Chang'e-5 lander, stands on the surface of the moon, and a bright red five-star red flag hangs above the flagpole.
After Chang'e 5 successfully landed on the surface of the moon, China's national flag took only 1 second to automatically open and stand on the surface of the moon. This is the first national flag in our country to dynamically appear on the moon. Prior to this, the national flags carried by China on Chang'e-3, Chang'e-5 and Yutu lunar rovers were static national flags sprayed on the equipment.
Jade Rabbit lunar rover
It is understood that the five-star red flag flying on the moon has an area of nearly 2000mm×900mm (mm), but the mass weighs only 12g (g). And it is also a high-tech product with "gold content". There are very extreme temperature changes on the moon, but this flag can guarantee that there will be no sticking or damage in the temperature difference environment of -150 ° C to 150 ° C.
And because the moon does not have the same rich atmosphere protection as the earth, the surface has a lot of radiation, ultraviolet rays, if the material of the flag is not strong enough, it will soon fade and break. However, the scientific research team finally successfully created this bright, stretch-resistant high temperature, low temperature resistant, no wrinkles, radiation resistance, anti-static, anti-moon dust five-star red flag.
In the drastic changes in the moon's high and low temperature differences and the environment of absolute vacuum, it is very easy for particles to "flow" between them. Therefore, if the ordinary flag is on the moon, there will be a phenomenon of cross-color. The red and yellow on the flag are like two drops of paint present in water, gradually penetrating and merging with each other. However, the scientific team solved this problem using micro-nano technology of natural materials.
In order to be able to display Chinese elements to the greatest extent, the five-pointed star on the flag was originally planned to be presented using embroidery. But it was later discovered that embroidery would cause the flag to be not flat enough. So in the end, artificial technology was used to modify the anti-ultraviolet silk to present five five-pointed stars. In the end, the moon showed the five-star red flag that we now see that is not deformed, does not fade, and does not string colors.
Being able to have such an impressive display of results did not happen overnight. It is understood that the scientific research team that made this flag spent more than a year selecting raw materials. Some fibers have high strength and will not be easily damaged, but they are not easy to color, and if this material is used, it is likely that the flag will fade in a short time.
Some materials have good dyeing effect and strong colorability, but the strength is not enough, and it may not take long to break. It was hard to find a relatively balanced fiber, but the quality was beyond the planned range.
Because the lunar environment is complex and there are too many factors to consider, they have denied about thirty kinds of raw materials. After a large number of scientific experiments, they finally chose aramid and nylon materials, but the two fibers were initially 10 times different from the expected index data, but the researchers adjusted the fiber structure through small molecule regulation technology, which created this five-star red flag that can "endure" on the moon.
In addition to flags, flagpoles are also an important factor in allowing the five-star red flag to fly high on the lunar surface. Since the date of research and development, the scientific research team has selected high temperature, cold resistance, high strength and high toughness materials as the raw materials for the production of flagpoles. The temperature difference between day and night on the moon is extremely large, and if the material is not properly selected, it is likely that the phenomenon of adhesion "cold welding" will occur due to the special working environment.
The scientific team not only found the raw materials for the manufacture of flagpoles that can withstand the harsh environment of the moon, but also used coating technology to do anti-cold welding treatment on key parts of the flagpole. Minimize the risk of failure during the preparation of raw materials.
In order to ensure that the national flag can be smoothly deployed on the moon, the scientific research team has overcome the technical difficulties of unlocking, unfolding and fixing the bracket one by one. In order to reduce the overall quality of the national flag as much as possible, reduce the space occupied and save space funds, the scientific research team also used one of the smallest explosive devices of the same purpose and function in the unlocking link of the national flag agency. The weight of the entire national flag kit was compressed to 1 kg.
One of the key small parts of the flag unfolding device is the spring. However, the springs of ordinary material will lose their elasticity in the lunar environment, and once they lose their elasticity, the flag will not be able to unfold smoothly. In order to solve this problem, the scientific research team directly contacted the manufacturer to customize the special spring, and through the extreme temperature environment, long-term compression and stretching and other conditions of simulation and testing, only to select the final use of this spring.
After countless tests and drills, this five-star red flag after experiencing "thousands of hammers and hundreds of hammers" finally successfully stood on the surface of the moon, and proved to the world the top charm of Chinese manufacturing through video data.
China used a great deal of patience to develop and build this very special flag, which eventually flew very flat on the surface of the moon. The United States only randomly purchased a nylon Star-Spangled Banner and did not consider and solve what kind of changes the flag would occur on the surface of the moon. That's why the flag of the United States landed on the moon for the first time will show a crumpled and embarrassing scene. Coupled with the fact that the information about the first U.S. moon landing was gradually revealed, we have more reason to believe that humans successfully landed on the surface of the moon as early as 1969.
Although we can shine a bright and new five-star red flag that can withstand the test of time and environment today, it is inseparable from the progress of human science and technology and our understanding of the moon. But what we have achieved is by no means something that can be achieved easily by beating a gong and a drum.
A stretched five-star red flag condenses the blood and sweat of countless heroes who have dedicated their lives to the aerospace industry. Let us pay high tribute to every hero who has contributed to the great achievements of the national space industry.