When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to land on the moon, they planted a US flag there; the photo Armstrong took of Aldrin with the flag is so well-known that it has become an icon. In its extensive report on this flag, NASA writes: “it is uncertain if the flag remained standing or was blown over by the engine blast when the ascent module took off”. Last week however, according to news paper BN/De Stem, a visiting Buzz Aldrin told an audience of students from the Delft University of Technology that the flag was no longer standing; when leaving for earth, the astronauts accidentally knocked it over.

Realising how sensitive the US public would be about such a thing, the astronauts decided not to tell upon return.

(Source: BN/De Stem)