Идиот-клуб нумер [7]

Journal Contributor Ulrich Lotzmann notes that, prior to late October 1969, "The Apollo 12 crew believed that planting the US flag would not be an objective for their mission." During an October 3 press conference, when asked about a flag deployment, Al said, "Rasing the US flag was done by Apollo 11 and that's enough; now let us use the valuable lunar surface time for science." The final version of the Apollo 12 Flight Plan, with a date of October 20, contains no reference to a flag deployment while the Final Lunar Surface Procedures, with a date of October 23, does include a deployment.

 

The committee was instructed to select symbolic activities that would not jeopardize crew safety or interfere with mission objectives; that would "signalize the first lunar landing as an historic forward step of all mankind that has been accomplished by the United States" and that would not give the impression that the United States was "taking possession of the moon" in violation of the Outer Space Treaty.

 

A House and Senate conference committee agreed on the final version of the bill on 4 November 1969 which included a provision that "the flag of the United States, and no other flag, shall be implanted or otherwise placed on the surface of the moon, or on the surface of any planet, by members of the crew of any spacecraft ... as part of any mission ... the funds for which are provided entirely by the Government of the United States.