As the closest celestial body, the moon has always fascinated humans, who have aspired for centuries to set foot on its surface. That finally happened in 1969 when astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made their historic Apollo 11 mission to the lunar surface. Before and after Armstrong took that giant leap for mankind, humans have been sending things to the moon and leaving them there. There are about 800 items still on the lunar surface, and some of them are American flags. On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 astronauts left the first American flag on the lunar surface. So, is it still there? While the flag from the first lunar landing hasn't been seen in years, at least three other flags survived life on the moon. American flags planted by Apollo 12, 16, and 17 are all still standing, but the remaining Apollo flags planted on the moon are likely badly faded due to harsh ultraviolet light. Every Apollo crew left behind seismometers, lots of geological tools, most of their cameras and their lunar module ascent stages. So, with all of this stuff on the moon, is any of it visible from earth? As cool as it would be to gaze up at the moon and see one of the lunar rovers, it's just not possible. Unfortunately, there is no telescope on earth powerful enough to spot any of the objects that have been left behind. Not even the Hubble could see what's left on the moon. It's designed to collect faint light of galaxies and nebulas, not objects on the moon. From earth, we would require a telescope at least 75 feet across to spot a 32-foot object on the moon, and there's nothing that large on the moon.
