These photos of the American flag on the moon are incredible

NASA, through the Apollo Archive Project, just put over 8,400 new images from the Apollo space missions onto Flickr.

All of the photos are incredible, but we’re going to focus on the collection of vistas from the Apollo 11 mission that show the American flag planted on the lunar surface.

Like most vacation photography from over 45 years ago, there are a lot of repeated shots, and some of the photos are blurry. Unlike vacation photography, these pictures show something truly magnificent and awe-inspiring: a flag, flying in space, over 200,000 miles from whence it came.

Here, for example, is astronaut Buzz Aldrin, saluting the flag.

A lunar lander in the forefront, and the flag behind.

An astronaut, the craft, and the flag in the distance.

Again.

Two flags here:  One planted, and one being removed.

“Flag on moon, 1969”

A flag, as seen through the leg of a lunar lander.

Another angle.

Here’s some more photos of the flag, taken from another angle on the moon.

Blurry photobomb by the flag. Taken on the moon.

Shy flag, on the moon.

The flag just barely got into this one.

There it is again.

Here’s a famous shot that inspired an MTV logo. Still a breathtaking photo.

Head over to the Apollo Archive and scroll through the 12,000-plus collection.

David Matthews operates the Wayback Machine on Fusion.net—hop on. Got a tip? Email him: [email protected]