Space & Physics

Flag Day – One Small Flag’s Incredible Journey

This article is for students grades 5-8. This story tells the tale of one small American flag fortunate enough to embark on an incredible journey. It wasn’t the first flag to ride into space, or the most famous flag that went into space — that honor probably goes to the Stars and Stripes planted on the […]

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Jun 13, 2024 - 23:00

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Flag Day – One Small Flag’s Incredible Journey

This article is for students grades 5-8.

This story tells the tale of one small American flag fortunate enough to embark on an incredible journey. It wasn’t the first flag to ride into space, or the most famous flag that went into space — that honor probably goes to the Stars and Stripes planted on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. So what makes this one little flag so special? Let’s let the flag tell its own story.

The shuttle Columbia launching for the first time in 1981

Here I am launching into space aboard the space shuttle Columbia for the first time in 1981.

Credits: NASA

Workers packed me away with many other small flags like me – there must have been a thousand of us – just 8-by-12-inch Stars and Stripes, in a locker aboard space shuttle Columbia. We took off on STS-1, the shuttle’s very first mission in 1981, from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida. Although we couldn’t see anything, we could feel the vibrations and noises of the liftoff, the ride a bit rough for the first two minutes, then much smoother until we reached space. Once in orbit, we could hear the two astronauts working as they tested the new spaceship.

The shuttle Columbia landing after its first flight in 1981.

And two days later, I’m back on Earth!

Credits: NASA

Then after just two days, we came home, making a smooth landing in California. Thirty years later, someone had the idea to send me into space again, this time on the very last space shuttle mission, STS-135. And this time I would be making a much longer trip, since I would be left aboard the International Space Station.

Here I am starting my second trip into space in 2011, this time aboard the space shuttle Atlantis.

Credits: NASA

So I roared off into space again in 2011, this time aboard space shuttle Atlantis. I had four friends to keep me company, Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus, and Rex Walheim. They actually took me out of my locker, and we all took pictures together. That made me feel really special.

Astronauts Chris Ferguson, Doug Hurley, Sandy Magnus, and Rex Walheim smile and pose with an American flag aboard Atlantis

Here I am posing with my friends Doug, Chris, Sandy, and Rex aboard Atlantis.

Credits: NASA

But there was more in store for me: Two days after our launch we arrived at the space station; wow, what a huge place this was! I met even more astronauts here, from America, Russia, and Japan! President Barack Obama called to congratulate the crews, and I heard him talking about me and what a unique American flag I was. I would have a position of honor aboard the station until the next team of Americans arrived aboard an American spacecraft launched from American soil. I couldn’t have been more proud!

Astronauts aboard the space station pose in a circle with an American flag

Here I am with all 10 crewmembers aboard the station, from America, Russia, and Japan.

Credits: NASA

Astronauts aboard the space station placing an American flag on a hatch

And here I am, taking my position of honor on the space station’s hatch.

Credits :NASA

The astronauts made a TV show and I was the star. They placed me in my position of honor on the forward hatch of the space station, between the patches of the first and last space shuttle missions. I stayed on the hatch for a while, but as no spacecraft arrived through that portal for a few years, the crews needed the space to store their stuff.

An American flag on the space station's forward hatch

Here I am between the STS-1 and STS-135 patches on the station’s forward hatch.

Credits: NASA

Worried I might be injured, they slipped me into a plastic cover and placed me on a wall near the hatch. People grew concerned about me and thought it would be good to put me away in storage for safekeeping, at least temporarily, so that’s what happened. And while I waited, the bag I was in got moved around, and after a few years, people weren’t really sure where I was. But luckily, they found me and placed me in a safer bag and wrote these words, “Flown on STS-1 & STS-135. Only to be removed by crew launching from KSC,” to let everyone know I was that special flag.

A photo looking down a hatch on the space station

Later I was moved to a nearby wall.

Credits: NASA

An American flag in a plastic bag with the words "Flown on STS-1 & STS-135, Only to be removed by crew launching from KSC" on the outside of the bag.

Later still, placed in a Ziploc bag for safety, with the words to let everyone know I was that special flag.

Credits: NASA

Two more years went by, and I began to hear rumblings that I might be needed again. My newest friend on the space station, Chris Cassidy, cleared out the area around the hatch. Was I about to resume my position of honor? Excitement was building, and Chris and his two crewmates, Anatoli Ivanishin and Ivan Vagner prepared the station for its newest arrivals. Apparently two Americans had launched aboard an American spacecraft from American soil, the first time in nine years.

SpaceX Demo 2 crew pose for a picture aboard the space station

Here I am welcoming the SpaceX Demo 2 crew.

Credits: NASA

Doug is holding me up to the camera during a press conference.

Credits: NASA

My long wait was over! Chris placed me on the now-open hatch, and first Bob Behnken and then Doug Hurley, my old friend from Atlantis, floated inside the station! I was there to welcome them aboard! Once again, I starred in another TV show. After returning to Earth with Doug and Bob – I’m told I had traveled 1.3 billion miles – I went on display in several places. And now I hear rumblings of another possibly more distant journey awaiting me. We’ll just have to see.