The Chinese national flag in the form of coatings of the spacecraft was presented in December 2013. The pictures taken by the rover of the spacecraft’s lander Yutu-1 and the lander itself have recorded the flag in the form of images.
In the form of the coatings of spacecraft, the flag of China reached the darker side of the moon with the help of rover Yutu-2 and Chang’e-4 lander in January 2019.
Unlike the way in which the flags are presented on the surface of our earth, the moon presents some challenges to the flags. The surface of the moon has strong electromagnetic radiations. These radiations in combination with the wide temperature difference between night and day are responsible for changing the conditions on this satellite of the earth. Any flag made of conventional materials will immediately be decomposed or their colour will fade away as soon as they are exposed on the lunar surface.
This is the reason why one year was spent by scientists to research the right type of flag for this purpose. They’ve come up with a new composite material that has the capacity to withstand rough external environments on the moon’s surface. The colours of these flags will not fade and its shape will remain intact.
The flag is made using special materials and it only has 12 grams of weight. Also, a unique system is used for displaying this flag. The researchers have worked around the clock to make the flag appear slim. They’ve also worked to reduce the weight of the flag to at least 1 kilogram.
