posted 02-11-2025 05:04 PM               

Apollo astronaut gifts moon-flown flags to space museum in Kansas

A collection of 15 well-traveled Kansas flags now have a home in the state they represent after living up to the Latin motto printed on their fabric: "Ad Astra per Aspera," or in English, "To the Stars Through Difficulties."

The small azure banners, which are adorned with the state seal and a sunflower, were flown to the moon and back by NASA astronaut Charlie Duke on NASA's Apollo 16 mission in April 1972. Almost 53 years later, Duke has donated them to the Cosmosphere, a world-class space museum and international science center located in Hutchinson, Kansas.