How Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were brought to plant a British flag on the moon

A British engineer finally revealed how he fooled astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin into planting a Union flag on the moon.

Keith Wright, of Nottingham, was based at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and was working on the famous 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

And now he has finally revealed his 50-year-old secret about how he had managed to make sure that "the British had a little bit of credit" for the expedition.

Keith said that Armstrong and Aldrin came to the premises for a rehearsal and prepare for the mission.

He explained to the two pilots that they were going to install solar panels on the moon. The team decided to sign the names on the brackets.

LITTLE FLAG UNION

But Keith decided to pay tribute to the United Kingdom and drew a "little flag of the Union" to make sure that Britain was not left out.

Speaking at the One Show last night, Keith said: "We received a pen and signed our names.When I signed my name, I said to myself:" I'd better put 'UK' .

"We wanted to give some credit to the British, so I thought I would draw a little Union flag.

"So, I have a small Union flag drawn on it … installed on the experimentation package and it went to the moon."

He said the astronauts had planted the American flag first, a few moments before placing the solar panels.

We wanted to give some credit to the British, so I was also thinking of drawing a little flag of the Union

British engineer Keith Wright

Armstrong and Aldrin both stunned the world when they appeared on television screens on July 21, 1969, bouncing in weightlessness.

More than 500 million people around the world watched the pair land on the moon for the first time.

The night before the mission, Keith said that Armstrong seemed very calm and joking.

He told presenter Carol Vorderman: "Neil was very relaxed and rather sarcastic.

CONTROVERSIAL

"We were so focused on our work and seeing that they could do it right, it seemed almost normal.

"But, thinking afterwards, I had their signatures."

In the 50 years that have passed since the historic event, the moon landing has caused much controversy and its authenticity has been questioned.

The conspiracy theory that landings have been falsified has gained popularity, with more than 20% of Americans now believing that the United States has never landed on the moon.

The cold war was raging and the two world superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, were fighting over technological superiority.

America was desperate to win the space race, to prove to the Russians that they were world leaders, and she was willing to do everything in her power to move from first to position in the race for the Moon.

The theory is that it was too expensive and too dangerous to land on the moon and that NASA filmed a series of false landings in a studio.

Getty – Contributor

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