Lunar Flag Assembly flag, placed about from the centerline of the "Eagle" landing craft, was blown over by the blast of the rocket exhaust during takeoff. Because of this, care was taken by subsequent crews to place the flags at greater distances from the Lunar Module. The landing on Apollo 13 was aborted due to a major spacecraft malfunction encountered before reaching the Moon. The flag carried on that flight was destroyed with the Lunar Module "Aquarius" when it reentered the Earth's atmosphere. A review of photographs taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) indicates that flags placed during the Apollo 12, Apollo
Apollo Lunar Module with the aid of landing radar. During the braking phase altitude decreased to approximately , then the final approach phase went to approximately . During final approach, the vehicle pitched over to a near-vertical position, allowing the crew to look forward and down to see the lunar surface for the first time. Astronauts only flew Apollo spacecraft manually during the lunar approach. The final landing phase began approximately uprange of the targeted landing site. At this point manual control was enabled for the Commander, and enough propellant reserve was allocated to allow approximately two minutes of hover time to survey