The Apollo 11 Solar Wind Composition Experiment

The flag-like Solar Wind Composition Experiment was the first experiment set up by the Apollo 11 astronauts on the lunar surface, and its Principal Investigator was Johannes Geiss, the world-leading Swiss physicist.

Manufactured by the University of Bern and the Swiss National Science Foundation, this experiment was both simple and of great scientific value. It was one of the only experiments to be carried on every lunar landing mission, and it was the only non-American experiment to be part of the Apollo landings. It consisted of an aluminium foil sheet, 1.4 m by 0.3 m, fixed to a pole facing the Sun.