Finally, LRO has taken a low-periapse orbit in sunlight to within 21km (instead of the previous 50km) and imaged a swathe of high-resolution photographs of the lunar surface that CLEARLY show twin wheel tracks of the lunar rovers and footprints in high detail.
As is the animal, conspiracy theorists probably won't take heed and still refute these images. I pity their stupidity and really wonder why their psychology is as twisted as it is. I guess that they have to try and prove to the world that they, as individuals, are still smarter than everyone else on this mortal coil. Well...either that or they refuse to believe that anyone at all could be clever enough to pull off the real thing - obviously because they themselves never could.
Anyway - travel to the NASA site (www.nasa.gov) and check the LRO page listed at the top of this post for more photos and interactive items. Fascinating stuff.
Quote:
NASA Spacecraft Images Offer Sharper Views of Apollo Landing Sites09.06.11
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made when the astronauts explored the lunar surface.
At the Apollo 17 site, the tracks laid down by the lunar rover are clearly visible, along with the last foot trails left on the moon. The images also show where the astronauts placed some of the scientific instruments that provided the first insight into the moon's environment and interior.
"We can retrace the astronauts' steps with greater clarity to see where they took lunar samples," said Noah Petro, a lunar geologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., who is a member of the LRO project science team.
All three images show distinct trails left in the moon's thin soil when the astronauts exited the lunar modules and explored on foot. In the Apollo 17 image, the foot trails, including the last path made on the moon by humans, are easily distinguished from the dual tracks left by the lunar rover, which remains parked east of the lander.
"The new low-altitude Narrow Angle Camera images sharpen our view of the moon's surface," said Arizona State University researcher Mark Robinson, principal investigator for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). "A great example is the sharpness of the rover tracks at the Apollo 17 site. In previous images the rover tracks were visible, but now they are sharp parallel lines on the surface."
At each site, trails also run to the west of the landers, where the astronauts placed the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) to monitor the moon's environment and interior.
This equipment was a key part of every Apollo mission. It provided the first insights into the moon's internal structure, measurements of the lunar surface pressure and the composition of its atmosphere. Apollo 11 carried a simpler version of the science package.
One of the details that shows up is a bright L-shape in the Apollo 12 image. It marks the locations of cables running from ALSEP's central station to two of its instruments. Although the cables are much too small for direct viewing, they show up because they reflect light very well.
The higher resolution of these images is possible because of adjustments made to LRO's orbit, which is slightly oval-shaped or elliptical. "Without changing the average altitude, we made the orbit more elliptical, so the lowest part of the orbit is on the sunlit side of the moon," said Goddard's John Keller, deputy LRO project scientist. "This put LRO in a perfect position to take these new pictures of the surface."
The maneuver lowered LRO from its usual altitude of approximately 31 miles (50 kilometers) to an altitude that dipped as low as nearly 13 miles (21 kilometers) as it passed over the moon's surface. The spacecraft has remained in this orbit for 28 days, long enough for the moon to completely rotate. This allows full coverage of the surface by LROC's Wide Angle Camera. The cycle ends today when the spacecraft will be returned to its 31-mile orbit.
The paths left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell on both Apollo 14 moon walks are visible in these images. (At the end of the second moon walk, Shepard famously hit two golf balls.) The descent stage of the lunar module Antares is also visible.
"These images remind us of our fantastic Apollo history and beckon us to continue to move forward in exploration of our solar system," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
LRO was built and managed by Goddard. Initial research was funded by the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. In September 2010, after a one-year successful exploration mission, the mission turned its attention from exploration objectives to scientific research in NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
Nah... all those images are doctored, then placed on the NASA website to cover up the Great Conspiracy .. and hide the presence of aliens coming from Zeta Reticuli on our Moon
EDIT - just in case someone takes my above comment too seriously - of course I am joking.. and I am sure comments similar to this one will surface sooner or later.
EDIT - just in case someone takes my above comment too seriously - of course I am joking.. and I am sure comments similar to this one this will surface sooner or later.
I'm pretty sure the "wink" at the end of the line gives it away... You're safe for now. Besides... they came from Theta Reticuli.
As is the animal, conspiracy theorists probably won't take heed and still refute these images. I pity their stupidity and really wonder why their psychology is as twisted as it is. I guess that they have to try and prove to the world that they, as individuals, are still smarter than everyone else on this mortal coil. Well...either that or they refuse to believe that anyone at all could be clever enough to pull off the real thing - obviously because they themselves never could.
Some of the conspiracists have some semi valid points. One of them relates to what we are asked to 'believe' when science is published, which in turn, is very much shaped by what we see in photographic images. Putting aside the hordes who worked on the moon landing programs, (and hard evidence such as the rocks retrieved), at the end of the day, I have to confess, the guy in the street has to rely very heavily on his/her imagination, and how things seem from photographic images. But how easy is it to deceive the eye ? (We covered some of this in a recent 'illusions' thread).
I'm starting to see these conspiracy theories as being motivated more by the trend away from science, and a reaction stemming from a 'loss of faith' in science and scientists, overall.
(This is of course, on top of the usual book publishing profit motives).
LOL! Onya Troy! That's the first thing that came to mind when i thought of all the times the conspiratione demanded we take photos to prove it, reasoning that because we can photograph galaxies millions of light years away, why can't we photograph something the size of a Hill's hoist on the moon?
Now that we are actually capable of doing so, they will claim Photoshop all the way no doubt.
One conspiracy theorist I knew insisted we had not sent ships to Mars because they would have to travel through the asteroid belt he insisted that it was between Earth and Mars. He was a very inteligent man a TAFE IT instructer so his belief totally floored me that he could believe that.
Some of the conspiracists have some semi valid points. One of them relates to what we are asked to 'believe' when science is published, which in turn, is very much shaped by what we see in photographic images. Putting aside the hordes who worked on the moon landing programs, (and hard evidence such as the rocks retrieved), at the end of the day, I have to confess, the guy in the street has to rely very heavily on his/her imagination, and how things seem from photographic images. But how easy is it to deceive the eye ? (We covered some of this in a recent 'illusions' thread).
I'm starting to see these conspiracy theories as being motivated more by the trend away from science, and a reaction stemming from a 'loss of faith' in science and scientists, overall.
(This is of course, on top of the usual book publishing profit motives).
Cheers
Possibly Craig, yes - but this is not about any science concerned with evolving theories over debatable topics such as atmospheric processes or trends where postulation and observational results gel over time. It was an event in history - where real people did real things in real time that could not have happened without clever application of methods derived from the study of science. We aren't looking for results to justify a theory here.
Sent the pics around work and here are two replies:
"I do believe we landed on the moon, and ignore the sceptics, but if I was a sceptic, I don’t know whether this photo would convince me. It reminds me of the billions of unclear UFO photos I have seen. Mind you, I do believe we are not alone, we just are not reachable. "
and
"PHOTOSHOPPED!!!!!
Interesting pic Mike"
So, unfortunately still not 100% no matter what you provide as evidence
Just like this information doesn't convince some people either:
Possibly Craig, yes - but this is not about any science concerned with evolving theories over debatable topics such as atmospheric processes or trends where postulation and observational results gel over time. It was an event in history - where real people did real things in real time that could not have happened without clever application of methods derived from the study of science. We aren't looking for results to justify a theory here.
Hmm .. interesting conversation …
(Don't take me too seriously here by the way Chris .. I'm just dancin' around some thoughts because I too have troubles in understanding these folk .. so I respond by trying to open up my mind to a world in which their behaviours make some rational sense .. I hate using the word 'stupid' as a way of dismissing others' views .. (my flaw)… )
The Moon Landings could be viewed as one giant scientific 'experiment' which produced results requiring interpretation .. (which requires a theory of some sort). I guess apart from the inspiration generated by the exercise, the theory directly put to the test by the landings, was the origin of the moon. (There's always a theory lurking in thar somewhere !!).
Cheers
Also, for clarification (@Mike ) by stating "debatable topics such as atmospheric processes" I infer "topics that must be left open to debate - such as, for example, determination of the actual level of our contribution to atmospheric processes".
I implore that you don't turn this into another bloody climate change post. It was not the intent of this original post. Keep to the subject - moon conspiracies.
I just wanted to clarify that I was kidding above too. If there's kooks out there claiming they really believe these are photoshopped, I don't want to be associated with them.
As a friend from MAS just stated on our own website forum:
Quote:
I blame those conspiracy tv programmes, often incongruously masquarading on the Science channel or the History channel. Once they have watched one of those, nothing will ever convince some people of the real truth.
I think that he has a good point. Many don't seem or want to realise that these are merely entertainment, nothing more.
Just like this information doesn't convince some people either:
