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RedditIt’s a sight we haven’t seen in 37 years—and additional evidence (as if thinking people really need it) that, yes, astronauts really did land on the moon in the 1960s and 1970s.
Japan’s Kaguya orbiter, which since October has been circling the moon and taking high-definition photos and video of the surface, has photographed a patch of bright soil where on July 30, 1971, Apollo 15 astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin touched down. By the Kaguya team’s reckoning, the white patch, which stands out from the darker gray moonscape, is soil disturbed by the rocket blast of the lunar module as it made its final descent, blowing fine dust in every direction. The Apollo astronauts routinely saw these disturbed areas after they returned to lunar orbit following their moonwalks and looked down on their landing sites.
Kaguya’s Terrain Camera has a resolution of 10 meters, which means each picture element, or pixel, corresponds to a surface area about the size of a schoolbus. That’s not quite good enough to clearly make out the squat, 30-foot-wide base of the lunar lander—the descent stage Scott and Irwin left behind when they blasted off the moon. But the Kaguya scientists see a dark spot in the white patch, and think it likely is the lander’s long shadow. They hope more observations from other instruments on the spacecraft will confirm their suspicions.
The Terrain Camera also has returned sharp 3-D images of Hadley Rille, the long, sinuous formation that was Apollo 15’s target for geological exploration. (See the photo gallery of Kaguya Apollo 15 images at upper right.) As it collects data on lunar geology and mineralogy, Kaguya also will view the six Apollo landing sites in the coming months as each one passes under the spacecraft’s orbit.
And better photos are on the way. India’s Chandrayaan spacecraft is scheduled to reach the moon this fall, with a camera twice as sharp as Kaguya’s. And NASA’s own Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter will launch in November, with a camera onboard that can resolve details as small as one and a half feet, the size of a microwave oven. That should be good enough to make out the landers, and even the rovers left behind by the last three Apollo expeditions.
Some people, of course, will never believe. You could sit them at a table across from Neil Armstrong and a pile of moonrocks, and they’d still never accept that almost 40 years ago, people walked on another world.
Never mind them. The rest of us are about to see cool pictures of places we haven’t visited in a generation.
Comments
You are right! Never mind them. Minds are like parachutes - only function when open ! Leif Jönne , Halmstad, Sweden
Posted by Leif Jonne ,Halmstad, Sweden on June 21,2008 | 12:27PM
The world/universe is an amazing place. A few hundred years ago the world was flat and it was consider ridiculous to think one could sail around the world. For those who fail to dream the world must be a pretty boring place. Going to the moon was not about the science almost 40 years ago but it is today. Just remember that it was the science that got us there collectively regardless of what initiated the effort. The world is now a very small place but people are people everywhere. I look forward to when we as an entire world decides to start going to new worlds together - the first stop being the moon again to perfect techniques and technologies. While I may not be able to be one of those who can actually live out the dream, I am one of those who support the efforts to make these dreams come true! I am still a little kid at heart remembering the excitement of the Saturn V lifting off, seeing mankind explore a new world but most of all seeing that small blueberry called "Home". Keep the dreams alive...and bring them to life! - Keith
Posted by Keith Wancowicz on June 22,2008 | 06:12AM
I still can't believe that there are people out there that don't think we landed on the moon. I think, the ultimate proof of the Apollo landings comes from our cold war adversary, the Soviet Union. If the U.S. had faked the landings, no one would have loved to expose that more than our former foes. They had the money and technology to examine every transmission and bit of data coming in from the moon and out of all that they gave us a "congratulations."
Posted by Jimmy Wong on June 22,2008 | 08:00PM
it would be great to see some close up pictures of the landing sites and determine the wear a tear from all those years
Posted by ken lemieux on June 25,2008 | 05:05PM
So, it proves the apollo landing on the moon. Quite beautiful the outside world eh.
Posted by jackstowe on July 1,2008 | 11:56PM
Very cool. Thanks for sharing this.
Posted by Stephen on July 2,2008 | 05:50AM
With these so called high-definition photos this is the best evidence that we landed on the moon. We have spy satellite that can read a licence plate from space and all we see is a photographed of a patch of bright soil.
Posted by William Patrick Watkins on July 9,2008 | 11:52AM
We could offer proof to those who persist in their belief that man never set foot on the moon, however there's no reason to do so. If we put their eyes to a telescope (assuming we'd like to spend the time and money to build a behemoth capable of imaging the surface of the moon to that degree)--or even take them to the surface of the moon to see for themselves!--they'd still invent some far-fetched conspiracy theory to refute the empirical evidence they saw there! It is a foolish waste of effort to try to prove something to people determined to believe otherwise. Bah! Let us waste no more time on these individuals.
Posted by Melynda on July 14,2008 | 12:25PM
The technology didn't exist. Very simple and undeniable.
Posted by Glenn Stone on July 21,2008 | 08:50AM
Well, I'm glad to see something even if its a white patch of soil. With our techknology and in the near future we will have HD photos and problay video of the landing site and whats left of anything up there. We will soon build a base on the moon, so no matter what man will be there "Again for sure" and be there for quite some time..maybe perminatly...(just hope it dosnt take too long!)
Posted by James on July 21,2008 | 08:34PM
That's right, Melynda. They will ALWAYS find some excuse. The Japanese SELENE spacecraft recently mapped the Apollo 15 and 17 landing sites. This 3-D data was reprojected into surface views from the locations where astronauts took some pictures. Small boulders and craters weren't visible to SELENE, of course, but the overall views of the landscape were remarkably similar. How do the hoax believers respond to this? It's a fake, of course! The Japanese are now in on the hoax! Why? Because of the similarity of the pictures!!
Posted by Phil on August 15,2008 | 09:40PM
It's always amazing to me just how dense some folks can be. Like someone already mentioned - had it been a hoax, the former USSR would have gone out of their way to prove it so. Unless of course they were in on it too! I've found over the years that the same people who think the moon landings were faked are quite frequently the same people who believe in sasquatch and alien abduction. Willing to buy into things that are clearly absurd, unwilling to see things that should be obvious to any rational adult.
Posted by Mike on August 19,2008 | 04:49PM
You'll never convince the conspiracy freaks. Same thing goes for the JFK assissination freaks, the 9/11 freaks, the Hurricane Katrina freaks, the Elvis Is Alive freaks, etc.
Posted by Carl J. on August 27,2008 | 07:47AM
Though I am not a real conspiracy theorist, I try to keep an open mind, I have to admit, those photos are weak at best. I do look forward to photos of the module's and landers, and flag then all this can be resolved. Ofcourse the hard core guys will refute, but not many will buy into at that point.
Posted by Eric on October 25,2008 | 10:07PM
I could not work out why India would send a rocket to the moon they sould be spending that money on the poor, but what it their camara can provide proff either way we did go - we did not go would the govenment pay big bucks for the proof or big buck to say nothing about what they find?
Posted by mark w on November 22,2008 | 03:47PM