Can we see Apollo hardware on the Moon?
September 5th 2007 06:41
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Image taken by W. Anders abourd Apollo 8 taken some 8 months before Apollo 11 with original framing
While it is possible to locate and observe the Apollo landing "sites," however it is not possible without the use of VLT (very large Telescope) using interferometer techniques whereby a number of telescope are joined together and the combined information gathered is used to produce an image and even then image details are not ideal. The structures of the Apollo lander and ancillary equipment are far too small to be resolved successfully, considering that the Apollo Lunar Lander was around 2 meters wide and the best image obtainable with a powerful telescope are objects of 100 meters in size.
For example, a common backyard 6 inch aperture telescope can only
Resolve craters on the moon which are about 1.5 miles or so across.
Even telescopes with a resolution comparable to that of the Hubble
Space Telescope can only resolve details about 100 meters across (the
Size of a football or soccer field.
Lasers range finders fired from Earth are bounced off special retro-reflectors left at these sites by the astronauts, and the faint return pulse is then detected by Earth-based telescopes equipped with special instruments to measure the Earth-moon distance, but otherwise, we can't see any man-made equipment left at the landing sites.
In some instances you can see with specialized satellite imaging equipment orbiting the moon where the lunar surface has been disturbed by the preceding Apollo missions.
Image of the Moons surface of the Apollo 15 landing site taken with Clamintine Moon orbiting spacecraft
This image taken by Clamitine Moon orbiting satelite of the Apollo 15 landing site shows some signs of disturbance of the Lunar surface. Arrow A show the exact location of the Lunar module ( Falcon) the black spot is form the rocket exhust made by the Lunar Lander. Arrows B and C are fresh meteor impacts on the Moon's surface.
Credit:Kreslavsky& shkuratov
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Comment by James Rickard
unlucky_ fishermen.com
Angling Fish
Check this out...
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
That's a question I get asked frequently and people are amazed at the how difficult it is to see anything on the Moon's surface under a 100 meters in length.
Cheers
Carl
Comment by Anonymous
Why they didn't do it? or they loose the flag as they did with the tapes?
Hmmm I wonder...
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Getting images say from the Moon where the previous Apollo missions have landed is just not possible with Earth based telescopes the hardware on the Moon is just too small to be resolved.
Even satelites orbiting the Moon have mixed results when trying to photograph objects under 40 meters the Apollo lander was around 2meters wide and would only show up as a speck on a photograph htere just no chance of see the flag the camera would need to be at an altitude of 50 meters to get any images that had any decent resolution in them. Short of actually landing near an Apollo mission site the task of getting any pictures of lunar landers is a big ask.
You can see what I am refering when you see the images above.
Cheers
Comment by Anonymous
We all know that in the "project board" of NASA there are a lot of "descriptions" of how and in which way a project can be done,however it doesn't prove that it is possible or did took place
The main objection of the Moon Landing was even challenged by the Soviets at that time and still it's today
as in that time NASA was not in a possition to send a human cargo to the Moon.
To send a rover now to the exact place of the so called"landing" site will be easier than to send an Astronaut.
In the 60's nobody was able to monitor if the story was real or not, today it's very different.
The whole World know how much the propaganda of the "Moon landing" did for U.S.A. in the 60's
The only ones that can destroy any "conspirancy theory" is the U.S.A. and NASA until they do something about it ,the so called "conspirancy " is a fact.
Comment by CarlCan
Astroearth
Camera Sense
I am not ridiculing the fact that humans landed on the Moon what I am saying however is there are people who for whatever reason think that the Moon landing did not take place and that is fine, people do have different points of view.
I quote you from you” In the 60's nobody was able to monitor if the story was real or not”
So let’s leave the realm of make believe and concentrate on the facts.
How do you know if it was able to be monitored or not where you there at the time? What facts do you bring to support this particular statement?
The Apollo missions did happen man did land on the Moon why? I was one of the technicians who worked on tracking the landing on the Moon. The signals did come from the Moon because the antennas where pointing at the Moon. All the telemetry for the astronauts was monitored by 3 Earth tracking stations I just happened to be working at one of the Australian sites.
The notion that you can get clear pictures from a car number plate is just plain fiction. Too many television and movie series that perpetuate the myths like these.
Sending a rover to the Moon is a matter of economics and quite frankly a waste of money and resources just to verify the fact that there are numerous pieces of space hardware on the Moon. There is not much value scientific or otherwise to warrant such expenditure apart from military purposes.
The answer is there! you just need to do more research and then you may begin to understand the complexity involved and be able to separate fact from fiction.
Comment by Anonymous
If you were one of the technicians tracking down the Apollo landing,you should know better than anybody else how signals can be diverted and jam,sending you wrong locations.
Also to come clear on something so important to human s and to a country as U.S. never is a waste of money,unless there are something to hide.
Why the so called "conspiracy" takes place ? because there are so many loops in the story,and the Apollo landing is full of "Loops",and U.S.A. did nothing about it
All "mumbo jumbo" and vague bla..bla..
According to your statements to go back to the original landing place is almost impossible..to look the left over hardware is impossible to prove the landing once and for all is impossible and the general public ask ..why?
Your statement is ,"because is extremely expensive and with no point.".are you serious ? is the most important point of all..!! is to put credibility to the most important achivement of the humans in space so far and to the credibility of the most powerful nation on Earth.
To send a Rover to the Moon for further explorations and take the opportunity to prove once and for all the reality of an event that did have had so much impact on
the human race ,is not a waste of money neither a waste of time,as further Moon landings are on the board,unless there are an inmense desire to cover the whole lot for a very obscure reasons.
This topic was very "Hot" at the time and still is very much indeed!!
Maybe to ask transparency in the obscure world of International policies is harder than go to the Moon or to research the complexity of space travel.
"Conspiracy Theories" are the two words used to escape a subject when it's too hot to handle,there are a lot of them around us these days.
As is so much propaganda and lies that have been used to dominate ,unleash wars,and justified obscure
policies,with the arrogant toughts that the mayority of the humans still are in the stone age.and are not thinking,..wrong aproach!!!