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SMART-1 to Image Apollo Landing Sites

Posted by Hemos on from the blast-from-the-past dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Space.com is reporting that the European Space Agency's SMART-1 probe is imaging the Apollo landing sites on the moon. The resolution may be good enough to see mineral evidence of the blasts created by landing craft. Photos expected too. The article says it "might put to rest conspiratorial thoughts that U.S. astronauts didn't go the distance and scuff up the lunar landscape." I wouldn't bet my Buzz Aldrin doll that hoax buffs will cease and desist."

4 of 36 comments (clear)

  1. What would REALLY be cool... by DesScorp · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...is if these craft could get shots of the hardware we left behind; the moon rovers, the Apollo capsule bases, even the flag.

    Don't know if the resolution will be THAT good; but one thing I'd always hoped for in a return to the moon was a look at our old landing sites. I don't know enough about the lunar environment to know, but I wonder if our stuff is still uncovered? Any problems with lunar dust covering things, one wonders?

    --
    Life is hard, and the world is cruel
    1. Re:What would REALLY be cool... by Magada · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Moon dust covering stuff? What would really be cool is if people would finally get it about the moon having no atmosphere...

      --
      Something bad is coming when people are suddenly anxious to tell the truth.
    2. Re:What would REALLY be cool... by DerekLyons · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Moon dust covering stuff? What would really be cool is if people would finally get it about the moon having no atmosphere...
      What would be *really* cool is if people posting smug 'corrections' understood that dust can be raised by things other than wind (atmosphere)... I.E. nearby impacts.

      That being said; I doubt anything we've left on the moon is visibly covered with dust. There's a fair chance however that there may be microscopic dust and damage.

  2. Re:We landed on the Moon. by hcdejong · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The argument that the photos have been faked have been comprehensively debunked.

    And what about the film/TV scenes shot on the moon? That were broadcast live to the entire planet? They would have been even harder to fake (1/6 G is hard to simulate), faking them would have involved a lot of planning beforehand (to create the shots in time for the landing and live broadcast).

    And botching ALL photos and film for ALL landings would be quite improbable. If Apollo 11 had come back without usable film, NASA would have corrected the problem before the Apollo 12 launch.

    Don't listen to the conspiracy theorists. They're morons.