Apollo Sites from LRO Options

[djellison]

Thought this deserved a new thread- we can't talk about EVERY LRO target in the one thread

I made a mistake in this one - I didn't include the thruster plume guards. My MER/MPF simulation for HiRISE seemed to come out about right - so fingers crossed that this will be there or there abouts as well. Still in a comissioning phase, something of a slant angle - I'd expect approx 1.5m/pixel if it's at the 120km figure mentioned earlier.

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[dvandorn]

I know it has a lot to do with a variety of factors, including sun angle and such, but I'm impressed that the MET tracks in the Fra Mauro images are more visible than LRV tracks are in the Hadley, Descartes and Taurus-Littrow images.

Perhaps the tracks at Fra Mauro are more visible because they are accompanied by a track of footprints (which are more visible in the J-mission site images than are areas where you would only find LRV tracks). But I'm a little surprised that LRV tracks, when unaccompanied by footprint tracks, are far less visible than I would have expected.

-the other Doug

[Gsnorgathon]

I know it has a lot to do with a variety of factors, including sun angle and such, but I'm impressed that the MET tracks in the Fra Mauro images are more visible than LRV tracks are in the Hadley, Descartes and Taurus-Littrow images.

Perhaps the tracks at Fra Mauro are more visible because they are accompanied by a track of footprints (which are more visible in the J-mission site images than are areas where you would only find LRV tracks). But I'm a little surprised that LRV tracks, when unaccompanied by footprint tracks, are far less visible than I would have expected.

-the other Doug

I wonder if the LRV obscures its own tracks as it goes, by scattering a layer of regolith over the freshly laid tracks. Presumably this would be less of a factor with footprints, MET tracks, Lunokhod tracks, and MER tracks, because of a slower rate of travel.

[MahFL]

I seem to recall the LRV did kick up a lot of soil as it sped along, it did indeed go pretty fast sometimes.

[Paul Fjeld]

I don't think the dust raining down obscured them very much, but there were two tracks from the rover (essentially) but each one was less obvious than an astronaut's I think:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/...7-140-21357.jpg