March 15, 2010 PDS release Options

[JohnVV]

Are available high resolution dataset of the Apollo11 landing site?

no .Besides me and one other and the mit lola team the 23 k lola 64 px/deg is the highest res that is available
and that is a low point count inferred map .
for the apl 11 site you will need to use stereo pairs and "stereo pipeline" (ALPHA release) in ISIS 3

[Zack Moratto]

I have a question: Are available high resolution dataset of the Apollo11 landing site?

Not quite 11, but USGS covered Apollo 15 when working with the Apollo Pan Cam.

http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/Projects/webgis/

Someday, I'd like to work with that data set.

[Phil Stooke]

Joel Raupe just identified the Ranger 9 impact crater in an LROC image:

http://lunarnetworks.blogspot.com/2010/04/ranger-9.html

It's clear from a comparison with Ewen Whitaker's identification of the crater in an Apollo 16 image that this is correct.

Phil

[Phil Stooke]

I've been mapping the tracks of Lunokhod 2. The background map is a reduced version of a map I made a while ago, combining Apollo 15 images and the Soviet-era map of the route. Over it I have superimposed LROC images with the actual route shown in red. It's still uncertain in places so there are gaps, especially a large one near the beginning.

The drivers made a route map as they were going, but it was not precise because they did not have precise distance or direction information. An entirely separate issue is how that route should be positioned on the Apollo 15 images. The comparison shows they were often 500 m out, sometimes more. That's pretty good considering the difficulty of this type of work.

One interesting observation - they started a bit further north than they thought, drove further south than they expected and ended up further north than they thought. So the total distance driven probably exceeds the 37 km often stated.

Phil

[S_Walker]

Nice job!
I think the 37km is correct- it was based on the odometer thing dragging along at the rear of the rover.

ADMIN: FULL INLINE QUOTE REMOVED

[Phil Stooke]

"I think the 37km is correct- it was based on the odometer thing dragging along at the rear of the rover."

Yes, but that doesn't take slippage or gunk in the bearings (or other possible issues) into account. Odometers only give approximate results at the best of times.

Phil

[ElkGroveDan]

Awesome work, Phil.

[Bernard]

Superb Phil,
and very appreciated,.
Thanks

[Ittiz]

Hey! that's a Venusian cloud pattern....

Indeed, I believe that the moon would have a super rotating atmosphere like Venus does due to its slow rotation.

[Phil Stooke]

A nice high sun view of Apollo 15.

Phil

[Bill Harris]

"Joel Raupe just identified the Ranger 9 impact crater in an LROC image"

Nice impact! Now that we have LROC images of the interior of Alphonsus crater I'm planning to look at the "infamous dark patches" along the rilles on the floor near the rim, as well as the central peak, both of which were areas identified as "Lunar Transient Activity" sites in the 1960's.

--Bill

[JohnVV]

nice shot Phil
cool find
i will be having it here for a few days
[attachment=21312:Screenshot_6.jpg]

[Phil Stooke]

I was looking for Ranger 6 when I chanced upon this - a new version of Ina in Mare Tranquillitatis. As far as I know this has not been seen before.

Phil

[charborob]

While browsing the LROC images, I found this interesting feature in Giordano Bruno crater: it looks like a frozen swirling pattern in a pool of impact melt.

[elakdawalla]

Oh very cool. Which of the LROC images is that from?