LROC news and images Options

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

I know it may be too early for such a thread, but an announcement has to be made.

The official website of the LROC camera is:

http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/

A brief description plus status is available here:

http://www.msss.com/lro/lroc/index.html

[Greg Hullender]

At the moment, they're saying not to expect images until early July (which is just a week away). That makes some sense, I guess, since they have commissioning to do.

--Greg

[AndyG]

Curious as to the soon-to-be demonstrated LROC resolution, I've brewed up a "50cm/pixel" image of the Apollo 15 landing site, taken from the ascent 16mm film.



It's going to be fascinating to see what state the descent stages and tracks are now in, after ~ 500 cycles of -150C to 100C. (Descent stages were never manned - does that make it ok for UMSF, Doug? ;-))

[jabe]

Looks like LOI-2 was successful.....
see here
jb

[Greg Hullender]

Descent stages were never manned - does that make it ok for UMSF, Doug? ;-)

Using the yardstick that UMSF is about amateurs producing cool images from raw data from unmanned space probes, I'm hoping this will be fine. These are historical sites now, and that's a big part of what makes the images "cool". Digging through the raw data looking for these things (whether we process them or not) is a cool way to participate.

If people want to get into a discussion about what Apollo did, what value it had, whether it really happened(!), etc., then, yeah, I'd expect someone to pull the plug ASAP. But I can't imagine there'd be a problem just looking for the images of the landing sites. If nothing else, I think it's something 99% of us are eagerly looking forward to seeing!

Of course it ultimately comes down to whatever Doug says, but I think he likes a good rationale. :-)

--Greg

[MahFL]

I look forward to the LRO images of the human hardware on our Moon.........

I still chuckle at Buzz punching that reporter ....not that I condone physical violence of course......

[ilbasso]

I'm very much looking forward to those photos, too. Don't hold your breath that any unbelievers will be swayed...they'll just claim that these photos were doctored. The rest of us will cherish the opportunity to see not only the Apollo but also the unmanned lander sites. This is a thrilling time!!

[djellison]

The admin call is yeah - it's good to talk about the Apollo hardware. It's a history subject rather than a manned spaceflight subject

But we can knock the conspiracy stuff on the head. No data is going to convince them otherwise. VERY pointless even giving them a passing thought.

[AndyG]

The admin call is yeah - it's good to talk about the Apollo hardware. It's a history subject rather than a manned spaceflight subject

I think it's also going to be valuable science with practical applications - with a forty-year view over a number of sites spread across the Moon, it'll be interesting to see how the (presumably swept-clean during ascent) lander stages have fared, and how quickly lunar gardening subsumes tracks.

Andy

[Guest_Zvezdichko_*]

The admin call is yeah - it's good to talk about the Apollo hardware. It's a history subject rather than a manned spaceflight subject

But we can knock the conspiracy stuff on the head. No data is going to convince them otherwise. VERY pointless even giving them a passing thought.

Well, if anybody is interested of talking with me and others on the subject, I have created two threads:


http://www.bautforum.com/conspiracy-theori...coming-end.html

http://apollohoax.proboards.com/index.cgi?...amp;thread=2418

I hope this is not considered an ad here.

And yes, I do believe that some of the naysayers may be convinced

[SFJCody]

I would like to get a look at the ALSEP packages. The Apollo 12 ALSEP holds the longevity record for continuous operation on the surface of another world, longer even than Viking 1! The Apollo 14 ALSEP was also in operation for longer than Viking 1.

[brellis]

I already can't wait for a surface visit to these historic sites, and I really can't wait for Google Moon to get the LRO pics!

[belleraphon1]

Speaking historically,

hope LRO can tell how close the APOLLO 14 astronauts actually got to the rim of Cone Crater. Perhaps they scuffed up the regolith enough for LRO to detect the tracks they made. Though that is a long shot.

Craig

[dvandorn]

Actually the A14 EVA-2 track is quite well worked out, based on the pics the crew took on the surface during the EVA. What I'm more interested in seeing is if the MET tracks are visible. LRV tracks will likely be easier to spot in LRO images than the MET tracks, since the open-mesh LRV tires disturbed the soil more and spun up rooster tails. The MET had actual rubber tires, which left smooth tracks. I'll be mighty interested in seeing if MET tracks are visible (or are as visible as LRV tracks).

Then I want to see those compared to Lunakhod tracks...

-the other Doug

[lyford]

Well we have an good before and after....
Moonviews Apollo 14