Human Artifacts on the Moon | Hacker News Reader

Human Artifacts on the Moon

history.nasa.gov

67 pointsrichev17 comments

Some other interesting artifacts left on the Moon:

Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment arrays [1][2]. These are retro-reflectors that were left during the Apollo program. They are used for laser ranging. This is always good for getting a "deer in the headlights" look from conspiracy theorists when I explain that humans have been studying the distance between the Earth and the Moon with the arrays since 1969 to further our understanding of gravity, along with the knowledge of the Moon's increasing movement away from the Earth. Also, the Soviets deployed retro-reflectors on Lunokhod 1 in 1970 [3] and Lunokhod 2 in 1973 [4].

Fallen Astronaut [5] commemorates astronauts and cosmonauts that died while working on their respective space programs.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment

[2] http://www.physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/doc/Bender.pdf

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_1

[4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_2

[5] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Astronaut

> Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment arrays

I've always wondered why we don't have any actual photos of them (or anything else) sitting on the moon.

My understanding is that all earth-based telescopes don't have the resolution, and hubble can't focus down that close.

Hubble does not have the angular resolution to resolve the objects left behind on the moon; you can do the calculations for yourself.[1]

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hubble_Space_Telescope

> I've always wondered why we don't have any actual photos of them (or anything else) sitting on the moon.

We do.

http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/584392main_M1...

That picture is from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC); you can find pictures of all the Apollo landing sites on its webpage.[1]

[1] http://featured-sites.lroc.asu.edu/

The moon is effectively at infinity in terms of focus. The problem is not that it can't focus, but just that the stuff is too small. Hubble has taken pictures of the moon.

The problem isn't focus, it's tracking rate. Hubble can take pictures of the moon, but not long exposures; it can't spin fast enough to follow the moon through its field of view, so it has to point where the Moon is going to be, then take the picture at the moment it passes through. https://what-if.xkcd.com/32/

http://xkcd.org/1441/

I hadn't thought of this when I first saw the comic: the moon is 1.3 light seconds away, so that is some improbably fast dialog (or some improbably slow light-based weapon).

Seems the Apollo guys didn't believe in packing out their trash:

"Defecation collection device"

"Urine collection assembly, large"

"Bag, emesis"

"Wet wipes, facial"

I certainly look forward to visiting that particular corner of Lunar National Park in 50 years :)

http://history.nasa.gov/FINAL%20Catalogue%20of%20Manmade%20M...

"Golf balls (2)"

I'm also a fan of "Hammer and Feature": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5_dOEyAfk

This article doesn't really mention the reasons some items were left there, but my guess would be that every pound you can get rid of gives you a better chance at getting OFF the moon and safely back to the command module.

So at the end of the mission, everything no longer absolutely critical gets dumped.

Plus, in the three days it takes back to the earth from the moon I think I'd have wanted to leave my poo and wee behind!

They pretty much had a weight target (not leaving things up to chance). Every pound of equipment you don't take back is another pound of moon rock you could take back.

It surprises me that we can get crispy clear photos of Mars, or an asteroid, many millions of miles away, but we can't show a distinct photo of each of these artifacts where they rest.

Anyway, it seems we are very good at polluting.

Private moon plan to send drones to steal those artifacts -- worth it?

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