Photos of Apollo Moon Landing Sites From Space!
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2009 Photos of Apollo Lunar Landers
India's space program photographed tracks of Apollo 15's astronauts in September '09, and Japan's lunar orbiter saw Apollo 15's landing site in 2008. Also, it turns out that the Clementine spacecraft snapped a distant picture of the Apollo 15 landing site as far back as 1994. But those photos can't match the resolution of the new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's camera!
LRO Photos of Apollo Moon Landing Sites
Images credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Here are photos of the landing gear left behind by Apollo 11 and Apollo 15.
The sun was low in these photos, so the shadows are easy to see.
The photo of Apollo 14's landing site shows astronaut tracks and glints from some of the instruments they left behind.
Here's a closeup of the Apollo 14 landing site.
The LRO has the best imaging technology available today, better than that of the state-of-the-art satellites sent out by India and Japan. No wonder we didn't have photos before.
Here are photos of Apollo 16 and Apollo 17 Moon Landing Sites.
As the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter got closer to the moon, it snapped clearer photos with some amazing details! But first...
Why Can't We See Moon Landers From Earth?
Compare with Google Maps -- but most is aerial, not satellite photography!
Now consider: The moon is 238,857 miles away. Satellite photos are taken of Earth by satellites orbiting the Earth, 280 miles up. We couldn't even get a view this good (and it's not great) until we put a satellite in orbit above the Moon!
Satellite Photos of Apollo 11 Landing Site
Images credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
My parents, who watched all the coverage (not just the landing, but the hours leading up to it) often talk about how the astronauts had to change course in the final moments before landing to avoid a rocky debris field, which added to the tension. That crater is probably what they were dodging. It's too small to have been visible from earth, so Mission Control couldn't have planned for it.
Close-up Photo of Eagle Lunar Lander's landing gear:
The white disc with four feet around it is the landing gear shining in the glare of the sun. Metal instruments are white specks. It's hard to tell which speck is the flag since it's noon: there's no shadow. See below for a photo of Apollo 17's flag.
What Are We Looking At?
Video of Apollo 17 Take-Off
(No, they didn't leave someone behind -- this camera was the one on Apollo 17's moon rover, controlled from Houston.)
Photos of Apollo 12 Lunar Lander from Space
Images credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Surveyor was an unmanned craft that NASA landed on the moon before the manned missions. ALSEP is yet another pile of scientific instruments. Faint dark lines show tracks left by astronauts.
Why Can't Telescopes See Lunar Landers?
Try driving while wearing reading glasses. Everything is blurry!
Or try reading while using distance glasses. You can't!
Telescope means "see far away." Telescopes are amazingly far-sighted. They'd need "reading glasses" to see fine details on the moon!
For more info, see this webpage: Why Telescopes Can't See Moon Landers.
Hubble Space Telescope Photo of Landing Site
Apollo 17 Moon Landing Site Seen By the World's Best Telescope
Source: NASA: Hubble Shoots the Moon
The Hubble Space Telescope is our best telescope, flying above the interference of Earth's atmosphere. It can photograph the area where a spacecraft set down. But it's too far-sighted to pick up the actual lunar lander. At the distance of the moon, the Hubble can't see anything smaller than 60 meters wide. The lunar module's landing gear is 9 meters across. (Source: Abandoned Spaceships and Moon Buggies)
Photos of Apollo 17 Lunar Lander Site
Including Lunar Rover and American Flag
The LRV is the Lunar Rover.
Closeup View of Flag on the Moon:
For more LRO photos of the landing site compared to photos taken during the Apollo 17 mission, see Exploring the Apollo 17 Site.
Websites About the Apollo Moon Landings
Photos and Information About the Apollo Program
- Exploring the Apollo 11 Landing SItes By Telescope
- This amateur astronomy website shows all the Apollo moon landing sites from earth. You can zoom in on each landing site.
- PHOTOS: 8 Moon-Landing Hoax Myths -- Busted
- Examine the evidence, and find out why experts say some of the most common "moon landing hoax" claims don't hold water.
- MythBusters Episode 104: NASA Moon Landing
- The Mythbusters put the moon landing conspiracy theory to the test to determine if NASA faked the Apollo landings.
- Apollo 11: 35 Years Later
- Interactive site commemorating 35th anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing, with photos, videos, and a review of the historic mission.
- Photos: The other Apollo moon landings - CNET News
- Apollo 11 is the most famous moon landing, but there were five other successful manned missions to the moon! Camera technology improved with the missions, so some of the later photos are even better.
- The Apollo Program - Smithsonian Institution
- Photos, videos & information on all manned Apollo missions from NASA and the National Air and Space Museum.
- The Project Apollo Image Gallery
- The most comprehensive high-quality image gallery of Apollo lunar mission photos and videos on the net.
- The Fox News Moon Hoax Investigation: A Hoax?
- Here's just some of the mistakes, distortions, and selective editing of the "facts" in their "investigation" of the moon landings. Hey, why let facts and common sense get in the way of a sensational news story?
- The Great Moon Hoax - NASA Science
- "Yes, there really is a Moon hoax, but the prankster isn't NASA. Moon rocks and common sense prove Apollo Astronauts really did visit the Moon."
Apollo 11 "Earthrise"
"Earthrise" poster:
Buy on Zazzle.com
Funny Moon Mission Video
Apollo 17 Astronaut Jack Schmitt: "Twinkletoes"
The LRO Mission
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's mission is not to photograph Apollo moon landing sites! It's looking for resources, following President George W. Bush's directive to establish a lunar base.
[Edit Nov '10: Obama's cut the manned space program to save $$.]
MythBuster's Moon Hoax Episode
Many of the well-known conspiracy theories put to the test
Amazon Spotlight: A Real Starter Telescope
The Meade LS or LX: One of the Best Out There
Amazon Price: $1,299.00 (as of 02/16/2012)
Personally, my own telescope is a portable but powerful little $2000 (back in '96) TeleVue Pronto
But my old TeleVue is missing all the bells and whistles of modern telescopes like Meades. I have to aim my old baby by hand, I don't have adapters to hook a camera to it, and it doesn't track the sky's rotation, so I keep having to re-aim. This Meade LS is an entry-level telescope in the series of Meade 'scopes that I most recommend for backyard astronomy. It's a billion times better than those junky knock-offs you'll find in mall scientific stores. It's a Go-to, which means that once you line it up with a known star (you have to learn at least a few!) it'll lock on and find the rest for you.
A friend of my parents got a Meade LS a little over 10 years ago, when Go-to (computerized) telescopes were still brand new, and its optics and ease of use impressed me back then. They'll be even better now.
Guestbook
Leave Your Comments!
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Edutopia
Feb 14, 2012 @ 1:21 pm | delete
- Great photos and hopefully these will just add to the already existing mountains of evidence that the hoax conspiracy nutjobs can finally admit to being legitimate but much more like they will just plug their ears and double down even harder.
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cmadden
Jan 22, 2012 @ 6:23 am | delete
- Great lens! Personally, I'm still hoping to receive a functional starship for Christmas one of these days.
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thesuccess
Jan 5, 2012 @ 12:32 pm | delete
- Angels Blessings to add your Moon Dust
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davespeed
Jan 2, 2012 @ 3:25 pm | delete
- Very cool! I didn't know these pictures existed. These pictures certainly provide rock-solid evidence that the "moon hoax" crowd is wrong.
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Q
Jan 2, 2012 @ 1:09 am | delete
- Why would you park the lunar roving vehicle so far from the lunar lander and then walk back to the landing site?
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by Greekgeek
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The Apollo Missions
When We Left Earth: The NASA Missions (Limited Edition)
Amazon Price: $5.10 (as of 02/16/2012)
Amazing, HD footage celebrating the hard work and missions of NASA's first fifty years. A lot of it never made the headlines. But we can all be wowed by the incredible views of our lovely planet and beyond, even if most of us don't realize all the scientific breakthroughs and technology in our lives made possible by the space program (GPS, cellphones, smoke detectors, heart surgery technology, and much more).
