This story was updated at 2:45 p.m. ET
For stubborn folks who still believe
the Apollo astronauts never landed on the moon, NASA has new images -
definitive proof - that clearly show the Apollo 11 lander that
carried the first astronauts to the lunar surface 40 years ago.
The images, taken by NASA's first
lunar scout in more than a decade, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), show
the Eagle lunar lander at Tranquility Base, where Apollo 11
astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed
on July 20, 1969. They were snapped between July 11 and 15 of this month
and released by NASA today.
"The LROC team anxiously
awaited each image," said LROC principal investigator Mark Robinson of Arizona State University.
"We were very interested in getting our first peek at the lunar module
descent stages just for the thrill -- and to see how well the cameras had come
into focus. Indeed, the images are fantastic and so is the focus."
The image does not reveal whether
the U.S.
flag planted there is
still standing or not. Whether or not the flag will be visible
in later images isn't uncertain, Robinson said, adding that he thinks the
Apollo 11 flag was knocked over by the thrusters when the astronauts left the
moon's surface.
The Indian and Japanese missions
have also snapped images of the Apollo 11 site, but they don't have the high
resolution of LRO's images, Robinson said.
The Apollo
11 landing site wasn't the only one that the LRO camera (dubbed LROC)
photographed: It also snapped pictures of the landing sites of the other five
Apollo landings. (The remaining site, for Apollo 12, is expected to be
photographed in the coming weeks.) The lunar modules for all of these sites
imaged are visible as small dots; their shadows can also be seen. A few more
details can be seen in the image of the Apollo
14 landing site, taken only two days ago, including scientific instruments
and astronaut footprints.
"Of course it was fantastic to
see the hardware lying on the surface, and it was exactly as we expected it to
be," Robinson said. "Sitting on the surface waiting
for us to come back."
As LRO gradually descends to a lower
orbit, the images will improve and provide closer looks at the lunar landing
sites.
"This is only a first glimpse,"
said Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA
Headquarters in Washington,
D.C., "From now on, they're
only going to get better."
The images of these sites are
expected to show scientists how the sites have changed since the astronauts
trod across them, whether there are any new craters and how the leftover human
artifacts have fared in the lunar environment. And the pictures won't just
serve as a record of our past presence on the moon, as scientists will be able
to use the information in them to make topographic maps of the lunar surface at
those sites.
About the size of a Mini Cooper car,
the $504 million LRO probe, an orbiting satellite, launched toward the moon on
June 18. The probe is expected to spend at least one year mapping the moon for
future manned missions, as well as several more years conducting science
surveys.
Some people have questioned whether
NASA really went to the moon or if the whole thing
was faked. No serious and level-headed historian, researcher or space
industry analyst doubts the moon landings, however.
advertisement
