NASA released new hi-resolution images of the moon captured by their Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) early in September that show three of the Apollo sites in beautiful detail. Will this be enough to silence the skeptics that say we faked the whole thing? Probably not.
Conspiracy theorists will always find a reason to believe what they want. Likely, they will wonder why the photos are only coming out now, decades after the Apollo missions. Or they might argue that they are photoshopped pictures or possibly that we spent the last forty years sending equipment up there to simulate a landing site. They may clamor that we don’t have images from the other mission sites, but it doesn’t really matter, it will never end.
If NASA puts out more information, they’ll only find another reason to distrust it. Nothing will ever satisfy them and we shouldn’t waste too much effort on them. We went there, the evidence is overwhelming and there will always be a fringe element that will distrust anything they are told.
Now that we are past that, let’s look at the pictures again. They really are quite a treat and here is a quote from NASA describing the orbital adjustment that made these pictures possible:
“The maneuver lowered LRO from its usual altitude of approximately 31 miles (50 kilometers) to an altitude that dipped as low as nearly 13 miles (21 kilometers) as it passed over the moon’s surface. The spacecraft has remained in this orbit for 28 days, long enough for the moon to completely rotate. This allows full coverage of the surface by LROC’s Wide Angle Camera.“[1]
The images are stunning and incredibly detailed, when you consider that they were captured by an orbiting satellite from 13 miles up. You can clearly see the footpaths the astronauts left, as well as the trails from the lunar rovers and equipment that was left behind.
The photographs are important for many reasons, the least of which is more solid proof that we actually were on the moon. More important than trying to convince skeptics, the pictures also offer a more complete view of the moon missions. Scientists can more accurately see where the different samples were collected from and use that information to improve their model and understanding of the moon. It allows a scientist studying a sample to see where it came from in the context of its surrounding. With exact collection locations they may be able to understand other nearby geologic features or use those features to better understand the samples.
The most important thing these images do, however, is to remind us of where we’ve been; of the greatness we have accomplished. Hopefully, these images will inspire the current generation, and future generations to continue to explore space.
President Kennedy gave NASA a daunting task when he told them:
“We choose to go to the moon. We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.“[2]
There is a lot of Cold War rhetoric in that speech, but the underlying message is important. We decided to do something difficult, something thought impossible. It’s been a long time since we sent an American or anyone out of Earth orbit. We need to reinvigorate the space program and continue our manned exploration, not because it’s easy, but precisely because it is hard; because it is in our human nature to explore and test the edges of our realm.
Sources:
[1] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/apollo-sites.html
[2] http://er.jsc.nasa.gov/seh/ricetalk.htm