The Apollo 11 descent stage casting a long shadow

The Apollo 11 descent stage, left behind in 1969, is seen for the first time since Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin said goodbye. It's casting a long shadow in the low sun.

NASA / LRO

"Hey, can you see the flag on the Moon with that thing?"

For the last 40 years, every amateur astronomer with a big telescope has heard this countless times. My standard response, ever since I was a teenager, has always been:

"No, telescopes on the ground mostly can't see anything smaller than a mile across on the Moon. The flag is just a couple feet across. The Apollo landing stages are still there, but they're only a few yards across."

Fact is, not even the Hubble telescope or lunar orbiters have had optics good enough to see anything that humans left on the Moon.

Until now. On June 18th NASA launched its new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), designed in part to scout future landing sites. It worked its way down into low lunar orbit and has started taking pictures with both its wide-angle and narrow-angle cameras. The latter are designed to achieve a pixel resolution of 1 meter (3 feet) on the ground.

Naturally enough, some early targets for the Narrow Angle Cameras have been the various Apollo landing sites. In time for next Monday's 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing, NASA released pictures today. Browse and enjoy.

Comments


Image of Franz Xaver Kohlhauf

Franz Xaver Kohlhauf

July 17, 2009 at 11:46 am

CONGRATULATIONS !!!

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Eric

July 17, 2009 at 11:55 am

In the middle of the article it states:

Fact is, not even the Hubble telescope or lunar orbiters have had optics good enough to see anything that humans left on the Moon.

I thought the Hubble never took photos of the Moon for some reason.

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Eric

July 17, 2009 at 11:55 am

In the middle of the article it states:

Fact is, not even the Hubble telescope or lunar orbiters have had optics good enough to see anything that humans left on the Moon.

I thought the Hubble never took photos of the Moon for some reason.

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Bob

July 17, 2009 at 12:59 pm

Alan...The photos of the landing stages and footprints left behind give me a bittersweet taste. First, the bitter litter. As a naturalist I ask, How come we cannot pack out what we pack in? Now, the sweet. Observing human accomplishment is good for the science side of me.

All in all, good reporting.

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Chuck

July 17, 2009 at 2:02 pm

Since all the moon landings were a hoax, I guess this must be faked too!

But seriously... I remember watching the moon landings on TV and honestly believing by now we'd have gone further. At least to Mars.

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David Abbou

July 17, 2009 at 2:20 pm

Incredible photos near the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11. LRO already is a success and will continue to dazzle us with sharp photos of our nearest celestial neighbor.

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jeffrey gray

July 18, 2009 at 9:58 am

great,who's going to the moon to clean
up that mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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jeffrey gray

July 18, 2009 at 9:58 am

great,who's going to the moon to clean
up that mess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Larry Robinson

July 18, 2009 at 10:02 am

I read somewhere that the Hubble Telescope can't focus on an object as near as the moon.

As for landing on Mars, the problem is getting astronauts there safely, landing them, taking off again and returning. It is a multi-year mission. The problems are huge.

- We are just now finding out how to keep astronauts healthy for long-term missions with the space station. But nobody has yet been up long enough for a trip to Mars and back.

- How do you provide food and oxygen for a multi-year mission?

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Larry Robinson

July 18, 2009 at 10:28 am

Mess???

Call it a monument. It is a historic site.

Be thankful the videos are the only things that were lost (and those might be due to the fact that no surviving players existed). Many other historic events have no surviving artifacts.

The first airplane is gone. The Smithsonian has one from several months later. The first one was wrecked, and the parts were used in other planes.

Nobody has the first steam engine, internal combustion engine, jet engine, locomotive, automobile, battery, electric motor, electric generator, vacuum tube, or transistor. Saving historical events was not important to the owners of these items.

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Nathaniel Sailor

July 18, 2009 at 12:27 pm

That's awsome!!!! Seeing that 5 some ft. flag on the moon!! Sweat!!

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Nathaniel Sailor

July 18, 2009 at 12:27 pm

That's awsome!!!! Seeing that 5 some ft. flag on the moon!! Sweat!!

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Larry McNish

July 18, 2009 at 3:55 pm

Hubble *has* taken pictures of the Moon See http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/14/
and http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2005/29/
- but even Hubble does not have the resolution to see a miniscule lander a quarter of a million miles away.

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aleonis

July 20, 2009 at 1:26 am

Hubble cannot resolve Apollo landingsites on the moon. But it took some nice pictures http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/1999/14/.

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Dana Kennedy

July 20, 2009 at 9:54 am

Have to disagree with Larry Robinson about the first jet engine. It's in a glass case outside the GE Lynn Mass. engine factory.

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Sebastià Torrell

July 20, 2009 at 10:57 am

found the real path of the last 500 meters "Eagle" Apolo 11 before landing,
marks and compare from LRO images and historical video
(spanish)

http://www.astronomo.org/foro/index.php?topic=461
( complet - spanish)

I hope you enjoy it
greetings

Sebastià Torrell

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Sebastià Torrell

July 20, 2009 at 11:02 am

found the real path of the last 500 meters "Eagle" Apolo 11 before landing,
marks and compare from LRO images and historical video

http://www.astronomo.org/foro/index.php?topic=461

I hope you enjoy it
greetings

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Dag Wikström, Sweden

July 23, 2009 at 6:15 pm

That is explained in Robert Zubrins book "The Case for Mars"

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Gez351

March 26, 2017 at 4:15 am

In footage of supposed landings the flag is clearly blowing around but according to facts there is no air or wind on the moon so lets say there is wind or air then those footprints would have been covered over by the powder like dirt instantaneously and would definitely not have lasted this long if you can even see a footprint how come you cant see the rover etc.sorry but nothing makes sense and why didnt russia land on the moon anyway 2nd is better than no place at all!

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