LRO Images of Apollo Landing Sites!

[onesmallstep]

Apollo 11, LM Eagle in the late lunar afternoon Sun, my effort. Crop is about 220 metres wide.

Andrew Brown.

Excellent work! Thank-you.

I was wondering if the large crater to the right of the LM is the "football field" sized crater Neil had to dodge when he took over manual control?...Perhaps not, compared to the LM it doesn't appear to be the size of a football field.

Does anyone know which crater caused him to go to manual?....3488???

 

[onesmallstep]

Again, thanks for posting the pics of the Apollo 12 site.

It makes me kinda sad to think that one of the guys who made those tracks is no longer with us. Pete Conrad was a test pilot, flew to the moon and back, saved Skylab's bacon, and he gets killed on a freakin' motorcycle of all things.

I still remember those immortal words, "That may have been a small one for Neil, but it was a big one for me......Whooopeeeee"

Godspeed Mr. Conrad, at least your footprints will outlive us all.

 

[3488]

Thanks onesmallstep,

You can call me Andrew.

I reckon the crater to the right of LM Eagle in the Apollo 11 crop could be the one that made Neil grab the controls & go manual for the landing. It is certainly to the east of LM Eagle as expected & that image is north to the top, east to the right. I need to look at the original again to be sure if that is the crater, but I do not remember seeing another large one to the right on the original.

LRO caught the scene literally only hours prior to the lunar sunset during the 14 days of lunar daylight, as LRO then was still in an orbit close to the terminator. Hense the crater is mostly shadowed & the boulders that Neil Armstrong spotted in the crater are already in darkness on the crater floor.

That image was not easy to do, as the contrast was low, due to the marial landscape under a very low sun, but it came out quite well after I had improved the contrast & enlarged it.

The Apollo 12 scene is a great one, including Surveyor 3, the first unmanned lander seen by LRO, unless LRO has seen some of the others, but have not been released yet.

It seems strange hoe Pete Conrad met his fate, considering what he did prior. The same is true of Yuri Gagarin, got killed in a routine flight exercise, ditching his plane rather than ejecting & allowing the plane to collide with apartment blocks.

I hope to contribute some more when more come become available.

Andrew Brown.

 

[onesmallstep]

Thanks onesmallstep,

You can call me Andrew.

I reckon the crater to the right of LM Eagle in the Apollo 11 crop could be the one that made Neil grab the controls & go manual for the landing. It is certainly to the east of LM Eagle as expected & that image is north to the top, east to the right. I need to look at the original again to be sure if that is the crater, but I do not remember seeing another large one to the right on the original.

LRO caught the scene literally only hours prior to the lunar sunset during the 14 days of lunar daylight, as LRO then was still in an orbit close to the terminator. Hense the crater is mostly shadowed & the boulders that Neil Armstrong spotted in the crater are already in darkness on the crater floor.

That image was not easy to do, as the contrast was low, due to the marial landscape under a very low sun, but it came out quite well after I had improved the contrast & enlarged it.

The Apollo 12 scene is a great one, including Surveyor 3, the first unmanned lander seen by LRO, unless LRO has seen some of the others, but have not been released yet.

It seems strange hoe Pete Conrad met his fate, considering what he did prior. The same is true of Yuri Gagarin, got killed in a routine flight exercise, ditching his plane rather than ejecting & allowing the plane to collide with apartment blocks.

I hope to contribute some more when more come become available.

Andrew Brown.

Okay Andrew, you can call me one, or oss

Another question....Any hints yet as to whether the flags are still standing at any of the landing sites? I recall hearing Buzz Aldrin say once that when they lifted off the rocket exhaust knocked the flag over. If so, perhaps the contrast of it lying on the grey lunar surface would be visible to the LRO. I can't wait until a flag can be imaged to see whether it still has its glorious red, white, and blue colors or if it has been bleached white by the sun's rays.

Seeing these images is truely amazing.

 

[starwood]

Are there any good simulations of the landing approaches and departures, covering specific flight paths with images???or do I ask too much.

 

[onesmallstep]

Are there any good simulations of the landing approaches and departures, covering specific flight paths with images???or do I ask too much.

Ask and ye shall receive:

http://www.eaglelander3d.com/

 

[CalliArcale]

Check out the latest images. LRO is in its final mapping orbit now, altitude 50 km, so the resolution is much improved. That's right, it gets BETTER! You can see the flippin' footpads in these. I mean, this is awesome.

Apollo 11[/ul]
[url=http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/lroc_20091104_apollo12.html]Apollo 12
Apollo 17 (check out the flag!!!)

Some older but still cool Apollo images:
Apollo 14 S-IVB Booster Impact Crater
Another look at Apollo 11 (not as good as the one above)
Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3

 

[drwayne]

Thanks very much for sharing that!

 

[MeteorWayne]

Indeed, super stuff Calli, Thanx.

The other Wayne

 

[Smersh]

Excellent guys thanks a lot. (I didn't even realise these improved pictures had been released until today. )