Space.com (July 17, 2009)
"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.'..."
They also released photos of the Apollo 14 landing site, including this one:
(from NASA, via Space.com, used w/o permission)
Somewhat triumphant tome of that "definitive proof" notwithstanding, I doubt that die-hard conspiracy theorists will be convinced that 'They' haven't faked these photos to hide the 'true facts' about Earth being flat, or Tranquility Base really being an alien listening post, the whole space program being a cover-up involved with Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, or whatever.
Humanity's silly side aside, this article is a pretty good overview of our new look at the moon.
Related post:
- "Tranquility Base as an Archaeological Site"
(July 16, 2009)
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