Photographic proof: the Apollo moon landings were real

David Heath
Wednesday, 07 September 2011 13:42

Science - Space

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has taken the clearest images yet of the various Apollo landing sites.  Memo to the nay-sayers: the landings really did happen - here's photographic proof.

Never mind the vivid tales told by the returning Astronauts, never mind the fact that the laser reflectors left behind were easily located by Earth-based scientists, never mind how difficult it would have been to keep the secret. 

In fact never mind that we know in exactly which direction "The Dish" was pointed to receive the communications; the nay-sayers have continued to insist that the whole series of lunar landings was a hoax.

Well, it is now time for the eating of words.

In 2009, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured some low-quality images that showed what appeared to be the tracks made by astronauts' feet and the lunar rovers at each of the landing sites, but the pictures were too vague to be certain.

All that has changed.

"Without changing the average altitude, we made the orbit more elliptical, so the lowest part of the orbit is on the sunlit side of the moon," said Goddard's John Keller, deputy LRO project scientist. "This put LRO in a perfect position to take these new pictures of the surface."

The new images clearly show footsteps and rover tracks at all three sites released as part of today's announcement; Apollos 12, 14 and 17.  Please, go to the NASA site and see for yourself.

Having completed the low-level pass over the entire lunar surface, LRO has now returned to its original less-elliptical orbit to resume its primary mission.

"These images remind us of our fantastic Apollo history and beckon us to continue to move forward in exploration of our solar system," said Jim Green, director of the Planetary Science Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington.