Seeing is Believing
The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal contains hundreds of images. Dig deep and you can find some surprises. Take this secret moon base for example. Note the circular access road and the living quarters annex at 11 o’clock.
Because that’s what it is – right? Wrong! A classic case of mis-direction and jumping to (very wrong) conclusions! Far from being yet another lunar conspiracy target this is actually a photo of the Apollo 15 Command and Service Module in lunar orbit over the Sea of Serenity. It was taken from the Lunar Module just before it began landing manoeuvres. You can see half of Bessel crater on the right in the image below.
More images can be found on the Apollo 15 page. Be careful how you interpret them!
Hadley Rille
Continuing the rille theme from last week, Hadley Rille has been a bit of a forum feature this week. Forum regular kodemunkey sent me a interesting couple of NAC (Narrow Angle Camera) images he had come across while exploring a “wandering rille”. Here they are:
M104504818LE |
.. | M144612571RE |
He thought he might have spotted a volcanic vent but wasn’t sure. This turned out to be the start of the Hadley Rille-Apennine region shown here on the ACT-REACT Quick Map.
We can now check the topography of any feature we see using the new ACT-REACT line tool to produce a map of surface elevation. The “vent-like” trench kodemunkey spotted on the NAC images is Běla, an elongated crater thought to be either a collapsed magma chamber or a volcanic vent. Hadley Rille itself is thought to be a either a volcanic vent or a collapsed lava tube. There is more about the volcanic nature of the region in this LROC article Layers near Apollo 15 landing site. Using the ACT-REACT tool produced the following plot of Běla revealing a vent or tube -like “V” shaped dip in the terrain:
Newcomer to the forum Dynamo Duck asked if we could view the tracks around Hadley Rille from the Apollo 15 mission. Here is the location of the Apollo 15 landing site and a map of the various routes and tracks. Click on the images to enlarge.
From LROC article “Follow the Tracks” |
From ACT-REACT |
The latest batch of NACs taken from a lower orbit, 25-30 kilometres above the surface, show these tracks – but you need a keen eye. Here’s what you are looking for:
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
The new NACS are now available to examine! Enjoy.
Jules is a volunteer moderator on the Moon Zoo forum
Looking for Change: Crater Matching Apollo 15 versus LROC
Apollo 15 Image LROC Image
Apollo lunar missions 15 – 17 carried onboard the orbiting command service module a sophisticated array of camera systems used for mapping the lunar surface from orbit.
Apollo 15 and Apollo 16 system arrangement
While reading, “APOLLO OVER THE MOON: A VIEW FROM ORBIT (NASA SP-362)” on page 123, I found a crater similar to an example Forum moderator Geoff posted for our Transient Lunar Phenomena (TLP) thread on Boulder Repellent.
AS15-9287 Panoramic (P) High Resolution Click here for full image.
Lunar Atlas of Panoramic Camera Photographs and Image Catalog
The interesting name was given to this type of crater because of the open space in its center marked by a ring of boulders. To date we have not come across an example as good as the one posted on the TLP thread until now- 22.5° N / 34° E” in the Taurus mountains. With help from Forum moderater Jules and Astrostu the Apollo 15 crater was tracked down on a LROC M126704350RE photo strip with a tantalizing partial view of the crater. Jules was especially helpful in moving this project forward.
When a LROC photo strip is made showing the entire crater we hope to do a comparison of the crater center looking for change between the two versions as well as surveying craters and boulders in the surrounding area. You are all invited to participate in the fun. Though not the superior resolution of LROC, the high resolution Apollo 15 version is very impressive. Once you begin comparing the two versions of the crater, details in the Apollo 15 photograph begin to appear more clearly and you can see the details as smaller patterns but noticeable. Downloading the Apollo 15 version and magnifying it with your photo viewer is a big help. Also enhancing the photograph using a free online photo editing tool such as Sumo Paint allows one to modify the photograph with warmer colors (tan) to enhance boulders and craters.
Below is an example of an enhancement of the Apollo 15 crater center. The annotated lines were made on Sumo Paint. The photograph resizing and hosting were performed at Photobucket. So, I moved the photograph back and forth as it was modified. The arrow points toward the large boulder on the crater rim (not shown). The white radial lines move out from the approximate center touching boulders and areas closest in to give one perspective. I also marked the circumference of the open center area. The red lines are possible alternative routes.
Visit the MZ Forum thread, “Crater matching – Apollo 15 v LROC” for more information on this project and how it evolved. You can also participate in the investigation of two recently added Apollo 16 versus LROC photographs.
Tom128 is a regular contributor to the Moon Zoo Forum.
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