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Author
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Topic: Details in high-resolution Apollo photos
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LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-18-2012 01:04 AM
  
The high-resolution versions of Apollo photographs are very impressive. You can see details that are easily missed in the low-resolution versions. NASA photo AS16-116-18577 was taken on Apollo 16's third moonwalk (EVA-3). You can see that John Young is not wearing the oxygen purge system (OPS) with the red stripes. The antenna on that OPS was broken on EVA-2, so Young and Charlie Duke switched their OPS backpacks for the final EVA. AS17-134-20388 shows Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan standing behind the -Z strut at the Surface Electrical Properties (SEP) experiment pallet. Have you seen any other examples?  
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APG85
Member Posts: 317
From:
Registered: Jan 2008
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posted 08-18-2012 12:01 PM
Is there a story behind the 'smudges' that appear on many of the photographs taken on the surface during Apollo 16? Was it a problem with the film or the camera? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-18-2012 03:03 PM
There are smudges on at least two different magazines (114 and 116) and the smudges look identical, so maybe it was a camera problem.Compare photos 114-18444 and 116-18566, for example.  
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MCroft04
Member Posts: 1876
From: Smithfield, Me, USA
Registered: Mar 2005
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posted 08-18-2012 03:13 PM
I have an Apollo 16 photo hanging on my wall of John Young pointing to a large rock with those same smudges. Charlie told me when he signed it that the smudges were from lunar dust getting into the camera and leaving tracks as the film was advanced. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-19-2012 02:44 PM
There is a plaque on the Apollo 15 lunar module Falcon ladder. There is also a plaque on the lunar roving vehicle control console. You can read the signatures in photo AS15-88-11862. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2200
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-19-2012 05:06 PM
During one of the Apollo 15 lunar EVAs the astronauts drove up a slope so steep aboard the lunar rover (LRV) that Jim Irwin struggled to stop it rolling away while Dave Scott took photos! |
dabolton
Member Posts: 419
From: Seneca, IL, US
Registered: Jan 2009
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posted 08-19-2012 07:23 PM
He forgot to put the emergency brake on!
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LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-21-2012 11:59 AM
Charlie Duke took this 500mm photo of the Apollo 16 lunar module Orion from Station 4 on EVA-2. From the mission transcripts: 06 00 15 49 Duke: I've just got to get a picture with the 500 of the old Orion sitting out there. 06 00 15 54 Young: Just spectacular. 06 00 15 56 Duke: Okay, I'm going to take a couple of North Ray, Tony.
06 00 16 05 Young: Most of these rocks have a whitish cast to them, Houston, but - 06 00 16 13 Duke: Okay, Tony, I'm up to frame count 90 on magazine Lima. 06 00 16 21 CC: Okay. 06 00 16 27 Duke: Wow! What a place. What a view, isn't it, John? 06 00 16 30 Young: It's absolutely unreal.  |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2200
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-21-2012 12:15 PM
There is a very similar photo taken from Station 6 during the Apollo 15 mission. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2200
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-21-2012 12:31 PM
Nothing in the way of new discoveries, but I have always liked this photo of Buzz Aldrin deploying the seismometer part of the EASEP. It shows the discarded solar panel retaining brackets thrown either side of the the package as well as a number of "pip" pins. Also seen behind Aldrin is the protective cover from the laser ranging retroreflector thrown away by Armstrong moments earlier.  |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-21-2012 12:46 PM
Any idea at what distances the 500mm LM photos were taken?You can also see House Rock at Station 11 in the Apollo 16 photo. The smaller boulder farther down the slope might be Shadow Rock at Station 13. |
FordPrefect
Member Posts: 26
From: Karlsruhe, Germany
Registered: Apr 2005
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posted 08-21-2012 05:17 PM
The distance to the LM in the 500mm photos taken from Station 6 or 6a (Apollo 15) should be around 5 kilometers. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-22-2012 04:42 PM
The Apollo 16 lunar module Orion can also be seen in this 70mm colour photo, which was also taken at Station 4. It shows Charlie Duke at the rover.The LM is the tiny dot on the white surface area seen above and to the left of the top left cross-hair (called a fiducial). That would have been a long walk back to the LM if the rover had broken down.  |
ilbasso
Member Posts: 1527
From: Greensboro, NC USA
Registered: Feb 2006
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posted 08-23-2012 01:42 PM
quote:
Originally posted by nasamad:
Nothing in the way of new discoveries, but I have always liked this photo of Buzz Aldrin deploying the seismometer part of the EASEP.
And we also see Armstrong in Buzz's visor again!The Tranquility Base landscape, with its almost total lack of features in the distance, always looked surreal to me. In this photo, the horizon looks like it can't be more than 50 feet behind the TV camera. We know that's not the case, but it really does look unreal to me. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-24-2012 03:38 PM
You can see Gene Cernan behind the Apollo 17 lunar module in this pan photo taken on EVA-2. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-26-2012 01:11 PM
Here is one I had not seen before. It is an up-sun photo of Ed Mitchell taken at the ALSEP site on Apollo 14's EVA-1. |
MadSci
Member Posts: 244
From: Maryland, USA
Registered: Oct 2008
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posted 08-27-2012 02:03 AM
quote:
Originally posted by nasamad:
Nothing in the way of new discoveries, but I have always liked this photo of Buzz Aldrin deploying the seismometer part of the EASEP.
I just noticed, and this is touching given Neil's passing this weekend, that there is a self-portrait of Neil reflected in Buzz's visor. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-27-2012 08:02 AM
In this Apollo 11 photo, you can see the slightly out-of-focus red "N. Armstrong" name tag on the back of his portable life support system (PLSS) backpack. |
rasorenson
Member Posts: 130
From: Santa Clara, CA, USA
Registered: Nov 2009
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posted 08-27-2012 11:06 PM
Are the high resolution Apollo 16 photos from a new source or new scans of the film negatives? Where can I find these versions? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 08-28-2012 11:49 AM
The Apollo Image Gallery at the apolloarchive.com website has the full Hasselblad magazines in high-resolution. |
nasamad
Member Posts: 2200
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 08-28-2012 12:15 PM
All kudos to Kipp Teague and his "Contact Light" and later his "Apollo Archive" websites. I first found his Contact Light page over a decade ago after reading Chaikin's "A Man On The Moon" and it has been his site I have returned to time and time again whenever I wanted to look at Apollo images. I owe Kipp (as well as JL and Ed) a huge debt of gratutide. |
Chariot412
Member Posts: 165
From: Lockport, NY, 14094
Registered: Jun 2011
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posted 08-30-2012 07:26 AM
Does anyone know if any of the crashed lunar module ascent stages have ever been located (perhaps through seismic triangulation)? I recall even Neil Armstrong wondered what was left of Eagle. If so, a high-def photo would be fantastic! |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-06-2012 04:52 PM
Here is a photo of the Apollo 15 lunar rover at Station 6 on EVA-2 with the lunar module Falcon in the distant background. |
Headshot
Member Posts: 1405
From: Vancouver, WA, USA
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 09-06-2012 08:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by Chariot412:
Does anyone know if any of the crashed lunar module ascent stages have ever been located (perhaps through seismic triangulation)?
I know that Ewen Whitaker located the impact crater produced by the Apollo 14 lunar module Antares ascent stage on Apollo 16 metric camera frame 2512. The ascent stages hit the moon at about 1.7 km/sec, significantly less than the SIVB stage impact velocity of 2.5 km/sec. I am not certain if even the general location of Eagle's ascent stage impact crater is known as there was only one working seismometer on the lunar surface at the time. On edit, the locations of impact sites for the LM ascent stages from Apollos 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17 are known. They are illustrated in Philip J. Stooke's "The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration." To my knowledge only the Apollo 14 LM ascent stage impact site crater has been identified. The Apollo 17 LM ascent stage was intentionally impacted on South Massif, about 10 km from its original landing site. I am certain that all LM ascent stage impact are visible on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery, it is just that no one has sat down and identified them yet. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-08-2012 12:31 PM
quote:
Originally posted by APG85:
Is there a story behind the 'smudges' that appear on many of the photographs taken on the surface during Apollo 16?
Regarding the smudges: 107, 114 and 116 were the only magazines used on the commander's camera, according to the Apollo 16 photo index. - Magazine 107 was used on EVA-2 up to Station 9. Those photos are not smudged.
- Magazine 114 was used on EVA-1. It was next used at Station 9 to the end of EVA-2. Only the EVA-2 photos are smudged, starting with frame 18444.
- Magazine 116 was used on EVA-3, and all of those photos are smudged.
So maybe the lunar dust mentioned earlier got into the CDR camera during the magazine switch at Station 9. John Young can be seen changing those same magazines at the rover at Station 9 in this EVA-2 photo taken by Charlie Duke. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-18-2012 04:33 PM
The Apollo 14 moonwalkers left a film magazine on the lunar surface by mistake. The Lunar Surface Journal indicates that it was 16mm DAC magazine HH. You can see that 16mm camera and attached magazine on the MET in this post-EVA-2 photo taken from the LM window. The 16mm magazine is rather thin and located on the far side of the camera in the photo.  |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 3839
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 09-18-2012 05:20 PM
I assume whatever footage was exposed has long since been wiped clean by heat and radiation. A great pity. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-18-2012 05:46 PM
Here is another shot of the 16mm magazine and camera on the MET taken at Station C-prime on EVA-2. The LM can be seen in the background.The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal says the 16mm camera was turned on near Station F.  |
Rick Mulheirn
Member Posts: 4621
From: England
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 09-19-2012 04:14 AM
The distant LM shows that was quite a hike.....and up hill all the way too. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-19-2012 12:45 PM
Up hill and up-sun. I think Station C-prime was the farthest stop on the EVA-2 trek ... almost a mile from the LM. |
Fra Mauro
Member Posts: 1739
From: Bethpage, N.Y.
Registered: Jul 2002
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posted 09-20-2012 07:00 AM
What a shame. I wonder what photos we lost. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-20-2012 11:47 AM
The 16mm is a video camera. The magazine was footage taken on the way back to the LM. |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-21-2012 03:57 AM
Anyone know what this object photographed on Apollo 10 is? |
heng44
Member Posts: 3808
From: Netherlands
Registered: Nov 2001
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posted 09-21-2012 06:03 AM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
The 16mm is a video camera. The magazine was footage taken on the way back to the LM.
Correction: the 16mm was a FILM camera, not a video camera. |
garymilgrom
Member Posts: 2145
From: Atlanta, GA
Registered: Feb 2007
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posted 09-21-2012 06:22 AM
quote:
Originally posted by LM-12:
Anyone know what this object photographed on Apollo 10 is?
Looks like a camera or film anomaly to me. Unless aliens are building Africa-shaped spaceships! |
mach3valkyrie
Member Posts: 765
From: Albany, Oregon
Registered: Jul 2006
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posted 09-21-2012 01:34 PM
Maybe a piece of insulation or foil from LM separation (ascent and descent stages). |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-22-2012 07:00 AM
That is more in line with what I was thinking. |
MattJL
Member Posts: 57
From: New Jersey, US
Registered: May 2012
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posted 09-22-2012 02:16 PM
quote:
Originally posted by mach3valkyrie:
Maybe a piece of insulation or foil from LM separation.
Something else I've noticed that supports this is the amount of small specks of similar debris that are visible (especially near the lunar limb). It's also in the two photographs proceeding it (3988 and 3989). |
MattJL
Member Posts: 57
From: New Jersey, US
Registered: May 2012
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posted 09-22-2012 05:56 PM
Looks to be a pretty sizable chunk from that clip. Could it have caused critical damage to the LM or CSM had it not followed a harmless course? |
LM-12
Member Posts: 4122
From: Ontario, Canada
Registered: Oct 2010
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posted 09-23-2012 09:12 AM
It seems like an unusual direction of travel for something that came off the spacecraft. |
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