* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Apollo 11 landing site

Blobrana · L

New Mexico might become the second state to designate artifacts of the moon landing in its official registry of historic properties.
The New Mexico Historic Preservation Division said the Cultural Properties Review Committee will consider a nomination at its April 9 meeting prepared by Beth O'Leary, vice-chair of the CPRC, and her graduate students from New Mexico State University as well as the Apollo 11 Preservation Task Force.
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Blobrana · L

Space junk is Earth's treasure

Just 40 years ago, humans touched the face of the moon for the first time.
It was an historic event for the whole world and the excitement of it is being revived with help from a teacher at Chico State.
The crew of the Apollo 11 mission left behind various objects on Tranquility Base - the location on the moon where they landed - created an archaeological site, said Lisa Westwood, an archaeologist and teacher at Chico State.
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Blobrana · L

Memorial plan for old lunar junk heap

Countless places on Earth have been awarded protection to preserve their historic or cultural importance. The moon has none. But that may be about to change. California is poised to become the first state to register the items at Tranquillity Base as an official State Historical Resource.
If the State Historical Resources Commission approves the idea at a meeting today it would be a victory for scientists who want to build support to have Tranquillity Base designated a UN World Heritage Site in advance of what they believe will be unmanned trips to the moon by private groups, and even some day by tourists.
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Blobrana · L

It was six days later, on July 28, that a cable from AAP excited some interest on the news desk. After the astronauts departed, their moon landing vehicle was left in orbit to crash back to the lunar surface. The seismic instruments left behind recorded a much bigger impact than had been predicted. "The moon could be bloody hollow," barked the chief of staff.
The hunt was on for Australia's leading moon scientist, John Bolton, who was director of Parkes Observatory and the man on whom the Sam Neill character in the movie The Dish was modelled.
The great man answered the telephone himself. I outlined the mystery of the lunar rumbling. The moon was not hollow, he assured me. But he had a speculation he was willing to share with the 18-year-old kid on the phone.
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Blobrana · L

Apollo 11 lunar module, Eagle. Image width: 282 meters

Unlabeled image

Source

Blobrana · L

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), which reached orbit around the moon last month, passed over the Sea of Tranquility on Sunday and spied the Apollo 11 lunar module, still resting on the surface.
The lander set down on the moon by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong in 1969 is at the center of this image, a small white dot with a long shadow stretching to the right. Each pixel in the photograph, which comes from the LRO's Narrow Angle Camera, is 1.14 meters across, so the Apollo 11 craft is just a few pixels wide.

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Blobrana · L

On July 21, 1969, after landing in the Moon's Sea of Tranquility, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin planted an American flag and spent almost three hours exploring the lunar terrain. The Moon's airless, inert surface should preserve their footprints and equipment for millions of years. But new robotic rovers due to begin visiting the Moon next summer threaten to radically accelerate the site's decay, prompting preservationists to ask how best to protect off-world archaeological sites as the heritage of future generations.

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