News tidbit: Hi-res Moon photos

As part of the Apollo program, United States astronauts (one was also a geologist) walked on the Moon six times between 1969 and 1972, the only times humans have set foot on another celestial body. Will we ever return? As the BBC describes, NASA has released high-resolution images of the Apollo landing sites, all located on the near side of the Moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera has been orbiting the Moon since 2009 at an average altitude of 31 mi (50 km) to gain information about potential future landing sites, and was able to move into an orbit bringing it just 13 mi (21 km) above the surface. Think the astronauts left the Moon in pristine condition? The pictures reveal tire tracks, astronaut boot prints, and discarded pieces of equipment.

Share your thoughts: Would you go to the Moon if you had the chance?

This entry was posted on 8 September 2011 at 18:56 and is filed under news, astronomy, science. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.