Starship Asterisk*

Astronaut Exploring: An Apollo 15 Panorama

Explanation: What would it be like to explore the Moon? NASA's Apollo missions gave humans just this chance in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In particular, the Apollo 15 mission was dedicated to better understanding the surface of the Moon by exploring mountains, valleys, maria, and highlands. Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin spent nearly three days on the Moon while Alfred Worden orbited above in the Command Module. The mission, which blasted off from Earth on 1971 July 26, was the first to deploy a Lunar Roving Vehicle. Pictured in this digitally stitched mosaic panorama, David Scott, exploring his surroundings, examines a boulder in front of the summit of Mt. Hadley Delta. The shadow of James Irwin is visible to the right, while scrolling to the right will reveal a well-lit and diverse lunar terrain. The Apollo 15 mission returned about 76 kilograms of moon rocks for detailed study. In the future, NASA and other space agencies plan to continue to lead humanity's exploration of the Moon, Mars, and beyond.

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Well...it is stitched wrong... the Sun is on the right, the his shadow goes right...his shadow is 90 degrees but the moonbuggy's is 45 degrees...the cameraman's shadow it basically straight up... and so some people might call it a fake...taken at face value...

It is probably stitched from different angles...or times of the lunar day...but it makes for a questionable photo...

Something puzzles me. This appears to be a 360 degree panorama, as the moon buggy tread marks on the right side continue on to the left side. So where is the lunar lander? Parked a mile away behind the mountain? Also it appears by the tread marks that they drove the left side wheels into the crater at left. You can see the tread enter one side and come out the other. Weren't they afraid of tipping over? Couldn't they have easier just skirted around the crater? I just happened to be watching a Mystery at the Museum episode a few days ago about the Apollo 17 moon buggy which had it's fender torn off by a clumsy astronaut. Mission Control was worried that without the fender the astronauts could be stranded far away from the lander because the sharp moon dust could get into and damage some critical part. So they rigged up some new fender out of duct tape and moon maps. When the Apollo 17 astronauts could have become stranded if the moon buggy broke down, apparently the Apollo 15 astronauts were not so much cautious of danger.

Why are the shadows going in different directions?

jackson hill wrote: ↑Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:44 pm
Why are the shadows going in different directions?

From one's perspective on the ground (as opposed to an overhead shot)
all shadows point to a distant anti-solar spot somewhere off below the horizon.

However, in this broad panorama the Sun itself can also be visible in the sky (above the horizon).

jackson hill wrote: ↑Sun Nov 11, 2018 12:44 pm Why are the shadows going in different directions?

A panoramic shot has views in all different directions; therefore, from the camera’s point of view, parallel shadows naturally appear to go in different directions.

I shall forever remember James Irwin as the man who, 2 years after experiencing at close hand the pinnacle of human technology, went chasing after Noah’s Ark, based on a tip from a 1933 April Fool’s joke.

Cousin Ricky wrote: ↑Sun Nov 11, 2018 1:51 pm
I shall forever remember James Irwin as the man who, 2 years after experiencing at close hand the pinnacle of human technology, went chasing after Noah’s Ark, based on a tip from a 1933 April Fool’s joke.

That would explain why the Moon rocks brought back from Apollo 15 were no older than 6,000 years.

Wonderful panorama!

Taken at face value, this is indeed a wonderful panorama. It shows us just what an alien world the moon is, with its stark contrasts and dark sky. The photos from the Mars rovers show a much more hospitable world. I'm also intrigued by the great variation in crater size, it makes one realize that in future millenia all those tracks will be erased although the hardware will remain. Will far future civilizations (if there are any) suspect that these were unmanned missions?

For many panorama shots there is often an overlap which allows us to accept the various perspectives and realize that the picture is not faked, which, apparently, is the first thing that many people look for.

I'm wondering. What would be the value of a used Moon Rover to a museum? Is it worth going to get one given the science mission that could go with it? It could revalue all low mileage used cars on the planet.

Guest wrote: ↑Sun Nov 11, 2018 11:29 pm
I'm wondering. What would be the value of a used Moon Rover to a museum? Is it worth going to get one given the science mission that could go with it? It could revalue all low mileage used cars on the planet.

They could display it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ark_Encounter

In the case of a rover defect in a distant position, would the astronauts have been able to walk back to the lander ?

APODFORIST wrote: ↑Wed Nov 14, 2018 7:41 am
In the case of a rover defect in a distant position, would the astronauts have been able to walk back to the lander ?

The rover only traveled at ~7 mph ...

....about twice as fast as Apollo astronauts could "lope" or hop.

If NASA/etc could land a remotely-controlled rover on the moon that could transmit real-time 360 degree views available in virtual reality, would it fly as a scientific/commercial investment?

Fred the Cat wrote: ↑Thu Nov 15, 2018 5:18 pm
If NASA/etc could land a remotely-controlled rover on the moon that could transmit real-time 360 degree views available in virtual reality, would it fly as a scientific/commercial investment?

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... er-mission