APOD: Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph (2022 Dec 17)

[APOD Robot]

Apollo 17 VIP Site Anaglyph

Explanation: Get out your red/blue glasses and check out this stereo scene from Taurus-Littrow valley on the Moon! The color anaglyph features a detailed 3D view of Apollo 17's Lunar Rover in the foreground -- behind it lies the Lunar Module and distant lunar hills. Because the world was going to be able to watch the Lunar Module's ascent stage liftoff via the rover's TV camera, this parking place was also known as the VIP Site. Fifty years ago, in December of 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt spent about 75 hours on the Moon, while colleague Ronald Evans orbited overhead. The crew returned with 110 kilograms of rock and soil samples, more than from any of the other lunar landing sites. Cernan and Schmitt are still the last to walk (or drive) on the Moon.

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[MarkBour]

Wow, so it is now officially over 50 years since any human was on the Moon. A brief period, from July 20, 1969 to December 14, 1972, in which period 12 people walked on the Moon.

All of them were Americans, and no other nation or group has, to date, done the same. It makes me wonder, in a strange leap of logic, if this has anything to do with the fact that Russia is attacking Ukraine. They were an able competitor in the space race long ago, in spite of our different forms of government, or perhaps because of our differences. But then it seems they lost interest. During recent years on the ISS, it seemed as though we were sort of getting along, our two societies. But now, what has the Russian government found as goals to set their sights on lately?

This is a political post, I guess. But it gives me profound sadness, and a wish that I could better understand the motivations of governments.

[orin stepanek]

Interesting photo! I remember it well! It was an exciting time for
me; but it was also disappointing that it suddenly stopped!
Thanks APOD; for the review and the photos!

[Chris Peterson]

Wow, so it is now officially over 50 years since any human was on the Moon. A brief period, from July 20, 1969 to December 14, 1972, in which period 12 people walked on the Moon.

All of them were Americans, and no other nation or group has, to date, done the same. It makes me wonder, in a strange leap of logic, if this has anything to do with the fact that Russia is attacking Ukraine. They were an able competitor in the space race long ago, in spite of our different forms of government, or perhaps because of our differences. But then it seems they lost interest. During recent years on the ISS, it seemed as though we were sort of getting along, our two societies. But now, what has the Russian government found as goals to set their sights on lately?

This is a political post, I guess. But it gives me profound sadness, and a wish that I could better understand the motivations of governments.

It is interesting to consider. Our visits to the Moon had basically nothing to do with science or exploration, and everything to do with demonstrating (effectively military) power. And it does seem like we find ourselves again in a mirror of the Cold War world. Hmm...

[Chris Peterson]

De-anaglyphed for cross-eyed viewing.
_

[johnnydeep]

Wow, so it is now officially over 50 years since any human was on the Moon. A brief period, from July 20, 1969 to December 14, 1972, in which period 12 people walked on the Moon.

All of them were Americans, and no other nation or group has, to date, done the same. It makes me wonder, in a strange leap of logic, if this has anything to do with the fact that Russia is attacking Ukraine. They were an able competitor in the space race long ago, in spite of our different forms of government, or perhaps because of our differences. But then it seems they lost interest. During recent years on the ISS, it seemed as though we were sort of getting along, our two societies. But now, what has the Russian government found as goals to set their sights on lately?

This is a political post, I guess. But it gives me profound sadness, and a wish that I could better understand the motivations of governments.

It is interesting to consider. Our visits to the Moon had basically nothing to do with science or exploration, and everything to do with demonstrating (effectively military) power. And it does seem like we find ourselves again in a mirror of the Cold War world. Hmm...

The next space race - if we don't cooperate instead - will probably be between the U.S. and China. Putin has effectively destroyed Russia's future on Earth or beyond for years to come.

[Chris Peterson]

Wow, so it is now officially over 50 years since any human was on the Moon. A brief period, from July 20, 1969 to December 14, 1972, in which period 12 people walked on the Moon.

All of them were Americans, and no other nation or group has, to date, done the same. It makes me wonder, in a strange leap of logic, if this has anything to do with the fact that Russia is attacking Ukraine. They were an able competitor in the space race long ago, in spite of our different forms of government, or perhaps because of our differences. But then it seems they lost interest. During recent years on the ISS, it seemed as though we were sort of getting along, our two societies. But now, what has the Russian government found as goals to set their sights on lately?

This is a political post, I guess. But it gives me profound sadness, and a wish that I could better understand the motivations of governments.

It is interesting to consider. Our visits to the Moon had basically nothing to do with science or exploration, and everything to do with demonstrating (effectively military) power. And it does seem like we find ourselves again in a mirror of the Cold War world. Hmm...

The next space race - if we don't cooperate instead - will probably be between the U.S. and China. Putin has effectively destroyed Russia's future on Earth or beyond for years to come.

But what will that race be for? Will it be for show (like Apollo)? Will it be for military control of Earth orbit? Will it be for resources? (I think the latter is likely to be the strongest factor.)

[johnnydeep]

It is interesting to consider. Our visits to the Moon had basically nothing to do with science or exploration, and everything to do with demonstrating (effectively military) power. And it does seem like we find ourselves again in a mirror of the Cold War world. Hmm...

The next space race - if we don't cooperate instead - will probably be between the U.S. and China. Putin has effectively destroyed Russia's future on Earth or beyond for years to come.

But what will that race be for? Will it be for show (like Apollo)? Will it be for military control of Earth orbit? Will it be for resources? (I think the latter is likely to be the strongest factor.)

China will no doubt see it as the chance to prove the superiority of the communist way of ruling over the decadent American system. As for resources, what ready resources are worth trying to obtain from sources outside of Earth? Water on the moon? Minerals in asteroids? Oxygen in soil on Mars? I see most of that stuff as required solely for the furtherance of exploration of space, and not practically beneficial to people still living on Earth.

[Chris Peterson]

The next space race - if we don't cooperate instead - will probably be between the U.S. and China. Putin has effectively destroyed Russia's future on Earth or beyond for years to come.

But what will that race be for? Will it be for show (like Apollo)? Will it be for military control of Earth orbit? Will it be for resources? (I think the latter is likely to be the strongest factor.)

China will no doubt see it as the chance to prove the superiority of the communist way of ruling over the decadent American system. As for resources, what ready resources are worth trying to obtain from sources outside of Earth? Water on the moon? Minerals in asteroids? Oxygen in soil on Mars? I see most of that stuff as required solely for the furtherance of exploration of space, and not practically beneficial to people still living on Earth.

I think the future of much of our mineral resources lies in space.

[johnnydeep]

But what will that race be for? Will it be for show (like Apollo)? Will it be for military control of Earth orbit? Will it be for resources? (I think the latter is likely to be the strongest factor.)

China will no doubt see it as the chance to prove the superiority of the communist way of ruling over the decadent American system. As for resources, what ready resources are worth trying to obtain from sources outside of Earth? Water on the moon? Minerals in asteroids? Oxygen in soil on Mars? I see most of that stuff as required solely for the furtherance of exploration of space, and not practically beneficial to people still living on Earth.

I think the future of much of our mineral resources lies in space.

Really? Have we tapped out Earth's supplies already?

[Chris Peterson]

China will no doubt see it as the chance to prove the superiority of the communist way of ruling over the decadent American system. As for resources, what ready resources are worth trying to obtain from sources outside of Earth? Water on the moon? Minerals in asteroids? Oxygen in soil on Mars? I see most of that stuff as required solely for the furtherance of exploration of space, and not practically beneficial to people still living on Earth.

I think the future of much of our mineral resources lies in space.

Really? Have we tapped out Earth's supplies already?

There are materials that are so unevenly distributed that political forces are likely to make it economical to mine them in space... especially with the cost of getting to space plummeting as it is.

[johnnydeep]

I think the future of much of our mineral resources lies in space.

Really? Have we tapped out Earth's supplies already?

There are materials that are so unevenly distributed that political forces are likely to make it economical to mine them in space... especially with the cost of getting to space plummeting as it is.

I guess. I know some billionaires who are betting on making a killing on "space mining". Is that reality at least 10 years out? Twenty?

[G_Shogie]

De-anaglyphed for cross-eyed viewing.
_
de-anaglyph-Apollo-Rover.jpg

Thanks, that's better! The original KIND of works to see in 3D, too bad most of the parallax is vertical. I wonder why?

[Chris Peterson]

Really? Have we tapped out Earth's supplies already?

There are materials that are so unevenly distributed that political forces are likely to make it economical to mine them in space... especially with the cost of getting to space plummeting as it is.

I guess. I know some billionaires who are betting on making a killing on "space mining". Is that reality at least 10 years out? Twenty?

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the first attempts in 10 years.

[johnnydeep]

There are materials that are so unevenly distributed that political forces are likely to make it economical to mine them in space... especially with the cost of getting to space plummeting as it is.

I guess. I know some billionaires who are betting on making a killing on "space mining". Is that reality at least 10 years out? Twenty?

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the first attempts in 10 years.

I'll look forward to it. Will it be Musk or Bezos, or China?

[Chris Peterson]

I guess. I know some billionaires who are betting on making a killing on "space mining". Is that reality at least 10 years out? Twenty?

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the first attempts in 10 years.

I'll look forward to it. Will it be Musk or Bezos, or China?

Maybe China. In the west, I'd expect a private venture.

[johnnydeep]

I wouldn't be surprised if we see the first attempts in 10 years.

I'll look forward to it. Will it be Musk or Bezos, or China?

Maybe China. In the west, I'd expect a private venture.

Assuming the U.S. government gets wind of China's plans and sees their successful steps toward that end, I'd expect a new space race to be switched into high gear, with massive government contracts going to SpaceX or whoever else is showing the most promise in that direction.

[Chris Peterson]

I'll look forward to it. Will it be Musk or Bezos, or China?

Maybe China. In the west, I'd expect a private venture.

Assuming the U.S. government gets wind of China's plans and sees their successful steps toward that end, I'd expect a new space race to be switched into high gear, with massive government contracts going to SpaceX or whoever else is showing the most promise in that direction.

Our government is so dysfunctional that I'd not hazard a guess how it would involve itself. But private ventures seem to be in a position to take on that sort of project, with or without subsidies.

[MarkBour]

Interesting discussion. I am still an out-of-touch idealist. I prefer to imagine moving forward in the spirit of cooperation that ISS represented and that we would include everyone we can in the Moon efforts. I would love to hear that Russia supplied some really essential part of the technology and planning and that they felt like committed and equal partners, providing astronauts to the missions.

There certainly was a cognitive dissonance in place during the days of the Apollo program. As stated, it was sort of a show of American might, but at the same time, the astronauts said they "came in peace for all mankind". They actually left a disc on the Moon with greetings of good will from 73 world leaders. Our dreamers of the day expected that the high frontier would dissolve our petty boundaries drawn in the dirt of Earth, at least when we were out there.

I think questions of private enterprise and the commercial exploitation of resources in space is another important set of topics that you've brought up here.

My New Year's resolution will be to pay more attention to
The United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS)

[ozalba]

De-anaglyphed for cross-eyed viewing.
_
de-anaglyph-Apollo-Rover.jpg

Thanks, that's better! The original KIND of works to see in 3D, too bad most of the parallax is vertical. I wonder why?

I suspect it's been done manually, without accounting for the difference in field rotation between the two images. I've just done a quick and dirty comparison of the L/R channels to check, but will remake the anaglyph later.