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[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Manmade Object Impact witnessed on the Moon

This interesting tidbit from the calendar of events via Universe today caught my attention....

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Friday, March 18 - The Moon will dominate the early evening hours, but why not enjoy its features as we scan the terminator in binoculars to enjoy the Caucasus Mountains and outstanding craters Aristillus and Autolycus to the north. Just south of this outstanding pair is a rather curious dark area known as Palus Putredinus, or the "Rotten Swamp".

On September 13, 1959 European observers witnessed the impact of Lunik 2 in this area.

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Now, ok, considering the kenetic energy of the Russian probe, it might have cause a small puff and maybe a quick flash. Must have been cool to watch. So how come no one has imaged the Apollo sites with all that metal reflecting sunlight with Earthbound telescopes or especially the Hubble? After all, there are highly reflective instruments on the moon that we bounce lasers off of to measure the distance.

Hmmm.

[Centaur]

Joe, don't tell me you are one of the Moon Hoax believers?

The Lunik 2 booster rocket crashed into the Moon a half-hour after the probe. Perhaps that is what was witnessed. Did you find any corroboration of the sighting?

Perhaps valuable telescope time is better spent on other projects. In any event, the Apollo remnants may be below the level of resolution.

The reflective devices were placed there by astronauts. They are the internal corners of cubes. That causes them to reflect light directly back toward its source. One would only see a bright reflection if he were sending out a an intense laser from his location aimed directly at the reflectors.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Moon Hoaxer, naw...

All the the nonsense of the flag waving, absence of stars in photos, shadow parallax etc...all easily explained and dismissed. Folly of easily impressionable minds.

But I still want to see evidence, as any good follower of science does. The ascent stage of the LEM's also impacted the Lunar surface, and the moon was said to reverberate like a bell. Although the craft was indeed tiny compared to a booster, no one witnessed a puff or later an impact crater from the worlds largest telescopes at the time, including Mt. Hale, Wilson, Palomar...and none imaged to this day. I'm sure the observatories would have been trained on the moon at the time...regardless of research time bought by others.

But as stated by another member, the Hubble has indeed imaged the moon, shown by a link. So it is possible, regardless of the reasons NASA provides that it just isnt feasable. Now do I expect to read the plaque on the landers leg, see Alan Shepards Golf ball or David Scott's hammer and feather, no...but it should image some evidence of external activity. Rover tracks, decent engine ejecta, sunshine glint on the lander..something.

Still waiting for SMART 1 to deliver, as it has the resolution to image the sites.

The proof is in the pudding...and I like pudding... ;D