Quote:
Originally Posted by hevusa  Since there is no atmospere on the moon the lunar landing and take off site should be easily identifible, should it not?
Still waiting on that picture that no one can produce.... |
Here ya go:
Clementine Photos
The Clementine Lunar orbiter has taken photographs of the moon's surface. They're not detailed enough to see any small features on the surface such as a lunar module, but that hasn't stopped people looking.
This is a composite picture of the area that Apollo 15 landed in. This mission spent 3 days on the moon's surface, far longer than earlier missions. This gave the astronauts more time to stir up dust in the surrounding area. This, coupled with the disturbance cause by the lander's rockets made enough of a mark on the lunar surface to be just visible on the photograph. The dark spot indicated by arrow A corresponds exactly to that landing site. Arrows B & C show recent meteor impacts.
Now I'd be the first to admit that this isn't conclusive proof, but still evidence and the clearest pictures we're going to get until the SELENE mission.
Clementine Satellite Photos