Many folks would like to see us back on the Moon and developing its resources.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Looking up continues to be interesting - just reflecting

We just read about LRO finding the precise location of Lunokhod 1 and 2 on the Moon. The below link talks about how the reflectors left on the Moon have degraded and that the one placed by Lunokhod 1 no longer worked. Now that the location of them has been verified part of this report won't be correct or at least is dated, since now that we know exactly where Lunokhod 1 is, it has been determined we can see reflected laser pulses and very well indeed.

Dust may indeed be a problem and hopefully we will send more robots to the Moon to look into the Lunar environment. I say robots, since at the moment we may have to wait awhile to send humans.
- LRk -

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http://news.discovery.com/space/moon-mirror-apollo.html
Lunar Mirror Mystery Solved
Reflectors placed on the moon during Apollo missions practically stop working during a full moon. Now we may know why.

Sun Mar 14, 2010 06:43 AM ET
Content provided by Stuart Gary, ABC Science Online

THE GIST:

* Reflectors were placed on the moon during Apollo missions.
* During a full moon, their reflectivity drops by a factor of 10.
* New research proposes that dust on the reflectors heats up during a full moon, distorting their shape.

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Another article on the results of LRO finding the Lunokhod rovers. Nice picture on the web site.
- LRK -

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http://news.discovery.com/space/lost-and-found-soviet-lunar-rover.html
Lost and Found: Soviet Lunar Rover

Analysis by Irene Klotz
Tue Apr 27, 2010 03:09 PM ET

In November 1970, a Soviet probe landed on the surface of the moon and released two ramps. A rover, named Lunokhod 1, descended to the surface to take pictures and conduct experiments. It carried with it a French-made light reflector, which could be used by scientists on Earth to compute distances and better understand lunar geology.

Ten months later, Lunokhod 1 fell silent, its location on the moon unknown. Over the years, scientists occasionally beamed a laser around its last known coordinates, hoping for a return beam from the reflector. They got no response and figured the rover had fallen into a crater or parked itself beneath a cliff, blocking its reflector from Earth.

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Posted this link before. If you didn't check it out here is a paragraph that shows what can be done with new information by dedicated personnel. What other information will we see from the Moon?
- LRK -

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http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/lro-20100426.html
NASA's LRO Team Helps Track Laser Signals to Russian Rover Mirror

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“Getting more than a few photons back from an unknown location at the distance of the moon is quite an achievement. The rediscovery of the Lunokhod-1 retroreflector was made possible by the LRO camera team and by the diligence of Tom Murphy,” said Gregory Neumann, Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter team member from NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. “That we have located it so quickly and ranged to the Lunokhod rover, last heard from Sept. 4, 1971, is a tribute to Tom's team and to the amazing LRO observatory and instrument teams.”

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The former Soviet Union had a lot of Lunar firsts. Other nations may well add some to their credit as well. For now we in the USA will have to be satisfied with the results from orbiters. It would be nice to be able to do more with the information from LRO.
- LRK -

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http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/lost-soviet-reflector-found-on-moon-100427.html
Lost Soviet Reflecting Device Rediscovered on the Moon
By SPACE.com Staff

posted: 27 April 2010
09:57 am ET

A long lost light reflector that was left on the surface of the moon by the former Soviet Union has been rediscovered by a team of American physicists after nearly 40 years using lasers beamed from Earth.

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Well another reason to look up. :-)

Thanks for looking up with me.
- LRK -

Web Site: http://lkellogg.vttoth.com/LarryRussellKellogg/
BlogSpot: http://kelloggserialreports.blogspot.com/
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Newsletter: https://news.altair.com/mailman/listinfo/lunar-update
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http://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/images/359938main_LRO_factsheet.pdf
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter - Fact Sheet

Return to the Moon: The First Step The United States has begun a program to extend human presence in the solar system, beginning with a return to the Moon.

[Beginning with a return to the Moon - has a nice sound to it - Make It So! - LRK -]
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WHAT THE MIND CAN CONCEIVE, AND BELIEVE, IT WILL ACHIEVE - LRK

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