

Human Artifacts on the Moon - richev
http://history.nasa.gov/humanartifacts.html

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Arjuna
Some other interesting artifacts left on the Moon:

 _Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment_ arrays [1][2]. These are retro-reflectors
that were left during the Apollo program. They are used for laser ranging.
This is always good for getting a _" deer in the headlights"_ look from
conspiracy theorists when I explain that humans have been studying the
distance between the Earth and the Moon with the arrays since 1969 to further
our understanding of gravity, along with the knowledge of the Moon's
increasing movement away from the Earth. Also, the Soviets deployed retro-
reflectors on Lunokhod 1 in 1970 [3] and Lunokhod 2 in 1973 [4].

 _Fallen Astronaut_ [5] commemorates astronauts and cosmonauts that died while
working on their respective space programs.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment)

[2]
[http://www.physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/doc/Bender.pdf](http://www.physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/doc/Bender.pdf)

[3]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_1)

[4]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunokhod_2)

[5]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Astronaut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallen_Astronaut)

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grecy
> _Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment arrays_

I've always wondered why we don't have any actual photos of them (or anything
else) sitting on the moon.

My understanding is that all earth-based telescopes don't have the resolution,
and hubble can't focus down that close.

~~~
ceejayoz
> I've always wondered why we don't have any actual photos of them (or
> anything else) sitting on the moon.

We do.

[http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/584392main_M1...](http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/584392main_M168000580LR_ap17_area.jpg)

~~~
nickff
That picture is from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC); you can find
pictures of all the Apollo landing sites on its webpage.[1]

[1] [http://featured-sites.lroc.asu.edu/](http://featured-sites.lroc.asu.edu/)

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scrumper
Seems the Apollo guys didn't believe in packing out their trash:

"Defecation collection device"

"Urine collection assembly, large"

"Bag, emesis"

"Wet wipes, facial"

I certainly look forward to visiting that particular corner of Lunar National
Park in 50 years :)

[http://history.nasa.gov/FINAL%20Catalogue%20of%20Manmade%20M...](http://history.nasa.gov/FINAL%20Catalogue%20of%20Manmade%20Material%20on%20the%20Moon.pdf)

~~~
furyg3
"Golf balls (2)"

~~~
daigoba66
I'm also a fan of "Hammer and Feature":
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5_dOEyAfk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5C5_dOEyAfk)

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swamp40
This article doesn't really mention the reasons some items were left there,
but my guess would be that every pound you can get rid of gives you a better
chance at getting OFF the moon and safely back to the command module.

So at the end of the mission, everything no longer absolutely critical gets
dumped.

~~~
jmount
They pretty much had a weight target (not leaving things up to chance). Every
pound of equipment you don't take back is another pound of moon rock you could
take back.

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Fastidious
It surprises me that we can get crispy clear photos of Mars, or an asteroid,
many millions of miles away, but we can't show a distinct photo of each of
these artifacts where they rest.

Anyway, it seems we are very good at polluting.

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luikore
Private moon plan to send drones to steal those artifacts -- worth it?

