Astronomy Picture of the Day 1-11-03

NASA ^ | 1-11-03 | Robert Nemiroff and Jerry Bonnell

[petuniasevan]

Astronomy Picture of the Day

Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.

2003 January 11

Apollo 17: Boulder in Stereo
Credit: Apollo 17, NASA (Stereo Image by Patrick Vantuyne)

Explanation: Humans left the Moon over thirty years ago, but donning red-blue glasses (red for the left eye) you can share this excellent stereo perspective view of their last stomping ground. Recorded by Eugene Cernan, the scene depicts his fellow astronaut and geologist Harrison Schmitt next to a large split boulder on the floor of the narrow Taurus-Littrow valley located at the eastern edge of the lunar Mare Serenitatis. Parked nearby, their lunar rover is visible beyond the boulder at the right. During their stay the Apollo 17 astronauts explored the unusually dark terrain at the Taurus-Littrow landing site and deployed explosives to test the internal geology of the Moon. Apollo 17 returned the most lunar rocks and soil samples of any lunar mission.

[petuniasevan]

Break out those stereo glasses!

Last manned mission to the moon. It's sad that we've stayed away since.

Did you know that the Chinese are trying to implement a manned space program? They want to go to the moon. I guarantee that if they do, and plant their flag there, the IAU will accept their names for various objects and landmarks. Remember the weird Soviet Russian commie names for craters on the far side of the moon?

Where's our national pride? Are we going to just sit in Low Earth Orbit and watch as the ChiComs get Hadley Rille renamed to East is Gloriously Red Valley - or something like that? Or will we decide that being a has-been is not a good thing, and restart our manned moon exploration?

A public service: for those without red/blue specs, a version of the image above without a headache.

[petuniasevan]

[GodBlessRonaldReagan]

We definitely need to return to the moon.Thanks for the ping!

[firewalk]

Good morning....thanks for the ping (-:

[RightWhale]

I can deal with stereo pairs. I can't deal with these blue-red or green-red stereo images. Yet NASA continues to publish them. NASA is still technologically in the Dark Ages when it comes to talking with the population at large.

[BossyRoofer]

Lets put the NEW WORLD ORDER on the Moon! At least we will have a clue where they are! APOD my favorite site!

[sistergoldenhair]

I always enjoy APOD.
Thanks for the ping.

[Soaring Feather]

Thank you for this thread.