Best Moon Landing Hoax Burn

I personally think that Neil Degrasse Tyson is a pompous ass, especially since Pluto's demotion from planet status.  But if the attribution in the cartoon's first frame is accurate, I may change my mind...

Kudos and credit to http://xkcd.com/1074/

Better Photos of Apollo Landing Sites

One simply has to go to NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) website to see the interactive photos of Apollo 12, 14, and 17 landing sites.  A slider in the middle of the photo lets you seen the difference between the previous photos and the most recent ones.  Absolutely outstanding detail!  At Apollo 17's landing site, you can see better the difference between the footprints the astronauts made and the tracks made by the lunar rover.

The official NASA press release can be found here.

Here's a You Tube video:




TAKE THAT YOU MOON LANDING HOAX NUT CASES!

As an inside joke, someone posted the following thread on Orbiter-Forum:

NASA releases photos of lunar landing sound-stage

Best Moon Topo Map ever...so far.

I'll let the images speak for themselves.  The data comes from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.  It is a false color image...blue representing the lowest elevations, and red the highest.The bottom video shows how LRO LOLA (Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter) works.

I can't wait for someone to apply this to a new 3D texture for the Moon in Orbiter.

LRO

I have to show my utter disdain for Apollo moon hoax conspiratorial nut cases.  Especially in the light of the images coming back from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), now in its final mapping orbit altitude of 50 km (27 nautical miles).  The resolution on the photo is down to about 2 feet, which means you can clearly see the tracks left by the lunar rovers on Apollo missions 15-17, and see the footprint trails left by the astronauts at ALL landing sites.

Below is Apollo 11, the famous Tranquility Base:

Next is a video tour of Apollo 17 (the last Apollo mission), in the valley of Taurus-Littrow:

I almost forgot to note the 40th anniversary of Apollo 12, from November 14, 1969 to November 24, 1969.  Lunar landing occurred on the 19th, at 0154 EST:

As of this blog entry 40 years ago, Apollo 12 was preparing for and executing the TEI burn (Trans Earth Injection), after spending the previous 24 hrs in lunar orbit photographing the surface to aid future missions.

All photo credits go to NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University.