Everlasting Footprints
No atmosphere on the moon means no wind or weather — and that, luckily, means no erosion of mankind's historic tracks and prints that still dot the lunar surface. To prove it, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) sent back photos in July of the still visible tracks from five of the six Apollo landing sites.
While on the moon in 1971, Apollo 14 astronauts Edgar Mitchell and Alan Shepard left behind an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package, or ALSEP, along with sampling equipment and a small cart. The LRO photos were able to clearly show the footpath the astronauts had worn between the two artifacts, and future images are expected to have two to three times the resolution. "The images are fantastic, and so is the focus," says LRO principal investigator Mark Robinson. "It's great to see the hardware on the surface, waiting for us to return."