Moon surface pictures that dont make sense

Hi all, this is my first post so be nice :0)

I've been looking around the nasa site looking at pictures of the moon landings. While looking at the apollo 16 surface pictures i noticed something odd. Thought that someone could comment on these

spaceflight.nasa.gov...

spaceflight.nasa.gov...

Both these links seem to show the same landscape .... what caught my eye was the quite large missing rock which can be seen at the bottom of the picture. anyone want to take a guess where it went to !!!!!!

I've heard of some of the hoax stuff concerning the moon before but wasnt quite sure until i came across this image.....

If this has been found / discussed before then i appologies.

anyway ..... any comments !!!!

Maybe they moved it or put it in a jar or something. Could have been cheese and the astronauts were hungry.

would have to be a pretty big jar !!! dont you think

Interesting find I would ask John Lear who posts on here for comment. He has looked at a lot of pictures from NASA, and is familiar with most of them.

Well the photos are taken in different spots, so the rock isn't going to be in the same place. And I believe I see part of it on the left edge of as16-114-18422.

I saw it on Ebay. The last bid was 6.66 cents.

If you look really close on the picture with the rock you will see the tripod. Now on the picture with no rock you will notice you are now looking thru the camera on that tripod on the rock.

Notice the position of the stone below and left a little from the moon rover's rear wheel.

Tells you the postion and angle are different.

I think the camera is about to be fitted to the camera tripod its a small camera humm. Considering the technology in those days also notice the space suits dont change much do they.

Hope this help's.

Regard's
Lee





[edit on 15-8-2007 by h3akalee]

Yep, the one without the rock is a diffrent angle: GIF image:



All I did is lay one image on the other.

[edit on 15-8-2007 by martianvirus]

Originally posted by h3akalee
I think the camera is about to be fitted to the camera tripod

That's not a tripod for a camera. It's something they use when taking photos of areas they sample. What it is exactly I can't say. It does have a colour chart on the one leg as you can see in this photo www.hq.nasa.gov... It's probably also used for measurements and scale, so that those who look at the photos later on have something to use for reference, but thats a guess on my part.

Originally posted by h3akalee
I think the camera is about to be fitted to the camera tripod

Originally posted by jra
That's not a tripod for a camera. It's something they use when taking photos of areas they sample.

Originally posted by jra
What it is exactly I can't say.

Like a camera or something ?

Originally posted by jra
t's probably also used for measurements and scale, so that those who look at the photos later on have something to use for reference, but thats a guess on my part.

Could it not just be a tripod then ?


Sorry to be fussy and picky but honestly what did you just type there brother was there any real need ?

Love and Light and Peace to you.

Regard's
Lee




[edit on 15-8-2007 by h3akalee]

Originally posted by h3akalee
Sorry to be fussy and picky but honestly what did you just type there brother was there any real need ?

I suppose not, but you thought it was a camera tripod. It isn't, so I thought I'd let you know. Upon further digging, I discovered that it's called a Gnomon and it's used for indicating surface slop, with use of the Sun and shadow and the colour chart is to aid scientists that study the photographs.

Again, just thought you'd like to know. It may not add much to the discussion, but I think it's nice to learn new things once and a while.

The problem that you have with laying one image over the other, is that they are not the same image. While the background is the same (the rover, craters, etc) the foreground is different. Not because the rock has moved, but because the person shooting the image has moved forward and slightly to the right of the rock. We now are further above the rock, because we are closer. Because of perspective, the over background has not changed, because this is a longer distance, but the obvious change is in the foreground, which is directly related to the positioning of the camera operator, the focal length of the camera, and the lens itself. Keep in mind this is not the human eye, but taken through a lens, which will elongate the terrain. The rock is still there, it's just off the left side of the other image...(see attached image, colored to show the difference)

Prof. Swanson, BFA,MFA, Photography, Computer Animation

ha ha ha ha h .... yep i can see what you mean

the camera was just moved a little closer ..... cool no problem

case closed i guess .... unless anyone else has anything else to add.

I guess I must be slow or something because after reading through all other posts and the Profs analysis, I still don't see how the rock is out of frame of the second picture. The rest of the divets etc look to be in relatively the same area, just slightly moved.

Why does the glare in the top of these pics change so much?

Also, what is the small black half circle in the top left of the second pic?

I am not a photo expert so i'm hoping someone can help me out.

If you flip back and forth between the photos you will notice that they are at slightly different angles. At the bottom left of the first photo you can see the small, mounded area that the astronaut is stepping on in the second photo. In the second photo it is near the center of the shot. The rock you are referring to is probably behind the astronaut's leg in the second photo. If you look cosely you can see the edge of the rock off to the side of the astronaut's leg.
The lens flare in both photos is very pronounced. In the second photo, look at the black object at topleft. What in the heck is that? It sure isn't consistent with the sky around it. It just seems out of place. Very odd..

-ChriS

Originally posted by BlasteR
In the second photo, look at the black object at topleft. What in the heck is that? It sure isn't consistent with the sky around it. It just seems out of place. Very odd..

Ha! I guess even astronauts can't keep their fingers off the camera lens.

This one is easy to explain.

Look at spaceflight.nasa.gov... and there is a rock casting a shadow below the left hand side of the left wheel.

Look at spaceflight.nasa.gov... and the same rock is now a wheels width to the left. This means the camera has been moved to the right for the second photo.

Theres nothing going on with that rock.

The picture without the rock was taken 5 feet to the right of the rock.

hi

I admit that the explanations do hold up and that nothing is up with that rock the camera was just moved.

To everyone who has read my thread, please accept my thanks for your comments / assistance.

I think we can all agree that this thread should be closed now.

Thanks - ScepticsRUs