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In Armstrong's mind today, there is still no doubt that what they all saw was a detached part of their own spacecraft. "We did watch a slow blinking light some substantial distance away from us. Mission Control eventually concluded, and I agree, that it was one of the Saturn LM adapter panels. These panels were enormous and would have been given a rotation in the process of their ejection from the S-IVB. The reflection from these panels would, therefore, be similar to blinking. I do not know why we did not see the three other panels, but I suspect that the one that was directly down from the Sun from us would have provided the brightest reflection."
Originally posted by se7en30
reply to post by pieman
Now this is just a shot-in-the-dark here, but perhaps they are not trying to hide and observe. Maybe, just maybe, they are "garishly" exposing themselves to alert us to their presence...sort of a hey guys, you're not alone type thing.
Originally posted by Jay-in-AR
reply to post by nydsdan
"yet not one telescope is able to see it?"
Our telescopes aren't near powerful enough to see a presence on the moon.
Originally posted by pieman
reply to post by se7en30
possibly, but wouldn't a TV broadcast be easier?
reply to post by Jay-in-AR
just to be clear, i'm just speculating, not arguing.
there isn't anything special about earth that means that gold is any more plentiful here than elsewhere. even if it was, there's nothing special about gold besides the fact that it looks pretty and doesn't tarnish, as far as i'm aware. it's difficult to imagine a use for the stuff outside ornamentation.
i can't see mining as an issue. given the level of tech required to come here from outside our system and transportation of any mined material back to where ever they come from, mining has to be fairly low on the scale as regards feasability of the journey.
An object on the Moon 4 meters (4.37 yards) across, viewed from HST, would be about 0.002 arcsec in size. The highest resolution instrument currently on HST is the Advanced Camera for Surveys at 0.03 arcsec. So anything we left on the Moon cannot be resolved in any HST image. It would just appear as a dot.
You see satellites. I've seen Mir go by within 28 miles; other satellites and you don't know what they are, but maybe just space debris. All kinds of debris come off space ships, especially at the back end after the main engines shut down and you open the doors: ice chips, oxygen or hydrogen, stuff dumped from the engines. On two flights I've seen and photographed what I call "the snake," like a seven-foot eel swimming out there. It may be an uncritical rubber seal from the main engines. In zero g it's totally free to maneuver, and it has its own internal waves like it's swimming. All this debris is white, reflecting sunlight, or you don't see it. Cruising along with you at your velocity, it's still got its own rotation. At zero g, things have an incredible freedom. It's an extraordinary ballet.