Can anyone figure out what is in frame 2:19 of this old Apollo program video. Is it a flagpole? Well, it seems quite far away to be a flagpole. And if it's that far away it would also be really really big. So I'm guessing it ain't a flagpole. A giant chimney? Doubtful considering it's the moon. Ok then, what is it?
at 2:14 there was a brief interruption/sync loss or some sort, which means some circuit or channel wasn't functioning properly, can this be related to that? was the signal recorded in NTSC? how was it relyed back to earth? what media was it originally recorded on? (I guess the recent news from NASA answered this one).
Seeing can be deceiving, especially when the horizon is a blur
Posted by: jiqiwa | August 18, 2006 at 07:46 AM
It may be an Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP). Apollo 16 deployed one and the blurred image looks like the shape that one sees at JSC's ALSEP page.
Posted by: prototypo | August 17, 2006 at 01:31 PM
I don't know specifically what that object is, but remember that most of the equipment that came with the astronauts to the moon was left behind. Obviously the designers wanted to propel the least amount of mass possible back to Lunar orbit. And there was a lot of equipment including several items that had telecommunication masts. That is probably what is on that frame. Also left behind were reflectors that scientists still use for measuring Earth-Moon distances.
Posted by: Henry | August 17, 2006 at 12:50 PM
Distances on the moon are pretty impossible to guage given the vacuum. My guess is that it's the lunar rover.
Posted by: hellblazer | August 17, 2006 at 12:46 PM
Maybe it's the rover?
Or possibly whalers.
Posted by: Josh | August 17, 2006 at 08:42 AM