Laser Green Flash

Lunokhod 1 did return some data and photos for a short time but never returned a reflected

laser beam because of calibration issues and of course the main problem, they don't know where it is!

It disappeared after the signals became erratic and fewer. Some theorize it fell into a hole or

is stuck, pointing down at a steep angle and couldn't receive signals.

Others including me, think it lost it's ability to receive commands and may have

continued in the direction it was going until losing power, blocked by something

or a mechanical failure. It's relatively flat in the entire region and it's possible it may

have had the capability of traveling a much farther distance than previously thought.

The distance from the landing site to the flash I captured is approximately 200 km.

That's seems like quite a distance for the little probe to travel without assistance.

I don't have any theories on that yet. But we really don't know what it's potential range could have been.

If it's located, it'll be the find of the century. The scientific community has been trying

to locate it since it was "lost" in 1971....so they say.

Lunokhod 2 is being used by NASA as a fourth Ranging Reflector in conjunction

with our three for even more accuracy in determining the Moons distance and rate of orbit as it

continually moves farther away from Earth. (3.8cm per year)

Scientists send multiple pulses of laser beams for up to several hours.

They couldn't get any data from a single flash except for that instant, if any at all.

Another reason they send multiple pulses is that not all of the

reflected pulses hit their target back here on Earth.

This is because the field of light is much wider on its return....around nine miles wide.

I'm not sure if these beams are in visible light wave frequencies but I'll check.

UPDATE:

I did more research and found the laser pulses are visible and are observed by scientists

through the observatory scopes at the transmitting site during these data collecting sessions.

I contacted the current A.P.O.L.L.O. Project leader (Apache Point Observatory Lunar Laser-ranging Operation)

and he told me consumer scopes aren't powerful enough to see them.

(remember that statement)

He also related to me that the scopes that do see the beams, need to

be close to the target receivers and transmitters.

http://www.physics.ucsd.edu/~tmurphy/apollo/

My note: The transmitter is scope-mounted for targeting ease and visual observation.

(See Apache Point photos below)

He also said the laser beams haven't been directed to the Lunokhod 1 area for decades.

Here is his rendition of the #00695 JPG I sent him:

"Your image is fuzzy due to the usual influences, and any point

source on the moon would be similarly fuzzy.

Nothing real in the frame is as small as a single pixel

so this is not an image of something on the moon".

My Rebuttal;

His first sentence is true for ambient light reflections, not for laser light-wave frequencies.

My reply to the second sentence was: The field-of-view scaled image width, at the resolution

I used, is about 900 miles. After doing the math, a single pixel is rendering a scaled image width of 1.42 miles.

Plenty of area for "something real", we just can't see anything tangible, in that small of an area, in my telescope...

or yours for that matter...but it rules out..."nothing real is as small as a single pixel".

And being the skeptic I am, I'm not going to trust an organization's public explanation

on everything they tell us. Wait 'til you read the "explanation" another scientist gave me on

my other clip titled, "Possible Craft in Lunar Orbit".

My theory is...

...this is a reflected flash from one of the other observatory sessions

which still may be scanning the area at random times and not reporting that fact.

And possibly I was at the optimal angle to pick up a single reflection.

The other two observatories involved in these sessions are

McDonald Observatory, McDonald Laser Ranging system (MLRS)

and Côte d'Azur Observatory (OCA) in France.

But the LLR Project may be axed. As of 1999, the operation costs were $500,000

per year at each observatory. But millions have already been spent on all the equipment

as well as newer upgrades since 1999, and is one of the better NASA projects in my opinion.

Imagery can have a wide definition. Look at the Apache Point photos.

These look to be taken with a low to medium-end digital camera. The middle photo

shows the camera angle is well away from the beam's receiver but the beam is still visible

on it's return from the Moon, and taken with an ordinary camera seemingly zoomed in.

See what I mean about..."explanations" and the above statement on..."consumer

scopes aren't powerful enough"? But a cheap digital camera is?

So...it looks like you don't have to be that close.

I'm trying to get a schedule of these sessions to try it out myself. I'll post the results.

Update: They don't have timetable scheduled sessions. I was told they have the sessions

when time allows and get only a few hours notice. I asked if they would notify me and they said, "No"...!?

Well, excuse me! I hope the project does get scraped now!

With yesterday's and today's technologies, and I believe the military and

other agencies are already using tomorrow's, the rover should have been found.

The recent Smart 1 Mission comes to mind.

And where is the archive of that mission's database?

The photos they have on their site is context images.

The imaging hardware on the Ion Solar Electric Propelled craft was extensive,

expensive and could differentiate a basketball from a rock!

Or should I say....a rover from a rock.

And billions spent on just the R & D for the propulsion system.

The craft carried seven hardware experiments, performing 10 investigations,

including three remote sensing instruments. Military grade.

So what did they do with it?

What else?........crash it into the surface!

Granted, Smart 1 was an ESA project but we were and are, heavily involved.

And what....no thought whatsoever about bringing even some of them back to our orbit for retrieval?

Or at the very least, have them configured for a soft landing on the Moon's surface for

future study when trips there and back are common.

This has become the fate of every piece of hardware we and others have sent,

with the only exceptions being... early planned probe landings

(although 30% of those slammed into the surface anyway), manned missions...

...and Clementine, which was rotating at 80 revolutions per minute

somewhere on the far side where signals couldn't reach her.

And eventually gravity prevailed. That's their "explanation" anyway.

They claim a faulty circuit fired one retro rocket used for maintaining altitude

and that sent her into a spin until all the fuel was exhausted.

That would have sent her towards the Sun, not into a spin.

And the onboard imaging hardware should have revealed far more than what's posted.

I think one of two things happened:

Something else stopped her operation and

she met the surface on highly disagreeable terms.

Or she's still there and operational but on a different mission.

After all, Clementine was no lady. She was equipped with the latest spy imagery available.

And she was designed to return. They also claim she finished her mission in mapping the Moon.

Well....where's the hi-res close ups of the far side?

Here's 3 photos of the laser ranging event.

Note it's the same color as my event.

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