They left behind equipment that is kind of like the reflective cell plates mounted on cars and bicycles. So you can shoot a laser beam at that part of the Moon and you get a measurable reflection. Since your laser beam hits an area measured in kilometres, it isn’t a very bright reflection, relatively, but it’s there.

I didn’t end up getting any imaging gear set up – I went out earlier and the wind had picked up quite a bit, the Moon was happily bubbling away. I thought I’d just have a go eyeballing it. Didn’t see anything – though I had to keep readjusting the scope (just left it on the dob mount) and it’s a real pain to keep one eye open on a fairly bright object with minimal blinking for 10 minutes.

@ Tom (comment #26):

There are plenty of maps available on the internet that gives the location of the Apollo missions (and other unmanned missions). For example:

http://ralphaeschliman.com/luna/lnslamasm.jpg

Secondly, no, your telescope won’t be able to see any of the artefacts left at the Apollo landing sites – not even Hubble (or any surface based telescope) can do that.

Is it possible to see any of the ‘stuff’ with a small scope (mine is 150mm)?

And in [The long habit of living], where an indefinite longevity treatment in ten year instalments exists if you can afford it (the economics are quite interesting in simple terms, as are most of both these stories), there’s a not-generation starship, a slowboat, under construction in space. Two problems, they don’t actually have the longevity treatment and they have a killer mortgage. If in their library they have a copy of [The Galactic Whirlpool], a solution to one of the problems may occur to them…

Right now the question is, is your acre of Moon insured? Crashing probes into our sister planet seems to be the new international space race gimmick. The money, mooney, shot. Better see if American Interplanetary Group is taking new contracts.

As it is, expect moon rise tonight at 7pm, 8pm, 8.15, 8.22, and 9.47…

I still wonder about private enterprise going there. If, as I asked, money wasn’t an option and I as a private citizen launched landed and established a viable colony, what national or international laws could be levied against me in an attempt to stop and or evict me from said colony/station/hole in the lunar ground if they wanted to? Are there specific conventions through international law preventing people from doing this?

-Joseph

Joseph: “Basically, do I actually own an acre of land on the moon, or can I at least lay some kind of claim to it if I can get there?”
No. This is scam.

John – Moon Atlas 2009 — for telescope type (click my name for more)

A few years ago my ex (still friends) bought me a Lunar Deed for my birthday through ‘The Sovereign Worlds of Hope’.

I apparently ‘own’ 1 acre of land in area J-5, Quadrant Bravo Trot, Lot Number 058/1520. This is located 003 squares south and 014 squares east of the extreme northwest corner of the recognized Lunar chart. It came with a map that has a small red square in the northern portion of Humorum.

The whole thing is cool, silly and fun, but the documents seem to take themselves at least semi seriously. They are purported to have been submitted to the U.N. and no rejection of the proposal has ever been received.

I was wondering what the current discussions, if any, are on how to handle colonizations? If I as a private citizen were to mount with my own monies an expedition to the moon, launch and establish a viable colony/station what, if any, governmental authority of Earth would be legally able to stop it? Presuming I launch from international waters.

Basically, do I actually own an acre of land on the moon, or can I at least lay some kind of claim to it if I can get there?

Thanks for entertaining the sillyness,
-Joseph

Even Hawaii won’t get to see it unless the calculations for impact are slightly off or topography are such that it crashes 1 or 2 orbits early (a definite possibility). The timing and location was picked so that Japan and Australia and SE Asia will have the best potential view of this event. Even then, it will require a big scope. The 3.6m scope in Hawaii barely detected Smart-1 when they crashed it in (I believe) 2006.

Unfortunately so far I haven’t been able to find if there will be any video or live feed from Kaguya as it approaches impact.

That last link has a nice graphic showing the impact site marked with a red star (http://www.kaguya.jaxa.jp/image/communication/ImpactMap_E.jpg).

Of course I would have used a mushroom cloud icon to mark the spot myself

Thanks!

“Any idea where on the Moon it will impact?”

If you follow the link from the Planetary Society, the first sentence says,

“According to the latest information from the Japanese Space Agency JAXA, the lunar orbiter Kaguya will slam into the Moon at 6:26pm (GMT) on Wednesday, June 10, 2009, at coordinates 63 South, 80 East.“

Or, you can look at the map Phil linked to in his previous post:
www . kaguya.jaxa.jp/en/communication/KAGUYA_Lunar_Impact_e.htm

Or, if that’s too much trouble, it means the bottom right.

Btw, I’m a bit confused here. Didn’t you say you live in Colorado? If so, wouldn’t it be high noon in your place when the impact happens?

@Gary Ansorge it is part of an experiment. Besides, Moon does have a very thin atmosphere, eventually the orbit would deteriorate and the satellite would crash anyways

Ummm… does that turn me into a Kaguya Impact Witness Denialist? :-p

Looks like the ideal spot will be near Perth, Australia, where the Moon will be near the zenith.

According to Wikipedia, the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP) was turned off on 30 September, 1977, due primarily to budgetary considerations. [Figures!] Also, by that time the power packs could not run both the transmitter and any other instrument, and the ALSEP control room was needed for the attempt to reactivate Skylab.

For me, its not that its total daylight that makes it impossible. Its the fact that the moon doesn’t rise until 10:25pm local time (9 hours after the event.)

The best I can do is go out and take some photos & video tonight, and hope to see a difference tomorrow night.