Open AccessTopographic Analysis of Landing Areas of Apollo Moon Missions
Author(s) -
Pyrrhon Amathes,
Paul Christodoulides
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of geography and geology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1916-9787
pISSN - 1916-9779
DOI - 10.5539/jgg.v9n4p37
Subject(s) - moon landing , apollo , elevation (ballistics) , human spaceflight , longitude , lunar orbit , astrobiology , latitude , aeronautics , geology , remote sensing , geography , space exploration , meteorology , geodesy , spacecraft , engineering , aerospace engineering , astronomy , physics , zoology , biology
The Apollo program was NASA’s (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) human spaceflight program, accomplishing landing of the first humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. Ever since there have been scientific and public questions about its legitimacy and claims that the associated Moon landings were staged by NASA and/or other organizations. In this paper we examine a number of the Apollo mission images through (i) a comparison with simulated views of Google Earth (Moon) and (ii) a photographic analysis of some of their features using Photoshop®. The functionality of latitude, longitude, elevation and elevation profile of Google Earth is addressed by means of a comparison with other available programs possessing the same features like NASA’s Moon Trek and Alcyone Lunar Calculator. The topographic analysis through Google Moon simulations indicate that the landscapes in Apollo mission images used were inaccurate presentations of reality and there are incorrect elevations and serious land feature omissions. Moreover, the Photoshop® analysis shows conclusively that images were staged, manipulated or altered.