Originally posted by zorgon
Good question and yes I did mention it before... I even wrote to the director of Mt Palomar 200" observatory...
Here is his reply....
Hi Ron,
I haven't seen any images of the Moon from Palomar either. It is possible that some were taken long ago, but astronomers would rather explore the
Moon with spacecraft and use the big telescopes for observing much, much fainter objects.
Clear skies,
- Scott
W. Scott Kardel
Public Affairs Coordinator, Palomar Observatory
Telephone: (760) 742-2111
E-mail: wsk@astro.caltech.edu
WWW:www.palomar-observatory.org
When I have time and can get the addresses I will contact others, especially foreign ones.
But that answer is scary It means that all they have is one source of images to study... from NASA
[edit on 8-1-2007 by zorgon]
Z,
Great thread.
1st post here, so go easy.
Here is what that reply means to me:
I haven't seen any images of the Moon from Palomar either.
= Government speak for "Sure they exist, I just haven't seen them personally".
It is possible that some were taken long ago...
= They were, "but (I) astronomers would rather explore the Moon with spacecraft".
Because any high res close ups from spacecraft would be under strict NASA control.
So, he didn't actually lie outright, he, let us say, "equivicated".
Keep in mind this is from the Public Affairs Coordinator, not the director.
You have to parse Gov speak in order to get real meaning out of it.
Try this experiment:
Write him back, or call with this reply " Scott, where are the archived pics of luna from the 30's 40's and 50's kept. What address ? "
This is a specific question(s) which should force a specific response.
What did we use before spacecraft?
'Scopes and high res cameras.
This is covered in Ingo Swann's book 'Penetration...'
Reminder;
Nasa is no longer a civilian agency, and hasn't been for some time.
Guess under whose control it is?
All revealing pics would fall under 'national security', and be exempt from public disclosure.
Ah... but your idea of going outside NASA is brilliant!
Great idea, by the way of contacting foreign observatories.
I think you'll get farther, much faster with them.
Keep up the great work!