[Laser] comments about Moon pictures

[laser@mailman.qth.net]

If I had had the benefit of all the comments about my idea for sending 
pictures of the Earth down from the Moon, I would probably have suggested either a 
rover that would take pictures of the Lunar lanscape as it moved along or a 
camera overlooking an amateur radio station inside a permanent lunar base.  

The idea is to have something interesting comming down, by laser, that would 
attract others to be looking up at the laser beam.  Need the "receivers" to be 
cheap enough encourage many to use their own.  Commercial services that can 
be bought and "sponsored" activities that are on line will have better pictures 
and much more professional scientific research.  It may be possible to learn 
as much science by looking at the work of others, as by doing your own 
experiments.  I think you can only learn to have passion for science by participating.

Dave, WA4QAL commented about solar cells on the Moon working only half the 
time and the visible side of the Moon is in full darkness when the Earth is full 
illuminated.  I think that he is suggesting that the best viewing of the 
Earth is when it is "full".  I disagree.  When the Moon is full, it may be a 
romantic sight to the naked eye, but in a telescope I think the detail is a lot 
better when it is less than half lit.  I also think that seeing a real time 
picture of the Earth in a phase that compliments the phase of the Moon would be 
interesting to lots of Tekkies.  I figured that the advantage of solar panels 
would overcome the background sunlight.  

Taking pictures on the Moon and teaching science on the Earth is exactly the 
kind of thing that international treaties are trying to encourage.  If you 
want to throw boulders down onto cities you don't like.... Now that will bring 
out more than just the lawyers.  

I thought that Echo was a marvelous success.  I watched it many nights.  The 
facts that it was pushed arround by sunlight, and that the air is not as thin 
as some people thought it would be up there, well that just made it a more 
interesting experiment.  I assume that it also convenced investors to support 
active communications satellites.

I think I said something before about retro-reflectors in orbit.  It would be 
better if the return beam width was greater.  The true geo-synchronous orbits 
are too valuable to tinkerers like us to be allowed to use.  But the 
mechanics of orbits is such that a satellite can be "hung" in a small patch of sky for 
a few hours below the geosynchronous altitude.  Above the geosynchronous 
altitude has some more potential.  Circular vs eliptical.... too far off topic for 
now.

Thanks to all.

James
N5GUI


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