Timeline for First visible signs of human habitation on the Moon. What could we see from Earth?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
10 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 19, 2021 at 12:28 | comment | added | user2705196 | @chasly-supportsMonica You should elaborate a bit and turn your comment into an answer. I think that's exactly what would happen! | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 10:19 | comment | added | chasly - supports Monica | @AlexP - If people could look up on a clear night and see what appeared to be a point of light on the night side of a crescent moon and say, "See that dot of light? That's where people are!", that would be enough. | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 7:26 | history | became hot network question | |||
| Mar 19, 2021 at 2:17 | answer | added | Ash | timeline score: 8 | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 0:51 | answer | added | Justin Thyme the Second | timeline score: 8 | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 0:37 | comment | added | AlexP | @jamesqf: The retroreflectors left by the Apollo and Lunokhod missions are not "visible" from Earth for any reasonable meaning of the word visible. Special detectors can detect a handful of photons returned when the retroreflectors are illuminated by a strong laser pulse. | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 0:36 | comment | added | AlexP | Are you interested in the smallest object on the Moon which can be seen from Earth with a pair of ordinary binoculars as anything other than a point of light? (That's about 12 km across.) Or are you interested in how strong a point light source on the Moon needs to be in order to be observable from Earth with a pair of ordinary binoculars? (About 300 million candles if surrounded by complete darkness.) | |
| Mar 19, 2021 at 0:29 | comment | added | jamesqf | It also raises questions. Technically, the first things visible (with a good telescope & laser illumination) were the corner reflectors left by the Apollo missions: lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/experiments/lrr OTOH, any actual building on the moon would almost certainly be under the surface, for shielding against radiation, micrometeorites, and temperature changes. Perhaps they'd build solar arrays large enough to be visible? | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 23:57 | comment | added | DWKraus | This is an engineering-specific question, since whoever builds the "thing" will probably anticipate it being visible, and might make it so on purpose. It could also be a self-defeating prophesy as builders try to make the first visible thing on the moon first. It could be a big rectangle of black plastic laid out to be seen. | |
| Mar 18, 2021 at 23:26 | history | asked | chasly - supports Monica | CC BY-SA 4.0 |