[cmeisenzahl]

"Explanation: Awkward and angular looking, Apollo 17's lunar module Challenger was designed for flight in the vacuum of space. This picture from command module America, shows Challenger's ascent stage in lunar orbit. Small reaction control thrusters are at the sides of the moonship with the bell of the ascent rocket engine underneath. The hatch allowing access to the lunar surface is seen at the front, with a round radar antenna at the top. Mission commander Gene Cernan is just visible through the dark, triangular window. This spaceship performed gracefully, landing on the Moon and returning the Apollo astronauts to the orbiting command module in December of 1972. So where is Challenger now? Its descent stage remains at the Apollo 17 landing site, Taurus-Littrow. The ascent stage was intentionally crashed nearby after being jettisoned from the command module prior to the astronauts' return to planet Earth. Apollo 17's mission was the sixth and last time astronauts have landed on the Moon."

Huge version of pic:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ima...49-22859HR.jpg

[Gator Lager]

Ah the irony and that is what the next generation of space craft is going to look like. Well a variation of it. But still the same. I can't post any of the pics I have. But here is some of the
proposed images.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/n...0919_moon.html

here are some more space pic links.
http://www.etacarinae.net/Spaceart/
big one
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/image/
to keep track of what we're up to
http://exploration.nasa.gov/acquisit...ocurement.html

[wdlove]

That is a very nice picture. I look forward to our rerun to the Moon.

[ghporter]

Great picture. Thanks for a blast from the past.

The REALLY curious/interesting/ironic thing is that our moon landings, from Apollo 11 through Apollo 17, took only 3 1/2 years. Six landings (when originally at least 8 had been planed) in 42 months... Wow!

[Brass]

Ain't it nice how man leaves his mark in great piles of rubbish everwhere he goes. The more remote and pristine the location, the more ugly man's signature.

[JoshuaZ]

Dude, its the moon. Theres really not a whole lot there to be pristine. Except dust. And really, there is an entire planet worth of it to go around.

[Brass]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ

Dude, its the moon. Theres really not a whole lot there to be pristine. Except dust. And really, there is an entire planet worth of it to go around.

Yeah, kind of like Antarctica... not much there... just ice... not really pristine I guess. And there's an entire continent of it to go around.

Actually, both the Moon and Antarctica fit the definition of pristine precisely - or at least they did before mankind left their mark.

I'm not really terribly worried about it (nothing living there at least), but it is a sad trade mark that we leave everywhere.

[ghporter]

Lighten up, Brass. The "trash" that's been left has been items that were used for exploration, not great mounds of rubbish. Further, it's not like there is ANY person or other living thing there to be offended.

Some day (hopefully soon) the six tiny landing sites are going to have nice little ropes strung around them and informative plaques placed there so people can see our early (and frankly very crude) attempts to branch out from our cradle.

As for the Moon being pristine, just wait for the next asteroid impact...that'll shake up everything there.

Your analogy to Antarctica is apt; there is a very small human presence there, with almost no real impact on the continent. Almost everything put there serves a research purpose. It's not like there are wildcat explorers dumping boatloads of trash and garbage there...