Chandrayaan sends images of Apollo 15 landing; Scientist rubbishes conspiracy theory

Panaji, Sept 2 (PTI) A camera on board India's maiden
unmanned lunar mission Chandrayaan-1 has recorded images of
the landing site of US spacecraft Apollo 15, a scientist said
Wednesday, rubbishing conspiracy theories that the fourth US
mission to land on the moon four decades back was a hoax.

The Terrain mapper camera on board Chandrayaan-1,
which had an abrupt end a few days back, has sent the prints
of landing site of Apollo 15 and tracks of the lunar rovers
used by astronauts to travel on lunar surface, a senior
scientist associated with India's lunar mission said during a
presentation here.

"The images captured by hyper spectral camera fitted
as a part of Chandrayaan-1 image payload has reconfirmed the
veracity of Apollo 15 mission," said Dr Prakash Chauhan, who
is a senior scientist with Indian Space Research
Organisation's (ISRO) Hyderabad-based space application
centre.

Chauhan was presenting the findings of Chandrayaan-1
mission in his paper 'Chandrayaan I: TMC and HYSI data
analysis for Apollo landing sites and Mare Orientale', which
would be unveiled in public domain two months later, after
further analysis.

The Chandrayaan-1 images have disproved the theory of
conspiracy which had claimed that the Apollo 15 was
a hoax, he said.

"Chandrayaan has managed to identify the landing site
used by the Apollo 15 shuttle on the basis of the disturbances
on the moon's surface," Chauhan said.


"Our images also show tracks left behind by the lunar
rovers which were used by the astronauts to travel on the
moon's surface," Chauhan said.

He said that since lunar dust is dark, the
disturbances left behind by the spacecraft and the rovers are
easily distinguishable.

"The disturbed surface is bright," he added.

The scientist said Chandrayaan's images are an
independent corroboration that can help dispel doubts about
the NASA mission.

However, Chandrayaan's camera could not capture the
images of footprint left behind by the first astronaut on
moon, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, because of its low
resolution capability, he said.

Chauhan said that such an image is possible for a
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter armed with high resolution camera
launched into space by NASA. PTI RPS