WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Can We See the Stuff Astronauts Left on the Moon?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this is a classic

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<v Speaker 1>episode from our previous host, Christian Sager. This one came

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<v Speaker 1>about when we got curious, what all have we humans

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<v Speaker 1>left behind on the Moon and can we check it

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<v Speaker 1>out with a decent telescope? Hey, brain Stuff, Christian Sager? Here,

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<v Speaker 1>did you know that over a hundred items have been

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<v Speaker 1>left behind on the surface of the Moon. We're talking

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<v Speaker 1>about spacecraft, moon boots, cameras, flags, and even nine six

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<v Speaker 1>bags of urine, feces and vomit. That's right, everybody, astronauts

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<v Speaker 1>dumped their porta potties on the Moon. Are you thinking

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<v Speaker 1>what I'm thinking. We could fly to the Moon and

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<v Speaker 1>steal all that stuff, but we better hurry because several

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<v Speaker 1>states have lobbied to make lunar landing sites into national monuments,

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<v Speaker 1>and while we'd get arrested before we execute this great moonheist, though,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll need to locate where the astronauts left the loot.

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<v Speaker 1>But wait a minute, can we even see what they

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<v Speaker 1>left there? It turns out no, not yet. See the

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<v Speaker 1>resolving power of even our best telescopes is too low.

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<v Speaker 1>Given our distance from the Moon. The best available today

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<v Speaker 1>is the Hubble space telescope from its location in Earth's

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<v Speaker 1>lower orbit. The Hubble only has about a one and

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<v Speaker 1>fifty meter resolution when pointed at the Moon, so for example,

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<v Speaker 1>something really big like a football stadium would only occupy

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<v Speaker 1>two pixels in an image that the Hubble could generate.

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<v Speaker 1>We definitely wouldn't be able to see lunar rovers or

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<v Speaker 1>landing bases, much less those precious bags of Armstrong's poop.

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<v Speaker 1>Probably the only thing we can currently see on the

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<v Speaker 1>Moon is a laser beam reflector left there in nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty nine to measure the distance back to Earth. However,

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<v Speaker 1>there are several telescopes currently in production that, once finished,

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<v Speaker 1>will enhance the visibility of the Moon's surface significantly. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>the giant Magellan telescope in northern Chile should be working

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<v Speaker 1>by the year and it's planned to have ten times

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<v Speaker 1>the resolving power of the Hubble, giving it close to

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<v Speaker 1>a fifteen meter resolution. The lunar lander base is close

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<v Speaker 1>to ten meters long, so you could see it, but barely.

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<v Speaker 1>But why settle for squinting when the superior James Web

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<v Speaker 1>space telescope is shooting for a launch date in the

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<v Speaker 1>web will have eighteen hexagonal reflectors to collect light with,

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<v Speaker 1>making it seven times the size of the Hubble and

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<v Speaker 1>a hundred times more powerful. That will give it a

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<v Speaker 1>one point five meter resolution, more than enough to locate landers,

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<v Speaker 1>rovers and hopefully bags and bags of excrement. How much

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<v Speaker 1>do you think we can get for those on eBay?

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<v Speaker 1>And Today's episode was written by Christian and produced by

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com. Brain Stuff is production

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<v Speaker 1>of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever

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<v Speaker 1>you listen to your favorite shows.