Post by oldman on Dec 14, 2008 17:15:51 GMT -4
Why are the tracks missing in AS16-110-18020?
Referenced ALSJ photos:
history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/AS16-110-18006HR.jpg
history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/AS16-110-18020HR.jpg
Photo AS16-110-18006 was shot at Station 5 during Apollo 16 as part of a panoramic sequence. Examine it closely and you'll see that although there are tracks behind the rover, none of them line up with the rover's rear wheels. The straight tracks--running left to right in the photo--are clearly offset from the vehicle's wheels by about 3 or 4 feet and the curved tracks (of which we only see one in this photo) are headed in the wrong direction entirely. One can't help but wonder why the tracks don't line up with the rover. According to the voice transcript on ALSJ (a website that is hosted by NASA's History Division), the astronauts lifted the rover from its original location and set it back down at the location shown and this is why the tracks aren't aligned with the rover's wheels.
Even if this explanation is correct, there's still something rather anomalous about AS16-110-18006 that needs explaining. Notice that the curved track clearly exhibits the distinctive "V" shaped "arrows" which--due to the orientation of the "tread" on the rover's wheels--always point opposite to the vehicle's forward direction of travel. In this photo we see that these arrows point up or away from the camera which tells us that the rover was heading towards the camera when the curved track was made. As you might expect, this curved track consists of two individual component tracks--one that was left behind by the vehicle's front wheel and the other that was left behind by its rear wheel. At the very bottom edge of AS16-110-18006 we see that both of these components existed--the rear wheel component being on the left with its fully defined "V" markings and the front wheel component on the right with its incomplete, overdriven "V" markings. What this tells us is that the rover's right rear wheel had to have been located just to the left of the pictured rover's right rear wheel as seen in AS16-110-18006.
The significance of this can be seen in AS16-110-18020 which was shot after the panoramic sequence was complete. Take a look at this photo and zoom in to the area 10 feet or so in front of the rover's rear wheel. If the rover was headed towards the camera at the time the curved track was deposited and its right rear wheel was situated just to the left of where the rover's right rear wheel is pictured in AS16-110-18006, then we ought to see the rover's front wheel tracks extending into the foreground of AS16-110-18020. So, where are they? From AS16-110-18006 it's apparent that the curved track is located about a wheel's width (or less) behind the rover's rear wheels and therefore, the rover's front wheel tracks ought to be located as indicated by the curved red lines seen in the following zoomed section of AS16-110-18020:
www.sigmirror.com/pfiles/5032/AS16-110-18020T.JPG
(note: this image was both sharpened and contrast-enhanced)
This missing section of tracks is anomalous regardless of whether the astronauts lifted the rover off of the curved tracks or not but if the rover was in fact lifted off of the curved tracks and carried by the astronauts to its final resting place then, in addition to the rover's tracks we should also see lots of footprints left by the astronauts while they were hauling off with the rover. Where are they?
Referenced ALSJ photos:
history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/AS16-110-18006HR.jpg
history.nasa.gov/alsj/a16/AS16-110-18020HR.jpg
Photo AS16-110-18006 was shot at Station 5 during Apollo 16 as part of a panoramic sequence. Examine it closely and you'll see that although there are tracks behind the rover, none of them line up with the rover's rear wheels. The straight tracks--running left to right in the photo--are clearly offset from the vehicle's wheels by about 3 or 4 feet and the curved tracks (of which we only see one in this photo) are headed in the wrong direction entirely. One can't help but wonder why the tracks don't line up with the rover. According to the voice transcript on ALSJ (a website that is hosted by NASA's History Division), the astronauts lifted the rover from its original location and set it back down at the location shown and this is why the tracks aren't aligned with the rover's wheels.
Even if this explanation is correct, there's still something rather anomalous about AS16-110-18006 that needs explaining. Notice that the curved track clearly exhibits the distinctive "V" shaped "arrows" which--due to the orientation of the "tread" on the rover's wheels--always point opposite to the vehicle's forward direction of travel. In this photo we see that these arrows point up or away from the camera which tells us that the rover was heading towards the camera when the curved track was made. As you might expect, this curved track consists of two individual component tracks--one that was left behind by the vehicle's front wheel and the other that was left behind by its rear wheel. At the very bottom edge of AS16-110-18006 we see that both of these components existed--the rear wheel component being on the left with its fully defined "V" markings and the front wheel component on the right with its incomplete, overdriven "V" markings. What this tells us is that the rover's right rear wheel had to have been located just to the left of the pictured rover's right rear wheel as seen in AS16-110-18006.
The significance of this can be seen in AS16-110-18020 which was shot after the panoramic sequence was complete. Take a look at this photo and zoom in to the area 10 feet or so in front of the rover's rear wheel. If the rover was headed towards the camera at the time the curved track was deposited and its right rear wheel was situated just to the left of where the rover's right rear wheel is pictured in AS16-110-18006, then we ought to see the rover's front wheel tracks extending into the foreground of AS16-110-18020. So, where are they? From AS16-110-18006 it's apparent that the curved track is located about a wheel's width (or less) behind the rover's rear wheels and therefore, the rover's front wheel tracks ought to be located as indicated by the curved red lines seen in the following zoomed section of AS16-110-18020:
www.sigmirror.com/pfiles/5032/AS16-110-18020T.JPG
(note: this image was both sharpened and contrast-enhanced)
This missing section of tracks is anomalous regardless of whether the astronauts lifted the rover off of the curved tracks or not but if the rover was in fact lifted off of the curved tracks and carried by the astronauts to its final resting place then, in addition to the rover's tracks we should also see lots of footprints left by the astronauts while they were hauling off with the rover. Where are they?