[FPSPACE] Lunokhod 2 panorama's

[David Portree]

Geert:

 

I wonder why these have been released just now (I'm assuming that they've just been released).  Perhaps because soon LRO images of the Lunokhods on the surface will be released?

 

I circulated the URL you provided to colleagues at the USGS, where I work. I heard from one that Hal Masursky had all the Lunokhod pans in the 1970s. Not sure if this is true, but it could be, since he had a lot of international contacts (like Shoemaker before him). If so, the facility I manage might have inherited them, though I confess that I haven't found them yet if it does. I took over a big mess, not a proper archive, and I have a ways to go before I get it straightened out.

David S. F. Portree

dsfportree at hotmail.com
dportree at usgs.gov
 
http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/
 
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/About/People/DavidPortree/
 



 


From: geert at navtools.nl
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 2009 07:30:37 +0000
Subject: Re: [FPSPACE] Lunokhod 2 panorama's
To: dsfportree at hotmail.com
CC: fpspace at friends-partners.org

Astro0, one of the UMSF wizards, already created a first processed image from the raw data, which is absolutely fabulous, http://www.unmannedspaceflight.com/index.php?showtopic=2698&view=findpost&p=147475 Some of the images might allow construction of 3D images which would be very interesting so many years after the actual flight.

It's a pity these images are still (watermarked) scan's from the originals, somewhere there must be tapes with the original data, which would be so much more worthwhile. People like Don Mitchell and the UMSF team already showed how the original data from for instance the Venera landers and the early Luna probes far outreaches anything we are used to seeing in the normal publications.


The camera's on these probes, as well as on the Lunokhods, were very good and advanced and produced very sharp images indeed, however these were then printed on terrible quality paper, scanned, re-printed, etc and distributed in a form which doesn't do any credit to the actual originals. Weird indeed that, with so much propaganda-value, they never seemed to have made any attempt to distribute the images in such a way that would do credit to them.


Regarding the tracks, it is clearly visible how the steering of the Lunokhods differed from Spirit/Oppy and the moonrovers, the Lunokhods did not have steerable wheels but were steered like a tank, increasing rpm on one side and decreasing rpm on the other, which is a more crude method but has the advantage of less moving parts on the craft. Especially with Lunokhod 2 the area does seem to be much more dusty then on the Apollo sites and certainly more dusty then MER encounters on Mars. Tracks are often clearly very deep down in the dust, must have taken a lot of power to plough through that stuff. Driving those lunokhods real time from earth must have been something special, completely different from how the MER craft are operated.


Regards,


Geert Sassen

On Wed, Oct 7, 2009 at 12:42 PM, David Portree <dsfportree at hotmail.com> wrote:


Geert:
 
Great stuff. I love the pans that show the rover's own tracks. Very reminiscent of Spirit and Opportunity.
 
Many thanks for the link.

David S. F. Portree

dsfportree at hotmail.com
dportree at usgs.gov
 
http://beyondapollo.blogspot.com/
 
http://astrogeology.usgs.gov/About/People/DavidPortree/
 



 


From: geert at navtools.nl
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 2009 02:56:17 +0000
To: FPSPACE at friends-partners.org
Subject: [FPSPACE] Lunokhod 2 panorama's





Good day, 


looks like the Russians have finally found and released all of the Lunokhod 2 panorma pictures.


Very cool stuff:  http://planetology.ru/panoramas/lunokhod2.php?language=english

Regards,


Geert.
-- 
Geert Sassen



-- 
Geert Sassen
weblog: http://geertsassen.web-log.nl





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-- 
Geert Sassen
weblog: http://geertsassen.web-log.nl

 		 	   		  
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