LRO photos show ascent stage still on the ground?

[Jason Thompson]

I know several people who, in a suitably dark site, can pick out the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye.  I can stand right next to them and peer as hard as I can and not see it at all.  Fake?

You must learn the riddle of averted vision.

(whispers) Psst, Chew. Andromeda has qualifications in physics and astrophysics, and has been an amateur astronomer and member of an astronomical society for some years now. She knows...

[Andromeda]

I know several people who, in a suitably dark site, can pick out the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye.  I can stand right next to them and peer as hard as I can and not see it at all.  Fake?

You must learn the riddle of averted vision.

(whispers) Psst, Chew. Andromeda has qualifications in physics and astrophysics, and has been an amateur astronomer and member of an astronomical society for some years now. She knows...

Yes

[Sus_pilot]

(Whispers) Even us lowly pilots know that trick.

[Chew]

I know several people who, in a suitably dark site, can pick out the Andromeda galaxy with the naked eye.  I can stand right next to them and peer as hard as I can and not see it at all.  Fake?

You must learn the riddle of averted vision.

(whispers) Psst, Chew. Andromeda has qualifications in physics and astrophysics, and has been an amateur astronomer and member of an astronomical society for some years now. She knows...

Yes

Well, then, I withdraw my advice and my reference to Conan the Barbarian.

[Noldi400]

Just for the record....

As you know, Collins said that the stars were very visible on a Gemini mission, but the point is not whether he was in earth's shadow or not....

Yes, visible on the night side of the Earth. And why isn't that the point?  Isn't the whole question whether or not stars should be visible in a sunlit area, whether cislunar space or the day side of the moon?

This one seems to be a close relative of the argument that, because early artist's conceptions of lunar landings showed the downblast digging a noticeable crater, the same thing should have happened when they actually landed.

[raven]

As Neil Armstrong said when in the night side of the moon,
"Houston, it's been a real change for us. Now we are able to see stars again and recognize constellations for the first time on the trip. It's - the sky is full of stars. Just like the nightside of Earth. But all the way here, we have only been able to see stars occasionally and perhaps through the monocular, but not recognize any star patterns. "
See 02 23 59 20 CDR in the Apollo 11 Technical Air-to-Ground Transcript

[dwight]

Yes and that one quote seems to have eluded our esteemed hoax believer research brigade over on the yt channel. Strange. I thought they were meticulous in their thorough research.

But then again they are the same group who reckon I never read "live tv from the moon"...

[Glom]

You'd have trouble doing research too if you were suffering violent convulsions as you thrash around looking for anything to use in your conspiracy fantasy.

[Trebor]

It is worth noting that Yuri Gagarin was also unable to see stars in orbit due to glare from the sun, and then was later able to see them after he was in the shadow of the Earth.

I dug the original Russian transcript through google translate for one HB who also made a similar claim.

[raven]

Reading the National Geographic article on the first Mercury sub-orbital lob, Alan Shepard couldn't see stars either on the day side.

[Edwardwb1001]

Further to the visibility (or not) of stars from various regions in space and from the moon, and while I am considering replies to my earlier question, I'd like to bring up another point.  When questioned by Partick Moore as to the visibility of stars, Armstrong states that in cislunar space "...the earth is the only visible object other than the sun that can be seen". On page 8 of Aldrin's 2009 book 'Magnificent Desolation: The long journey home from the moon' however, he (Aldrin) states the following: "The sun was always shining, yet the sky around us was a constant black blanket, dotted with millions of stars".  Armstrong intimates that he saw no stars or planets in cislunar space, whereas Aldrin states that he saw 'millions of stars'. How could this be?   

[Count Zero]

Rather than looking at statements that may or may not have been written by a ghost-writer that's never been near a rocket, why don't you try learning something about how a human eye works?

That way you can use scientific knowledge instead of ignorant and/or biased interpretations of cherry-picked out-of-context quotes to determine the veracity of a statement.

[Echnaton]

How could this be?   

This could be because you are looking at non specific sources. You are arbitrarily juxtaposing quotes from TV interviews and popular books is a poor way to get an understanding of the real world.  But it does reveal something about the reasons you do not understand the Apollo program.  The "just asking questions" motif is a well worn tool of those who have already made up their minds but won't admit it. 

All that is required to understand is for you to go outside and look at the sky.

[sts60]

Further to the visibility (or not) of stars from various regions in space and from the moon, and while I am considering replies to my earlier question, I'd like to bring up another point.  When questioned by Partick Moore as to the visibility of stars, Armstrong states that in cislunar space "...the earth is the only visible object other than the sun that can be seen". On page 8 of Aldrin's 2009 book 'Magnificent Desolation: The long journey home from the moon' however, he (Aldrin) states the following: "The sun was always shining, yet the sky around us was a constant black blanket, dotted with millions of stars".  Armstrong intimates that he saw no stars or planets in cislunar space, whereas Aldrin states that he saw 'millions of stars'. How could this be?

I and others have already addressed this.  You are putting together interviews and books in a popular context with the established record - where it was difficult but not impossible to see stars during the translunar cruise because of direct and reflected sunlight - and making a naive assumption that every popular description will match the nuanced technical account. 

Why is that?  Is there some sort of law or rule that popular accounts should be perfectly slaved to the technical reality?  I am perfectly comfortable that popular accounts after the fact will contain simplifications and dramatic license; that's the way it is with all activities.

And, as I asked in reply #190, are you claiming that such lack of narrative perfection is some sort of proof or evidence of Apollo being hoaxed?  If so, how does that stack up against the scientific, technical, and programmatic evidence for Apollo?

[ka9q]

he (Aldrin) states the following: "The sun was always shining, yet the sky around us was a constant black blanket, dotted with millions of stars".

Aldrin didn't actually say he could see the stars, did he? At least not with his naked eyes?

Like every other astronaut Aldrin was well aware that the stars were out there even if he couldn't see them at some particular moment because of stray sunlight or interior lighting. In fact, Aldrin was especially aware of the stars because he had originally trained as a CMP - Command Module Pilot - whose chief duty is navigating the CSM. Star sightings are taken through a telescope to align the inertial reference platform that ensures they're pointing the right way.

These "P52" operations were done many times during each mission, both in sun and shadow. THe scopes were designed to exclude stray sunlight, and eyecups were provided for the observer to block stray interior lighting from reaching his eyes.

As CountZero says, take some time to learn how the human eye works. Also learn what a "visual magnitude" is in astronomy and how its calculated. Look up the magnitudes of various stars (including the sun) and do some math to see just how many times brighter the sun is than a typical star that is otherwise visible to the human eye at night.

And then realize just how silly it is to complain about astronauts easily seeing skies full of stars when the sun is one of them.