Can I see the stuff astronauts left on the moon?

Using a telescope to view the moon is fascinating -- but could we see the leftovers of NASA's lunar expeditions? Check out this HowStuffWorks podcast to learn more about lunar landings and telescopes.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works dot com
where smart Happens. Hi Am Marshall Brain with today's question,
is it possible to use a telescope to see the
stuff that people left behind on the Moon during the

(00:21):
moon landings. In order to answer this question, we need
to understand something about the resolving power of a telescope.
The best telescope available today is the Hubble Space telescope.
It has a resolving power of about zero point one
arc seconds. The Hubble telescope would have something like fifteen
centimeter resolving power if it were pointed at something on

(00:44):
the Earth, like the Statue of Liberty. Fifteen centimeters is
about half a foot. The Moon is about a thousand
times further away from the Hubble Space telescope than the
Earth is. That means that if you pointed the Hubble
at the Moon, it would have about a underd and
fifty meter resolution. At that resolution, a football stadium occupies

(01:05):
just one or two pixels in the image. That means
that there would be no way to discern the lunar
excursion module or any of the other equipment left on
the Moon. It's just too small to pick up. Even
with the world's best telescope. Be sure to check out
our new video podcast, Stuff from the Future. Join how
Stuff Work staff as we explore the most promising and

(01:28):
perplexing possibilities of tomorrow the house stuff Works. I Find
app has arrived down at it Today on iTunes