The family photo that Charlie Duke left on the Moon on April 23, 1972.... On the back side of the photo a message reads “this is the family of astronaut Duke from planet Earth. Landed on the moon, April 1972”.
I might be wrong, but I believe un-shielded solar radiation and UV bleach just about everything left up there. For instance the now totally white US flag we left.
When Duke was training to be an Apollo astronaut, he spent most of his time in Florida. But his family was stationed in Houston. As a result, the children didn't get to see much of their father during that time.
"So just to get the kids excited about what dad was going to do, I said 'Would y'all like to go to the moon with me?'" Duke said. "We can take a picture of the family and so the whole family can go to the moon."
More than 43 years have passed since Duke walked on the moon. And while the footprints that he made in the lunar soil are relatively unchanged, Duke suspects the photo is not in very good shape at this point.
"After 43 years, the temperature of the moon every month goes up to 400 degrees [Fahrenheit] in our landing area and at night it drops almost absolute zero," Duke said. "Shrink wrap doesn't turn out too well in those temperatures. It looked OK when I dropped it, but I never looked at it again and I would imagine it's all faded out by now."
Imagine (if it hadn't been bleached by solar radiation) if an asteroid or volcano destroyed all of human civilization leaving no record behind... And thousands of years later, an alien exploration found this as the last piece of evidence of humanity.
16bitfighter on October 22nd, 2017 at 00:23 UTC »
I might be wrong, but I believe un-shielded solar radiation and UV bleach just about everything left up there. For instance the now totally white US flag we left.
TooShiftyForYou on October 22nd, 2017 at 00:57 UTC »
When Duke was training to be an Apollo astronaut, he spent most of his time in Florida. But his family was stationed in Houston. As a result, the children didn't get to see much of their father during that time.
"So just to get the kids excited about what dad was going to do, I said 'Would y'all like to go to the moon with me?'" Duke said. "We can take a picture of the family and so the whole family can go to the moon."
More than 43 years have passed since Duke walked on the moon. And while the footprints that he made in the lunar soil are relatively unchanged, Duke suspects the photo is not in very good shape at this point.
"After 43 years, the temperature of the moon every month goes up to 400 degrees [Fahrenheit] in our landing area and at night it drops almost absolute zero," Duke said. "Shrink wrap doesn't turn out too well in those temperatures. It looked OK when I dropped it, but I never looked at it again and I would imagine it's all faded out by now."
Here's a clearer look at the photo.
Source
Euthy on October 22nd, 2017 at 01:03 UTC »
Imagine (if it hadn't been bleached by solar radiation) if an asteroid or volcano destroyed all of human civilization leaving no record behind... And thousands of years later, an alien exploration found this as the last piece of evidence of humanity.