Quote: Moon landings? That made me smile. Hmm, that's an extremely long, and an extremely curious off-topic!! Unquote.
Not at all, Stevee's link took me straight to this 'myth-busters' page (copied below) which explains a very similar photographic misrepresentation due to dark/light/angles/shadows/reflections/etc. A very apt and interesting parallel comparison to the discussion on the first page - explaining how misconceptions can happen as a result.
Just explaining - for the benefit of those who didn't see/understand the relevance of the link.
Peter B
Apollo 14 photo: shadows appear to point different directions
Aldrin in shadow, yet clearly visible
Myth statement Status Notes One of the NASA photos is fake because the shadows of the rocks and lunar lander are not parallel.BustedThe MythBusters built a small scale replica of the lunar landing site with a flat surface and a single distant spotlight to represent the Sun. They took a photo and all the shadows in the photo were parallel, as the myth proposed. They then adjusted the topography of the model surface to include a slight hill around the location of the near rocks so the shadows fell on a slope instead of a flat surface. The resulting photograph had the same shadow directions as the original NASA photograph from Apollo 14.One of the NASA photos is fake because Buzz Aldrin can be clearly seen while in the shadow of the lunar lander.BustedTo test this, the MythBusters built a much larger scale (1:6) replica of the landing site, including a dust surface with a color and albedo similar to lunar soil. The MythBusters then took a photograph which was nearly identical to the original NASA photo from Apollo 11. The MythBusters explained that the astronaut was visible because of light being reflected off the Moon's surface.
Not at all, Stevee's link took me straight to this 'myth-busters' page (copied below) which explains a very similar photographic misrepresentation due to dark/light/angles/shadows/reflections/etc. A very apt and interesting parallel comparison to the discussion on the first page - explaining how misconceptions can happen as a result.
Just explaining - for the benefit of those who didn't see/understand the relevance of the link.
Peter B
Apollo 14 photo: shadows appear to point different directions
Aldrin in shadow, yet clearly visible
Myth statement Status Notes One of the NASA photos is fake because the shadows of the rocks and lunar lander are not parallel.BustedThe MythBusters built a small scale replica of the lunar landing site with a flat surface and a single distant spotlight to represent the Sun. They took a photo and all the shadows in the photo were parallel, as the myth proposed. They then adjusted the topography of the model surface to include a slight hill around the location of the near rocks so the shadows fell on a slope instead of a flat surface. The resulting photograph had the same shadow directions as the original NASA photograph from Apollo 14.One of the NASA photos is fake because Buzz Aldrin can be clearly seen while in the shadow of the lunar lander.BustedTo test this, the MythBusters built a much larger scale (1:6) replica of the landing site, including a dust surface with a color and albedo similar to lunar soil. The MythBusters then took a photograph which was nearly identical to the original NASA photo from Apollo 11. The MythBusters explained that the astronaut was visible because of light being reflected off the Moon's surface.