So you're not convinced Apollo went to the moon? NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has taken some close-ups that are...well, unconvincing

LRO launched on 18 June to serve as NASA's first advance scout in its push to return astronauts to the moon.

SHOOT: It's interesting that on the 40th anniversary of the moon landings, 2 of the 3 astronauts are still very camera shy (and if you think about all the other missions, can anyone name/remember a single astronaut of another moon mission? We know more soccer players than moonwalkers.
By the way, did you know that Buzz Aldrin neglected to take a single decent shot of his commander? All the publicised photos are those Neil took of Buzz. That's like coming back from Everest, and Hillary showing pictures of Tenzing.

It's also interesting that these images get released close to the time we're reminded that the original video of the landings has been lost. Is a white speck on a gray surface evidence? These images are so pathetic they could be anything, they also be faked. If Hubble can look at distant galaxies, and Earth satellites can read number plates, why can't we see a flag on the moon? I'd like to believe the moon landings happened, I'd like to believe in God - but if one does it feels more like wishful thinking.

More: What really happened on the moon [based on Armstrong's authorised biography].
Plus: What the hell happened to the first man on the moon?
Convincing comments: The moon by the guys who have been there, done that

clipped from www.newscientist.com clipped from www.newscientist.com Good lighting conditions made the 1971 Apollo 14 site particularly easy to spot, says Mark Robinson, who heads up the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team at Arizona State University in Tempe. clipped from www.newscientist.com Those who suspect the Apollo lunar landings were faked may have trouble arguing with new orbital images of hardware and tracks left in the lunar dust by Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and '70s. The images were taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) less than a month after it launched. "I believe this is the first time Apollo hardware has been imaged by anyone in the post-Apollo era," Richard Vondrak, LRO project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, told reporters on Friday. Click here to see a gallery of other images (Image: NASA/GSFC/ASU)" /> "This is only a first glimpse. These are just the first of many images to be coming ... from now they're only going to be getting better," says Michael Wargo, chief lunar scientist at NASA headquarters in Washington, DC.