Project Moon-Blink

Last updated February 03, 2022

Project Moon-Blink was a draft NASA created in 1965-1966, for the exploration of unusual phenomena (anomalies) on the surface of the Moon. Work performed by Trident Engineering Associates (Annapolis, Maryland) under contract NAS 5-9613 dated June 1, 1965, Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, Maryland).

Project goals and objectives

Development of devices to improve observation of unusual color occurrences on the moon in order to record and identify such phenomena.
Lunar surveillance program via telescope employing this especially designed equipment.

History

In a report issued by NASA in October 1966, the background is described as follows:

There have been some puzzling reports over the years. Before 1843 astronomers listed Linne as a normal but steep-walled crater about five miles in diameter. In 1866 Schmidt, a famed astronomer, reported that Linne was not a crater at all but looked more like a whitish cloud. Later observers disagreed with both descriptions, saying it was a low "mound" about four miles across, with a deep crater one mile in diameter in its top. Much later — in 1961 — Patrick Moore, one of the foremost contemporary lunar astronomers, was astonished that Linne appeared to be a normal crater about three miles in diameter. Moore examined it with two telescopes then called another astronomer. He examined it with a third instrument and reported a similar inexplicable appearance. The following night was cloudy, but the next night Linne appeared as Moore had always seen it — a gently rounded dome with a small crater on top. Moore attributed the changes to unusual lighting effects. During the past ten years several incontrovertible observations have been reported of unusual color activity on or just above the lunar surface. These may be divided into two categories: those events localized to a few square miles of lunar area and those covering a significant portion of the lunar surface. Insufficient evidence exists at present to determine whether these two types of events are similar or dissimilar in nature. However, they both manifest themselves in the red portion of the visible spectrum. The localized observations to date have occurred most frequently in two lunar areas: the Aristarchus region and Alphonsus. Appendix I of this-report lists a number of modern observations which are peculiar because of color changes. Most were of short duration — minutes or hours. The detection of these transient events demands a program of constant surveillance of the moon with suitable astronomical instruments. This was strongly recommended by Dr. Zdeněk Kopal at Commission 17 (The Moon) sponsored by the IAU and NASA at Goddard Space Flight Center on April 15–16, 1965. A surveillance program utilizing large astronomical telescopes inherently capable of detecting these occurrences is not feasible because of problems caused by economics and/or by prior commitments.^[1]

The Moon-Blink detector has been designed based on the principle that the observer will be immediately drawn to any movement taking place on parts of a large static images. The principle of operation of the detector is described next:

In the Moon-Blink detector the telescopic image is intercepted by alternating red and blue filters at a rate of approximately 120 times per minute. When this image is viewed by a suitable electro-optical device, changes in color at either end of the visible spectrum will appear as a «blink» on the face of the image tube, thus drawing the eye to the spot. Figure 1 shows the detector components and Figure2 shows the device installed. A more complete description of the Moon-Blink detector is included as Appendix II.^[1]

Experimental results and conclusions

Red colorations do appear on the lunar surface.
These colorations may persist for several hours. The Trident sighting, on November 15, 1965, lasted at least four hours (sunrise prevented further viewing).
The detection capability of the Moon-Blink device is much greater than direct viewing or conventional color photography.
The "Hot-line" technique (telephone conference network) is an effective means of alerting other observatories.
The effectiveness of unpaid volunteer observers is doubtful.

Literature

Valdemar Axel Firsoff, The Old Moon and the New, Sidgwick & Jackson - London, 1969
Patrick Moore, New Guide to the Moon, W. W. Norton & Company - Inc - New York, 1976
William P. Sheehan, Thomas A. Dobbins: Epic Moon, a history of lunar exploration in the age of the telescope, Willmann-Bell - 2001

Related Research Articles

Tycho is a prominent lunar impact crater located in the southern lunar highlands, named after the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546–1601). It is estimated to be 108 million years old.

Transient lunar phenomenon Short-lived light, color, or change in appearance on the surface of the Moon

A transient lunar phenomenon (TLP) or lunar transient phenomenon (LTP) is a short-lived light, color or change in appearance on the surface of the Moon. The term was created by Patrick Moore in his co-authorship of NASA Technical Report R-277 Chronological Catalog of Reported Lunar Events, published in 1968.

Aristarchus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northwest part of the Moon's near side. It is considered the brightest of the large formations on the lunar surface, with an albedo nearly double that of most lunar features. The feature is bright enough to be visible to the naked eye, and displays unusually bright features when viewed through a large telescope. It is also readily identified when most of the lunar surface is illuminated by earthshine. The crater is deeper than the Grand Canyon.

Linné is a small lunar impact crater located in the western Mare Serenitatis. It was named after Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. The mare around this feature is virtually devoid of other features of interest. The nearest named crater is Banting to the east-southeast. The estimated age of this copernican crater is only a few tens of millions of years. It was earlier believed to have a bowl shape, but data from the LRO showed that it has a shape of a flattened, inverted cone. The crater is surrounded by a blanket of ejecta formed during the original impact. This ejecta has a relatively high albedo, making the feature appear bright.

Posidonius is a lunar impact crater that is located on the north-eastern edge of Mare Serenitatis, to the south of Lacus Somniorum. It was named after ancient Greek philosopher and geographer Posidonius of Apamea. The crater Chacornac is attached to the southeast rim, and to the north is Daniell.

Banting is a small, bowl-shaped lunar impact crater located near the middle of the Mare Serenitatis on the Earth's moon.

Beer is a relatively small lunar impact crater located on the Mare Imbrium, to the east of the crater Timocharis. It was named after German astronomer Wilhelm W. Beer. Just to the northwest is the matching twin Feuillée.

Dembowski is a lunar impact crater located to the southeast of the Sinus Medii. Its diameter is 26 km. It was named after Italian astronomer Ercole Dembowski. To the east are the craters Agrippa and Godin, to the southwest is Rhaeticus.

Alpetragius is a lunar impact crater located on the eastern edge of Mare Nubium, to the southwest of the much larger crater Alphonsus. In the southeast is the prominent crater Arzachel, and to the west lies the flooded Lassell. Alpetragius is a Latinization of the name of Nur ad-Din al-Bitruji, a Spanish-Arab astronomer.

Aratus is a small lunar impact crater located on the highland to the south and east of the rugged Montes Apenninus range. It is a circular, cup-shaped crater with a relatively high albedo. It was named after Greek astronomer Aratus of Soli. To the east is the Mare Serenitatis, and to the southwest is the somewhat larger crater Conon. North-northeast of Aratus is the landing site of the Apollo 15 mission, just beyond Mons Hadley Delta.

Burnham is a small crater located to the southeast of the crater Albategnius, in a relatively smooth area of the lunar surface. It was named after American astronomer Sherburne W. Burnham. To the southwest is Vogel.

Schröter is a lunar impact crater near the mid-part of the Moon, on the eastern Mare Insularum. It was named after German astronomer Johann Hieronymus Schröter. It lies to the north of the craters Sömmering and Mösting. To the southeast of the crater rim is a rille named the Rima Schröter. This cleft begins at a small crater in the mare, then follows a line to the south-southeast.

Abenezra is a lunar impact crater located in the rugged highlands in the south-central section of the Moon. Abenezra is named after the Sephardic Jewish sage, poet, biblical commentator, astronomer, and astrologer Abraham ibn Ezra, It is attached along the southeast rim to the crater Azophi. To the northeast lies the crater Geber, and further to the southeast is the larger Sacrobosco.

Flammarion is a lunar impact crater on the south edge of Sinus Medii. Its diameter is 76 km. It is named after the French astronomer Camille Flammarion. It is located between the crater Mösting to the northwest and Herschel to the southeast. The bowl-shaped Mösting A intersects the western rim of Flammarion.

Lassell is a small lunar impact crater that is located in the eastern part of the Mare Nubium. It was named after British astronomer William Lassell. It lies to the west of the crater Alpetragius and southwest of Alphonsus.

Schmidt is a small lunar impact crater that is located near the southwest edge of Mare Tranquillitatis, to the southwest of the Ritter–Sabine crater pair. It was named after German astronomer Johann Friedrich Julius Schmidt, German optician Bernhard Schmidt and Soviet astronomer Otto Schmidt. This formation is circular and bowl-shaped, with little appearance of wear due to subsequent impacts. The interior has a higher albedo than the surrounding terrain, giving it a light appearance. The exterior consists of hummocky terrain with many boulders, ranging up to 100 m or more in diameter.

Fontenelle is a lunar impact crater that is located along the northern edge of Mare Frigoris, in the northern part of the Moon. To the northeast is the remnant of the crater Birmingham. Due to its location, this crater appears oval in shape when observed from the Earth because of foreshortening.

Brenner is an old lunar impact crater that lies in the rugged southeastern part of the Moon's near side. It is named after the Serbian-Austrian astronomer Spiridon Gopčević. It is located within one crater diameter northwest of the crater pair Metius and Fabricius.

Esclangon is a lunar impact crater that is located in the rugged terrain to the northwest of the prominent crater Macrobius, and east of Sinus Amoris. Its diameter is 15 km. It was named after French astronomer Ernest Esclangon. This formation was previously designated Macrobius L. Just to the west-southwest is the crater Hill. Lacus Bonitatis, the Lake of Good, is located to the east and northeast of Esclangon.

Lunar observation Methods and instruments used to observe the moon

The Moon is the largest natural satellite of and the closest major astronomical object to Earth. The Moon may be observed by using a variety of optical instruments, ranging from the naked eye to large telescopes. The Moon is the only celestial body upon which surface features can be discerned with the unaided eyes of most people.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents ofthe National Aeronautics and Space Administration .

1 2 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660030253_1966030253.pdf Project Moon-Blink

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[autogenerated1-1] 1 2 https://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/19660030253_1966030253.pdf Project Moon-Blink

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