Forty Christmases ago...

[Johnny OrganDonor]

One of the most amazing and influential photos in history was snapped.

[red baron]

 

[Monsterlover]

I agree!

I always wondered why there are no stars in that shot. Or in any of the space pics/vids.

[LMT]

I agree!

I always wondered why there are no stars in that shot. Or in any of the space pics/vids.

'Cause they were shot inside a BIG hanger in Nevada.

[derby]

I agree!

I always wondered why there are no stars in that shot. Or in any of the space pics/vids.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Examination_of_Apollo_moon_photos#There_are_no_stars_in_any_of_the_photos

        * Stars are also never seen in Space Shuttle, Mir, International Space Station Earth observation photos, or even sporting events that take place at night. The sun in the Earth/Moon area shines as brightly as on a clear noon day on Earth, so cameras used for imaging these things are set for daylight exposure, with quick shutter speeds in order to prevent overexposing the film. The dim light of the stars simply does not have a chance to expose the film. (This effect can be demonstrated on Earth by attempting to view stars from a brightly lit parking lot. You can only see them if you somehow block out all illuminated objects from your field of view, and then let your eyes adjust for night vision. Otherwise, it is like taking a picture of the night sky with exposure settings for a bright sunny day. Science fiction movies and television shows do confuse this issue by depicting stars as visible in space under all lighting conditions.) Stars were seen by every Apollo mission crew except for the unfortunate Apollo 13 (they couldn't see the stars due to the fact that oxygen and water vapor created a haze around the spacecraft). Stars were used for navigation purposes and were occasionally also seen through cabin windows when the conditions allowed. To see stars, nothing lit by sunlight could be in the viewer's field of view. (Plait 2002:158-60).

        * Stars are not dramatically brighter in space (above the Earth's atmosphere). Professional astronomer and two-time space shuttle astronaut Ronald A. Parise stated that he could barely see stars at all from space. He had to turn out all of the lights in the shuttle to even glimpse the stars (Plait 2002:160). Even with cameras several times more sensitive than the ones used on Apollo, it takes an exposure of several seconds for even the brighter stars to show up. [3] Exposure times of the Apollo photographs were a small fraction of a second, typically 1/250 of a second.

[Monsterlover]

Cool!

[cyrus buelton]

Was that taken at Area 51?

[ducpainter]

'Cause they were shot inside a BIG hanger in Nevada.