Mythbusters caught in error re: lunar surface albedo
Posted: 05 Feb 2010, 15:47
Again, Jarrah White really does his HOMEWORK in this one, which the skeptics and Apollo defenders failed to do.
Description:
There have been many photographs taken from the various Apollo missions showing brightly lit objects that should be in shade. Conspiracy theorists believe fill-lights or reflectors were used to fill in the shadows. Propagandists claim that it's just light bouncing off the lunar surface that's causing the illumination.
In this video Jarrah White responds to the Mythbusters, ZigZag Productions and Jay Windley by doing what no propagandists has bothered to do - get the albedo right.
Watch what happens when we shoot photographs of shadowed objects on an asphelt surface. We know that the moon has an average albedo of 0.07. According to the American Concrete Pavement Association, this is within the vicinity of the albedo of asphelt - which makes it the perfect surface material for testing the lunar reflectivity.
http://www.pavement.com/Downloads/RT/RT3.05.pdf
Asphalt
0.05 - 0.10 (new)
0.10 - 0.15 (weathered)
Gray Portland cement concrete
0.35 - 0.40 (new)
0.20 - 0.30 (weathered)
White Portland cement concrete
0.70 - 0.80 (new)
0.40 - 0.60 (weathered)
Why has no propagandist ever done their tests on an asphelt road? And why do some even pretend that their choice of surface material has the same albedo as the moon when they know it doesn't?
Description:
There have been many photographs taken from the various Apollo missions showing brightly lit objects that should be in shade. Conspiracy theorists believe fill-lights or reflectors were used to fill in the shadows. Propagandists claim that it's just light bouncing off the lunar surface that's causing the illumination.
In this video Jarrah White responds to the Mythbusters, ZigZag Productions and Jay Windley by doing what no propagandists has bothered to do - get the albedo right.
Watch what happens when we shoot photographs of shadowed objects on an asphelt surface. We know that the moon has an average albedo of 0.07. According to the American Concrete Pavement Association, this is within the vicinity of the albedo of asphelt - which makes it the perfect surface material for testing the lunar reflectivity.
http://www.pavement.com/Downloads/RT/RT3.05.pdf
Asphalt
0.05 - 0.10 (new)
0.10 - 0.15 (weathered)
Gray Portland cement concrete
0.35 - 0.40 (new)
0.20 - 0.30 (weathered)
White Portland cement concrete
0.70 - 0.80 (new)
0.40 - 0.60 (weathered)
Why has no propagandist ever done their tests on an asphelt road? And why do some even pretend that their choice of surface material has the same albedo as the moon when they know it doesn't?