Astronauts space exploration.
Between 1961 and 1972, the Apollo program was designed to put the first humans on the Moon. NASA achieved that goal in 1969 with the Apollo 11 mission, which saw astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong being the first humans in history to walk on the Moon's surface. NASA completed a total of 11 manned missions to the Moon with the Apollo program, and throughout those missions, just 12 people set foot on the lunar surface.
Among those 12 lucky individuals was astronaut Charles Moss Duke Jr. (better known as Charlie Duke). Duke visited the Moon in 1972 with Apollo 16. Not only was that the penultimate mission in the Apollo program, but it also made Duke the youngest person to ever walk on the Moon — doing so at just 36 years old. Like so many other astronauts who visited the Moon, Duke spent part of his time taking photos of its surface. Almost exactly 50 years later, someone used AI to upscale one of his pictures to make it look better than ever.
Bringing New Life To An Ancient Moon Photo
The above photo was ed by u/HardenPatch on the r/space subreddit. The frequently shares Moon images on the subreddit, often resurfacing older photos that some people may be seeing for the first time. This latest picture, however, may be one of their best posts yet. HardenPatch summarizes the photo perfectly in their title for it, saying, "Charlie Duke traveled over 700,000km total to snap this photo of a young lunar crater - 50 years later, you're seeing it on Reddit, enhanced using AI and processed."
And what a photo it is. In front of Duke is the Moon's gray and rocky surface. The 'dust' covering the Moon is better known as lunar regolith — a fine soil that looks harmless, but is often extremely sharp and requires careful traversing. Looking further ahead in the photo, the aforementioned crater is unmistakable. Likely from an asteroid many years ago, it's one of many holes that make up the Moon's uneven surface. Beyond the crater are rolling hills of gray. Towering above them is pitch-black space.
Although this picture has been around for half a century, seeing it like this is almost like viewing it for the first time. There are countless little details that were all but impossible to see when it was originally captured — be in small pebbles, texture in the crater's walls, or fine detail of the regolith. It's nothing short of amazing, and it makes future missions to the Moon all the more exciting. If a 50-year-old photo can look this good with a bit of AI upscaling, just imagine the types of pictures future astronauts will take when humans revisit the Moon in the coming years with NASA's Artemis program.
Source: u/HardenPatch