Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Can we see the Apollo Moon landing sites through a telescope from Earth?
Despite being over 360,000 kilometres away at its closest, humans have stood on that grey, lifeless surface of the Moon six times. Today, more than half a century later, our footprints, rovers, and landing modules still sit there, completely untouched, a silent time capsule in the vacuum of space.
In this video, we aim a powerful telescope at the Apollo landing sites to find out what they actually look like today. We explore the magnificent lunar landscape, from the rays of Tycho crater to the Sea of Tranquillity, and explain the surprising scientific reason why even the world’s most advanced telescope, the Extremely Large Telescope, will struggle to resolve any of the Apollo landing sites.
Finally, we reveal the clearest images ever taken of the Apollo 11 site since 1969, captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from just 20 kilometres above the surface.
Watch Next: The Strange Items NASA Left on the Moon: youtu.be/hR9QMkWHrFw?si=1pIstx6CR2UMzGQD
If you’d like to support the creation of future V101 SPACE videos, you can join the V101 Alliance membership here:
youtube.com/channel/UC_MTPqgFSm_8WUWaCHIfUgQ/join
This is the smart telescope I use - Vaonis have kindly offered my viewers 10% off if you choose to use this link! vaonis.pxf.io/OeNXqQ
Timestamps:
00:00 – Close Enough to Touch
00:56 – Left in the Dust
02:46 – Let’s Look Closer
04:57 – A Single Pixel
07:18 – Engineering the Impossible
08:35 – Eyes in Orbit
Business contact: v101science@gmail.com
Can we see the Apollo Moon landing sites through a telescope from Earth?
Despite being over 360,000 kilometres away at its closest, humans have stood on that grey, lifeless surface of the Moon six times. Today, more than half a century later, our footprints, rovers, and landing modules still sit there, completely untouched, a silent time capsule in the vacuum of space.
In this video, we aim a powerful telescope at the Apollo landing sites to find out what they actually look like today. We explore the magnificent lunar landscape, from the rays of Tycho crater to the Sea of Tranquillity, and explain the surprising scientific reason why even the world’s most advanced telescope, the Extremely Large Telescope, will struggle to resolve any of the Apollo landing sites.
Finally, we reveal the clearest images ever taken of the Apollo 11 site since 1969, captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from just 20 kilometres above the surface.
Watch Next: The Strange Items NASA Left on the Moon: youtu.be/hR9QMkWHrFw?si=1pIstx6CR2UMzGQD
If you’d like to support the creation of future V101 SPACE videos, you can join the V101 Alliance membership here:
youtube.com/channel/UC_MTPqgFSm_8WUWaCHIfUgQ/join
This is the smart telescope I use - Vaonis have kindly offered my viewers 10% off if you choose to use this link! vaonis.pxf.io/OeNXqQ
Timestamps:
00:00 – Close Enough to Touch
00:56 – Left in the Dust
02:46 – Let’s Look Closer
04:57 – A Single Pixel
07:18 – Engineering the Impossible
08:35 – Eyes in Orbit
Business contact: v101science@gmail.com
