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The next space mission should be to leave a colour calibration chart on the moon.

jofer 1y ago
The moon itself already is one. Moonshots are widely used in calibration, at least for earth observation satellites. The brightness of the full moon at each wavelength at each day of the year is predictable and well-known, so it makes a good target to check your payload against.
embedded_hiker 1y ago
They brought a gnomon, with a color chart, on the Apollo missions. They would set it up for many of the pictures of samples. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gnomon-lunar-apollo/nasm_A19810890000 https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gnomon-lunar-a...
shagie 1y ago
They also put color calibration charts on Mars rovers. For example https://www.lucideon.com/news/colour-standards-on-mars https://www.lucideon.com/news/colour-standards-on-mars
- JNRowe 1y ago
  There is even a Damien Hirst¹ haphazardly spread about the surface for that purpose. One of the great gifts Pillinger² had was being able to shake up public interest via pop culture; there was also call sign by Blur for Beagle 2. ¹ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Spot-Painting-Beagle-2-C-2003-Damien-Hirst-photo-by-Mike-Levers_fig7_266562112 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Spot-Painting-Beagle-2-C... ² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pillinger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pillinger
pgreenwood 1y ago
Here's a shot of a color chart on the moon from Apollo 17 (AS17-137-20900): https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/data_a70/AS17/extra/AS17-137-20900.small.png https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/data_a70/AS17/extra/AS17-137-20...
- gowld 1y ago
  Is there a document that explains that color chart? This version shows different shades of colors: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS17&roll=137&frame=20900 https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS17&...
  - rtkwe 1y ago
    The first one has been adjusted to bring out the contrast and saturation while the one you link is an original scan. They brought a number of different swatches like that and took a picture of a calibration array at the end to account for the effects of space exposure on the film.
    - pgreenwood 1y ago
      The one I posted is from an original scan.
      - rtkwe 1y ago
        Doesn't mean it hasn't been altered before posting to juice the shadows and make it more vibrant. The one from NASA's site looks like an unaltered scan.
  - pgreenwood 1y ago
    I think we are looking at different scans. See: https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/about https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/about

The moon itself already is one. Moonshots are widely used in calibration, at least for earth observation satellites. The brightness of the full moon at each wavelength at each day of the year is predictable and well-known, so it makes a good target to check your payload against.

embedded_hiker 1y ago

They brought a gnomon, with a color chart, on the Apollo missions. They would set it up for many of the pictures of samples. https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gnomon-lunar-apollo/nasm_A19810890000 https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/gnomon-lunar-a...

shagie 1y ago

They also put color calibration charts on Mars rovers. For example https://www.lucideon.com/news/colour-standards-on-mars https://www.lucideon.com/news/colour-standards-on-mars

JNRowe 1y ago
There is even a Damien Hirst¹ haphazardly spread about the surface for that purpose. One of the great gifts Pillinger² had was being able to shake up public interest via pop culture; there was also call sign by Blur for Beagle 2. ¹ https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Spot-Painting-Beagle-2-C-2003-Damien-Hirst-photo-by-Mike-Levers_fig7_266562112 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Spot-Painting-Beagle-2-C... ² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pillinger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Pillinger

pgreenwood 1y ago

Here's a shot of a color chart on the moon from Apollo 17 (AS17-137-20900): https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/data_a70/AS17/extra/AS17-137-20900.small.png https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/data_a70/AS17/extra/AS17-137-20...

gowld 1y ago
Is there a document that explains that color chart? This version shows different shades of colors: https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS17&roll=137&frame=20900 https://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/SearchPhotos/photo.pl?mission=AS17&...
- rtkwe 1y ago
  The first one has been adjusted to bring out the contrast and saturation while the one you link is an original scan. They brought a number of different swatches like that and took a picture of a calibration array at the end to account for the effects of space exposure on the film.
  - pgreenwood 1y ago
    The one I posted is from an original scan.
    - rtkwe 1y ago
      Doesn't mean it hasn't been altered before posting to juice the shadows and make it more vibrant. The one from NASA's site looks like an unaltered scan.
- pgreenwood 1y ago
  I think we are looking at different scans. See: https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/about https://tothemoon.im-ldi.com/about