# Laser art on the Moon! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725 "2007-11-08T22:51:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/21 "2007-11-09T04:19:25Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] …aside from its convexity, or concavity, whichever – I can never keep them straight. [/QUOTE] Convex. Think of the “cave” part of _concave_ to keep things straight. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/22 "2007-11-09T04:31:16Z")
And just to add another “bad idea” comment to the mix: How soon after someone figures out how to display the Pizza Hut logo on the moon is it before someone _else_ figures out how to display “Hello, world!,” “Surrender Dorothy,” or a swastika? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/23 "2007-11-09T06:10:37Z")
[QUOTE=KneadToKnow] And just to add another “bad idea” comment to the mix: How soon after someone figures out how to display the Pizza Hut logo on the moon is it before someone _else_ figures out how to display “Hello, world!,” “Surrender Dorothy,” or a swastika? [/QUOTE] Well, the moral issues are best left to GD. I started the thread here in GQ to address only the technical/engineering issues. Well, and to joke around a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/24 "2007-11-09T08:53:00Z")
“Go out into your back garden,” Gersen said. “There’s a great Darsh face hanging over the garden wall.” ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/25 "2007-11-09T10:09:16Z")
[QUOTE=Boyo Jim] Actually, my first thought was about how lousy a reflective surface the moon would be… [/QUOTE] Yes, I’ve heard that the albedo (reflectivity) of the moon is about the same as that of an asphalt parking lot. Hard to believe, when you see a big white full moon, but that’s what they say. And in fact, that [may be something of a myth](http://jeff.medkeff.com/astro/lunar/obs_tech/albedo.htm). Interestingly, that link says that the reflectivity is significantly higher than you’d expect when the incoming light is perpendicular to the surface, as tiny natural glass beads in the moondust act as reflectors. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/26 "2007-11-09T10:13:34Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] …tiny natural glass beads in the moondust… [/QUOTE] Can I sell these on eBay? (Buyer collection in person only). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/27 "2007-11-09T12:21:46Z")
[QUOTE=Colophon] Yes, I’ve heard that the albedo (reflectivity) of the moon is about the same as that of an asphalt parking lot. Hard to believe, when you see a big white full moon, but that’s what they say. And in fact, that [may be something of a myth](http://jeff.medkeff.com/astro/lunar/obs_tech/albedo.htm). Interestingly, that link says that the reflectivity is significantly higher than you’d expect when the incoming light is perpendicular to the surface, as tiny natural glass beads in the moondust act as reflectors. [/QUOTE] Interesting. Many _actual_ projection screens are layered with tiny glass beads to increase the image brightness, so maybe the moon is already as good as it can get. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/28 "2007-11-09T13:15:54Z")
[QUOTE=Saltire] Isaac Asimov wrote a short story about someone selling advertising space on Jupiter. Apparently, aliens often came to the outer solar system to admire our gas giants on their way from one place and another, so an alien corporation wanted to project an ad slogan (for some alien equivalent to Pepto Bismol, I think) across the cloud deck. The best part of the story was the title, “Buy Jupiter!” [/QUOTE] I’m not sure if it was Asimov or Clarke that wrote this one… An experiment is being run from an orbiting space station (or maybe moonbase) to release a large cloud of reflective plasma that should be visible from earth. Much discussion is held around the advertising (and amusement) potential. The captain is determined to prevent anyone abusing the experiment, but the gas is released in a “familiar wasp waisted bottle” shape, known to be the captains favourite. Si ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/29 "2007-11-09T14:07:40Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not sure if it was Asimov or Clarke that wrote this one… Asimov wrote vthat particular one – it’s **Buy Jupiter** , and is in his antholofgy of the same name. But Clarke also wrote a story about advertising on the moon. A soft drink company had arranged for a scientific experiment (that was supposed to, at one point, provide a luminous glow on the moon) to light up in the shape of their product logo. Clarke doesn’t name them, but it’s obvious from his description that the culprit was **Coca Cola**. The story is in one of his anthologies, but I don’t recall which one ( **tales from the White Hart**?) And Heinlein describes advertising on the moon, too. In **The Man Who Sold the Moon** he has his character walk into the offices of a soft drink company (un-named, but pretty obviously a stand-in for Coke again) wearing a lapel button with their competitor’s logo on it – a circle with **6+** on it. That’s pretty obviously supposed to be **7-UP**. The character claims the button is the same subjective size as the full moon. IIRC, they never do say if anyone ever puts up a sign for any company on the moon. Anything’s OKAY with me, as long as it’s not **CHA**. or **HA** with a bite out of it. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/30 "2007-11-09T14:24:56Z")
Since we’re delving into fiction… There’s an [episode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0813112/) of _The Tick_ where Chairface Chippendale tries to carve his name into the moon with a laser. Not just illuminate it, he actually carves trenches in the face of the moon. IIRC, he gets as far as the “A” before the Tick manages to stop all that evil. In a nice bit of continuity, the moon with “CHA” on it is seen in several following episodes. In another [episode](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0723368/), they try to collapse the trenches with explosives, but stop after the “C” when the Tick is blown into deep space. ETA: Whoops, didn’t see **Cal’s** allusion to this when I posted… ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725/31 "2007-11-09T15:29:59Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] Asimov wrote vthat particular one – it’s **Buy Jupiter** , and is in his antholofgy of the same name. [/QUOTE] I think **si\_blakely** was referring to the story he described when he said he wasn’t sure if Asimov or Clarke wrote it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/laser-art-on-the-moon/425725.md?page=1)