How to See the Apollo Astronaut Footprints on the Moon

A frequently asked question by students and by the public is whether you can see anything the Apollo astronauts left on the Moon. While it is, of course, impossible to resolve anything left on the Moon using the eye, if we redefine "seeing" as detecting photons from said artifacts, then it should be possible to detect photons from the footprints if one stares at the Moon long enough. We present the calculation of how long one must stare at the Moon in order to have likely captured a photon reflected from the astronauts' footprints. The treatment of the question serves as a nice introduction to some basic concepts, and could be useful in the classroom or as a presentation to the public.