Featured Images

IM-2 Landing Region

The Intuitive Machines IM-2 Nova-C lander (Athena) is currently scheduled to land on Mons Mouton on 6 March 2025 (predicated upon a launch before the 2nd of March). The IM-1 Odysseus landing site is indicated at the center top, and the...

Published on 26 Feb 2025

First Look: Chang'e 6

This image from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera shows Chang'e 6 in the Apollo basin on the lunar farside on 07 June 2024. The lander is seen as the small cluster of bright pixels in the center of the image. Image is 552...

Published on 14 Jun 2024

Apollo 17 Remains Unchallenged After Fifty Years

Fifty years ago, the Apollo 17 crew concluded a series of human exploration missions that remain, like their footsteps, some of the greatest achievements in human history. Apollo 17 handheld image (AS17-134-20382) of astronaut Harrison...

Published on 10 Dec 2022

Apollo 16 50th Anniversary: A New Landscape

A spectacular, labeled view of the Apollo 16 landing site between North Ray and South Ray craters in the Descartes Highlands, a new landscape for the crew and an exciting set of LROC team products to help celebrate the 50th anniversary...

Published on 20 Apr 2022

Traversing the Shackleton de Gerlache Ridge

Amazing oblique view of the rim of Shackleton crater (on the left) and the Shackleton - de Gerlache ridge that runs from middle left to upper right. The south pole is near the small, sharp, bright crater on the rim of Shackleton (left...

Published on 01 Apr 2022

Topography of the Taurus-Littrow Valley

Color-shaded relief map of the Taurus-Littrow Valley (APOLLO17 DTM mosaic) made from eleven NAC stereo pairs [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 11 Feb 2022

Apollo 15: A Mission of Many Firsts

Highlights of the Apollo 15 landing site, as seen in LROC NAC image M175252641R. This image has a resolution of 27 cm/px, and shows an area of 262 m by 186 m. The Lunar Module is clearly visible, as are many tracks from the Lunar Roving...

Published on 30 Jul 2021

Apollo 14 Fiftieth Anniversary!

Apollo 14 landing site (4.646°S, 342.528°E) showing the two extra-vehicular activities (EVAs; orange = EVA1 and teal = EVA2) with stations (pink triangles), and geologic features (white dots). 

Published on 05 Feb 2021

Apollo 12 Fifty-first Anniversary

LROC low-altitude image of the Apollo 12 landing site. The Lunar Module descent stage, Apollo Lunar Science Experiment Package (ALSEP), and Surveyor III spacecraft are all visible along with astronaut tracks. Image is 275 meters wide,...

Published on 13 Nov 2020

Apennine Bench Formation: A Window into Ancient Volcanism

LROC Wide Angle Camera (WAC) 100 m/px mosaic with 6 colorized Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) of the Apennine Bench Formation (centered near 26° N, 356° E - here in Quickmap), an enigmatic light plains unit located on the central lunar...

Published on 29 Jun 2020

"Oceanus Procellarum Base Here - The Eagle Has Landed"

In 1969, NASA published a map showing candidate Apollo 11 and Apollo 12 landing sites. The map was based on photographs taken using large Earth-based telescopes. The map above, based on an LROC global image mosaic, is a near-copy of...

Published on 09 Aug 2019

What Armstrong Saw

Simulated view of what Armstrong saw as the Lunar Module Eagle approached the aim point on the northeast flank of West crater (190 meters diameter). The odd shape of the image area is due to the small windows in the Eagle. North is to...

Published on 16 Jul 2019

The Moon in Arizona

This 3.48-kilometer-wide part of the Sea of Tranquility is very special, though no one has ever landed or walked here. NAC image M1123426954LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 02 Jul 2019

Order from Chaos — Blagg Crater

Blagg crater, named for the British astronomer who helped bring order to lunar naming chaos, is full of surprises. Taken during morning with the Sun shining from the right (east), the image above shows an area of the Moon just 9.5...

Published on 16 Apr 2019

Chang'e 4 Rover Comes into View

The Chang'e 4 rover is now visible to LROC! Just beyond the tip of the right arrow is the rover and the lander is to the right of the tip of the left arrow. The image appears blocky because it is enlarged 4x to make it easier to see the...

Published on 08 Feb 2019

Lunar Beauty

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera imaged this bright young ray crater (3.13˚N, 281.07˚E) on 3 November 2018 — just three weeks ago. The Sun shone from the west (left, 48˚ incidence angle). This image covers an area 8.1 kilometers...

Published on 21 Nov 2018

Lobate Scarps: The Movie

Lobate scarps - like those shown here on the floor of the farside crater d'Alembert - are not large, but they tell us much about how hot the Moon was when it was born and its ongoing thermal evolution. Image width is about four...

Published on 31 Oct 2018

Deflector Shields Up!

Part of the westernmost swirl feature in Mare Marginis. This closeup of the center of the anaglyph strip below highlights an area little more than five kilometers wide. Bright swirl areas appeared "painted on" the landscape. Part of NAC...

Published on 06 Sep 2018

Aristarchus Crater

The Aristarchus crater (40 kilometer diameter, 23.73°N, 312.51°E) and plateau is one of the most geologically complex areas on the Moon. In this amazing picture, the LRO spacecraft slewed 62° (west-to-east) looking across the crater....

Published on 04 Aug 2018

John Young at South Ray Crater

Overhead view of South Ray crater, the most prominent feature at the Apollo 16 Descartes landing site in the central lunar highlands. Astronaut John Young landed Lunar Module Orion north of the crater on  21 April 1972 (UTC)....

Published on 05 Jul 2018