Featured Images

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

Dramatic Contrast

The dark rim of Aristarchus crater (23.7°N, 312.5°E) dramatically highlights its bright interior and central peak. There are more than 2700 meters of relief from the rim to the crater floor, and the central peak is 3,000 meters wide...

Published on 01 Dec 2022

Far Flung Ejecta

Far-flung ejecta (32.7°N, 99.7°E) from the Giordano Bruno impact event raced across a small mare deposit, leaving bright streaks and clues to the details of crater ray formation. This image was acquired looking west-to-east from an...

Published on 31 Oct 2022

Where is the South Pole?

Often hidden in shadows, the south pole (90°S, 0°E) occurs just inside the rim of Shackleton crater (20-kilometer diameter). This spectacular view, aimed at the pole, was acquired on 18 May 2022. The image is 2400 meters wide in the...

Published on 19 Oct 2022

Silicic Volcanoes on the Moon

The silicic volcano Mairan T (41.79°N, 311.61°E) stands over 600 meters tall and in stark albedo contrast to the surrounding dark mare basalts of Oceanus Procellarum. The view is from west-to-east, scene is 6.6 kilometers wide, NAC...

Published on 11 Oct 2022

Wrinkle Ridges – How Deep Does the Fault Lie?

LROC NAC oblique of Montes Recti (right), a range of highlands massifs about 80 km across from west-to-east (west is at the top in this view) near the northern rim of Mare Imbrium.  A wrinkle ridge deforms the mare basalts...

Published on 28 Sep 2022

Mystery Rocket Body Found!

A rocket body impacted the Moon on 04 March 2022 near Hertzsprung crater, creating an apparent double crater, roughly 28 meters wide in the longest dimension. LROC NAC M1407760984R enlarged 3x [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 23 Jun 2022

Reiner Gamma: Swirling in Mystery

Reiner Gamma lunar swirl (7.5° N, 301.0°E);  NAC controlled mosaic containing images, M1139307518L/R, M1139300406L/R, M1139286182L/R, M1139293294L/R, and M1108661104R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 26 May 2022

The Ins and Outs of Secondary Craters

Secondary craters and v-shaped ejecta. The largest crater at center is about 90 meters in diameter. LROC NAC image M1143115078RE, located at 4.549° S, 255.721° E [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 05 May 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

Lunar Terminator

Western portion of Mare Moscoviense seen under extreme lighting, east-to-west view snapped 25 August 2019. The illuminated rim in the background is an unnamed crater 21 kilometers in diameter (24.2°N, 146.3°E); spacecraft altitude was...

Published on 15 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

Schrödinger Vent - A Region Rich with Lunar Treats

A digital terrain model (DTM) mosaic of the Schrödinger pyroclastic vent (centered at -75.27°N, 139.29°E - here in Quickmap ) located on the floor of Schrödinger basin where the elevation is relative to the average radius of the...

Published on 04 Mar 2022

NAC Anaglyph: Alphonsus Vent

A dike (subsurface magma body) was likely intruded under the floor of Alphonsus crater creating an array of fractures seen here. Image is 5700 meters wide, north is towards the top [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 19 Feb 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

A “Secondary” View of Copernicus

NAC DTM showing a chain of Copernicus secondaries (15.5°N, 343.4°E). North is pointing right [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 04 Feb 2022

First to See the Farside

First photograph (BW) taken of the famous Apollo 8 Earthrise sequence, the following images were acquired with color film [AS08-13-2329, NASA].

Published on 24 Dec 2021

Saturn 2021

Saturn and Jupiter have been a comforting presence in the evening sky for the past several months. On October 13, 2021, LRO slewed to allow LROC to acquire this magnificent view revealing Saturn and its rings. NAC M1388758232L...

Published on 22 Nov 2021

Gruithuisen Domes: A Lunar Mystery

NASA is planning to send a lander and rover to the beautiful Gruithuisen Domes, seen in this controlled mosaic, and LROC images will help guide the way. The domes are located at 36.3° N, 319.8° E. Image 55 km wide, north is up...

Published on 14 Oct 2021

From the Moon to Jupiter, with Love

Jupiter seen from the Moon, as imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera on 20 August 2021. Two of Jupiter's moons, Io and Europa, can just barely be seen here to the right of Jupiter (keep reading for a labeled version). Scene...

Published on 14 Sep 2021