Featured Images
Rimae Prinz Region - Constellation Region of Interest
A sinuous rille created by a lava flow snakes around the base of a massif in the Prinz-Harbinger region on the Moon. Image width is 1.46 km, LROC NAC frame M102429075L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 15 Apr 2010
The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector - A Fundamental Point on the Moon!
Close-up of the Apollo 15 landing site sowing the Falcon descent stage and other hardware from the mission. In this calibrated image the Lunar Laser Ranging RetroReflector (LRRR) array appears as the (circled) tiny white rectangular...
Published on 13 Apr 2010
Each crater tells a story
The unusual shapes of craters at the Flamsteed Constellation region of interest provide information about the thickness of the lunar regolith in this region. Image M111877836LE; scene width is 500 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 07 Apr 2010
Alphonsus crater mantled floor fracture
LROC NAC closeup of a fracture in the floor of Alphonsus crater. Dark pyroclastic materials are intermixed with lighter rocks and boulders from the fracture walls and all appear to have moved in streamers toward the fracture floor at...
Published on 02 Apr 2010
Apollo Basin: Mare in a Sea of Highlands
High resolution LROC image of floor of the Apollo Basin, a large (538 km diameter) double-ringed impact crater in the southern hemisphere of the far side. This image shows part of the boundary between two flow units within the...
Published on 30 Mar 2010
Surveyor 6 on the plains of Sinus Medii
Surveyor 6 casting 18-meter long shadow with Sun just 8° above the horizon, LROC NAC image M117501284L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 21 Mar 2010
Soviet Union Lunar Sample Return Missions
On February 21, 1972, Luna 20 soft landed in the rugged highlands between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium. The next day a sample return capsule blasted off carrying 55 grams of lunar soil. The Luna 20 descent stage still sits...
Published on 15 Mar 2010
Precise 3D Measurements of Objects at Apollo 14 Landing Site from LROC NAC Stereo Images
Can we measure the size and shape of equipment and other objects on the Moon using today’s orbital images from LROC cameras? As an example, to demonstrate the precise 3D measurement capability of LROC NAC stereo imagery, three objects...
Published on 29 Jan 2010
King Crater's Unusual Melt Pond
A Constellation Program Region of Interest near the northeast edge of the unusually large melt pond adjacent to the lunar far side crater King. The boundary between the dark, coherent impact melt rock at the lower left of the image and...
Published on 26 Jan 2010
The Floor of Tycho - Constellation Region of Interest
Boulders and impact melt line the floor of the 85-km crater Tycho, a potential site for future human exploration. Scene width is 620 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 14 Jan 2010
Mare Moscoviense Constellation Site
A very subtle mare-highlands boundary in Mare Moscoviense on the lunar farside, near the center of the Constellation Program region of interest. The generalized geologic contact between the mare and the highlands has been highlighted...
Published on 04 Jan 2010
High Noon at Tranquility Base
As the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) neared the surface, Neil Armstrong could see the landing area was right on the rough bouldery ejecta of West crater. He had to change the flight plan and fly the LM westward to find a safe landing...
Published on 09 Nov 2009
Apollo 12 Second Look: Midday on the Ocean of Storms
New view of the Apollo 12 landing site in Oceanus Procellarum imaged from the LRO mapping orbit. Small black arrows show locations where astronaut footpaths can be clearly discerned. Image width is 490 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 04 Nov 2009
Exploring the Apollo 17 Site
The Apollo 17 Lunar Module Challenger descent stage comes into focus from the new lower 50-km mapping orbit, image width is 102 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 28 Oct 2009
Surveyor 1 - America’s first soft lunar landing
Surveyor 1 spacecraft sitting silently on Oceanus Procellarum, the first US spacecraft to land on another planet (June 2, 1966). The image was taken in the lunar afternoon such that the sun in low on the western horizon and the 3.3...
Published on 30 Sep 2009
Apollo 11: Second look
LROC's second look at the Apollo 11 Landing Site [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 29 Sep 2009
First Look: Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3
First look at Apollo 12 landing site, the Lunar Module descent stage, Experiment package (ALSEP) and Surveyor 3 spacecraft are all visible along with astronaut tracks (unmarked arrows). Image is 824 meters wide, north up...
Published on 03 Sep 2009
First LROC Stereo Results
Synthetic perspective view looking south from the Apollo 16 landing area, topography is rendered naturally (no vertical exaggeration) [NASA/GSFC/Ohio State University].
Published on 25 Aug 2009
Trail of Discovery at Fra Mauro
Uncalibrated LROC NAC image of the Apollo 14 landing site and nearby Cone crater. The trail followed by the astronauts can clearly be discerned. Image width is 1.6 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 19 Aug 2009
Rille within a rille!
Sinuous rille winding its way across a much larger rille in the heart of the Aristarchus Plateau, image width 1.76 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 18 Aug 2009