Featured Images
Rima Bode: Constellation region of interest
LROC NAC closeup of a small fresh crater (230 m across) with very dark ejecta within the regional pyroclastic deposit in the highlands near Rima Bode II. This site is near a NASA Constellation region of interest. This crater has...
Published on 18 May 2010
Craters on the Schrodinger pyroclastic cone
LROC NAC closeup clustered craters on the Schrodinger pyroclastic cone, one of the NASA Constellation regions of interest. Although likely relatively young, the craters in this cluster have a subdued appearance because they formed in...
Published on 22 Apr 2010
Retracing the Steps of Apollo 15: Constellation Region of Interest
The third and final EVA of Apollo 15 brought the astronauts to the edge of Hadley Rille (lower left). Disturbed regolith is observed along the crater rim at station 9 and at the edge of the rille at station 9A. Rover tracks are visible...
Published on 16 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
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
Luna 16
Soviet Luna 16 descent stage -- the first successful robotic lunar sample return spacecraft (NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University).
Published on 25 Mar 2010
Rocket impacts recorded by the Apollo seismic network
Bang! On April 14th 1970, the Apollo 13 Saturn IVB upper stage impacted the Moon North of Mare Cognitum, at -2.55° latitude, -27.88° East longitude. The impact crater, which is roughly 30 meters in diameter, is clearly visible in LROC...
Published on 22 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 Rovers
Soviet robotic lander Luna 17 still sitting on Mare Imbrium where it delivered the Lunokhod 1 Rover in November 1970, LROC NAC Image M114185541RE [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 17 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
Marius Hills Pit - Lava Tube Skylight?
The Marius Hills pit is a possible skylight in a lava tube in an ancient volcanic region of the Moon called the Marius Hills. This LROC image is the highest resolution image of the pit to date. Image width is 1400 meters, NAC...
Published on 01 Mar 2010
Plato Crater Constellation Region of Interest
The Constellation Program region of interest northwest of Plato crater exhibits a wide variety of geologic features. LROC WAC frame M109269483CE; 695 nm in red, 567 nm in green, 415 nm in blue [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 02 Feb 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
Aristarchus Plateau (2): Pyroclastic Deposit
NAC Frame M111945148R. Part of the vast pyroclastic deposit near a Constellation Program Region of Interest located on the Aristarchus plateau is visible in this image. View is 537 m across [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 21 Jan 2010
A Digital Terrain Model of the Orientale Basin
A Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the large Orientale Basin (1100 km diameter), located on the western hemisphere of the Moon, produced from stereo LROC WAC images. The image shows the hill-shaded, color-coded DTM with heights varying...
Published on 20 Jan 2010
Aristarchus Plateau (1): Amazing Geologic Diversity
Eastern slope (right to left is downhill) of the Vallis Schröteri, "Cobra Head". This feature is located in the western portion of a Constellation Program region of interest on the Aristarchus plateau. The slopes of the Cobra Head are...
Published on 19 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
Fresh Copernican Crater
Subset of NAC Image M112162602L showing landslides (bottom) covering impact melt on the floor (top) of a fresh Copernican-age crater at the edge of Oceanus Procellarum and west of Balboa crater. Image width is 550 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona...
Published on 21 Dec 2009
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