Featured Images

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

Illumination comparison of a mare crater

Same crater from two LROC NAC frames under very different lighting. On the left the Sun was midway to the horizon and on the right the Sun was high, approaching noon. Under lower Sun, surface roughness is quite evident; under higher sun...

Published on 20 Oct 2009

Bouncing, Bounding Boulders!

Many boulder trails are found on the lunar crater walls and basin massifs. Some of the trails are smooth and nearly straight while others are curvy or gouge into the surface. In many cases by following a boulder's trail you are led back...

Published on 15 Oct 2009

Ejecta sweeps the surface

Ejecta of a fresh crater streams across the the lunar highlands south of Mare Tranquillitatis. Image width is 520 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 11 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

Commissioning Sequences Pave the Way

Several LROC NAC sequences were acquired looking across the illuminated limb to quantify scattered light. Not only were these excellent engineering test images but they also presented spectacular oblique views across the lunar surface...

Published on 21 Sep 2009

Lunar South Pole - Out of the Shadows

As the Moon heads into southern summer the region around the south pole is better seen by LROC. One of the many goals of the LRO mission is to improve our cartographic knowledge of the Moon. The location of the pole shown here (image...

Published on 17 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

Eternal Darkness Near the North Pole

Small portion of the rim of Erlanger crater (10 km in diameter). Much of its floor remains in permanent shadow due to its location near the north pole. Image width 2.65 km, north is up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 24 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

Terraced Wall in Bürg Crater

LROC NAC frame closeup of crater wall and terrace in Bürg crater (45.0°N, 28.2°E). The outer rim of the crater is along the right side of the frame. Image width is 1.62 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]

Published on 28 Jul 2009

Relative Timing of Geologic Events in Mare Frigoris

A mare-highlands boundary in northern Mare Frigoris. Image width is 1.8 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 27 Jul 2009

LROC’s First Look at the Apollo Landing Sites

Four times enlargement of an uncalibrated LROC NAC image showing the Apollo 14 lunar module (LM Antares) and the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiment Package (ALSEP). Note the astronaut tracks between the two artifacts [NASA/GSFC/Arizona...

Published on 16 Jul 2009

The fractured floor of Compton

The central peak and fractured floor of Compton crater as imaged by the LROC Narrow Angle Camera at dusk, image width is ~1720 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 10 Jul 2009

Welcome to the new LROC Web Page!!!

Annotated picture showing one of the NACs, the WAC, and the SCS

Published on 06 Mar 2009