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IM-2 Athena: A Closer View

LROC acquired a subsequent oblique on 10 March at 14:52 UTC, bringing the IM-2 Athena lander into sharper focus. North and nearside to the right, image width 1175 meters M1496181900LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 11 Mar 2025

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IM-2 Athena Seen Obliquely

The Intuitive Machines IM-2 Athena lander reached the surface of the Moon on 06 March 2025, near the center of Mons Mouton. The Earth and north are towards the right, image width 3.9 kilometers, image resolution reduced 3x, NAC...

Published on 10 Mar 2025

New!

Blue Ghost Lunar Lander Seen From Above

The Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lunar lander touched down in the volcanic terrain known as Mare Crisium. Visible in the upper left is a portion of a volcanic depression and to the bottom right is a volcanic cone, known as Mons...

Published on 07 Mar 2025

Blue Ghost Seen Obliquely

The Firefly Blue Ghost lunar lander set down on 2nd March 2025. The landing site (arrow) is about 4000 meters from the center of Mons Latreille, a large volcanic cone. NAC M1495577008LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 04 Mar 2025

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

Firefly Blue Ghost Landing Region

The Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 spacecraft was launched toward the Moon on January 15th 2025 and is slated to land on March 2nd. The landing region is located in eastern Mare Crisium (white box; 18.56°N, 61.81°E); NAC...

Published on 21 Feb 2025

Mesmerizing Patterns

Mesmerizing abstract pattern (17.45°S, 144.75°E) formed as low-angle ejecta from a 2.4-kilometer diameter crater was emplaced from the lower left towards the upper right. The curve indicates the underlying steep slope (20°)....

Published on 28 Jan 2025

Amazing Giordano Bruno

Beautiful complex floor of Giordano Bruno crater. M1452055478LR, acquired 2023-10-16, incidence angle 65°, slew angle 0°,  phase angle  64°, spacecraft altitude 96 kilometers, image width  3750 meters, pixel scale reduced...

Published on 20 Jan 2025

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 2024

Dramatic Sunrise

Early morning Sun illuminates the steep western wall of an unnamed 10-kilometer diameter crater. North is to the right, image 3.5 kilometers across in the center [NASA/GSFC/Intuitive Machines].

Published on 22 Oct 2024

Young Volcanism?

Enigmatic landform proposed to have formed from relatively young volcanic activity. NAC M1453037761LR, acquired 2023-11-27, incidence angle 71°, slew angle 43°, phase angle 116°, spacecraft altitude 89 km, north is up, image width...

Published on 18 Oct 2024

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

2024 Eclipse as Seen From The Moon

When LROC acquired this image on 8 April 2024, the shadow of the Moon was centered near Cape Girardeau, Missouri. LROC E1467242026L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 15 Apr 2024

Another Close Encounter!

Hard to find, but centered here, you can see a fuzzy view of the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) lunar orbiter, Danuri, as it flew just 8 kilometers below LRO. Image width about 3000 meters,  NAC M1464323568...

Published on 05 Apr 2024

A Lunar Island Surrounded by Lava

Color-shaded relief map showing the elevations of the Western Crisium Kipuka (WCK) located on the western edge of Mare Crisium. The elevation ranges from -4,218 m (blue) to -3,195 m (red) [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 01 Apr 2024

Intuitive Machines IM-1 On The Moon!

The Intuitive Machines IM-1 Nova-C, known as Odysseus, touched down on the Moon Thursday, 22 February, at 23:23:53 UTC (17:23 CST). The arrow indicates the Nova-C lander; the image width is 973 meters, NAC M1463440322L...

Published on 26 Feb 2024

JAXA SLIM Landing

The SLIM lander on the lunar surface (13.3160°S, 25.2510°E, -912 m elevation). The image is 880 meters wide, and north is up, LROC NAC M1460739214L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 26 Jan 2024

IM-1 Landing Region

IM-1 landing region, the map is 1870 meters wide; north and nearside are towards the top, 1.70 meters per pixel. NAC M1435274280LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 19 Jan 2024

Luna 25 Impact Crater

During the descent to the surface, the Russian spacecraft Luna 25 experienced an anomaly that caused it to impact into the southwest rim of Pontecoulant G crater on 19 August 2023 11:58 am UTC (14:58 Moscow time). Image is 1100 meters...

Published on 29 Nov 2023

On the Way to Shioli Crater

The upcoming Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) lunar lander will touchdown in the vicinity of Shioli crater (center foreground, 210-meter diameter).  The bright interior and rays indicate a very young age for this crater...

Published on 07 Nov 2023