Featured Images
Casting a Long Shadow
Sun angle profoundly affects the surface features of the Chang'e 3 landing site. When the Sun is higher in the sky (low incidence angle), the tracks left by the Yutu rover and the bright blast zone around the lander are most visible....
Published on 09 Oct 2014
The Chang'e 3 Landing Site in 3D
Slope map overlain on an LROC NAC image of the Chang'e 3 landing site at 44.12°N, 340.49°E in Mare Imbrium. The Chinese spacecraft landed just to the east of the large crater near the center. Slopes range from zero (blue) to...
Published on 07 Oct 2014
A Rille to Rover Over
LROC NAC image M1145219838 of a rille found on the Southwestern edge of Oceanus Procellarum. This rille most likely formed from the stress added to the crust as the mare deposits were emplaced and cooled [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 08 Jul 2014
Trundling Across the Moon
Tracks made by Lunokhod 2 as it tested for variations in local magnetic properties while traversing around a small crater (25.764°N, 30.474°E), M122007650R, image width 470 m [NASA/ GSFC/ Arizona State University].
Published on 23 May 2014
681 Gigapixels!
Spectacular LROC Northern Polar Mosaic (LNPM) allows exploration from 60°N up to the pole at the astounding pixel scale of 2 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 18 Mar 2014
Still There!
Four LROC NAC views of the Chang'e 3 landing site: A) before landing, 30 June 2013, B) after landing, 25 December 2013, C) 21 January 2014, D) 17 February 2014. Each image is enlarged by a factor of two, width of each is 200 meters (656...
Published on 04 Mar 2014
Chang'e 3 Lander and Rover From Above
LROC NAC view of the Chang'e 3 lander (large arrow) and rover (small arrow) just before sunset on their first day of lunar exploration. LROC NAC M1142582775R, image width 576 m, north is up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 30 Dec 2013
Safe On The Surface Of The Moon!
LROC image (acquired 15 July 2009) centered on area seen in descent images acquired by Chang'e-3 as it descended to the surface of Mare Imbrium. Image width 1700 meters, north is up, M102285549 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 15 Dec 2013
New Crater!
Four different NAC images of crater (18 meter diameter) formed on the Moon, 17 March 2013, each scene is 560 meters wide, north is up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 14 Dec 2013
Station 6 - Apollo 17
Station 6 allowed Apollo 17 astronauts to explore a collection of boulders and regolith that represents the rocks from the mighty North Massif. Five large boulder fragments lie at the base of a long boulder trail, all from a single...
Published on 13 Dec 2013
A Great Place to Rove!
Sinus Iridum area of the Moon - it is likely that China will land a rover near Laplace A crater before the end of the year! Arrow shows location of Soviet Lunokhod 1 rover, LROC WAC mosaic is 360 km wide [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 22 Nov 2013
Making an Impact on History
LROC NAC image (M153014430L) of the Ranger 7 impact crater (bright crater near top center) in Mare Cognitum located at 339.323°E, 10.634°S. The crater is 14 meters in diameter; image width is 400 m. [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 07 Nov 2013
Diversity of Basaltic Lunar Volcanism
A diverse range of volcanic morphologies: a sinuous rille, blocky lava flows, and pyroclastic cones found in a portion of the controlled LROC NAC mosaic "NAC_ROI_MARIUS_ _LOC_E138N3037" centered on 303.861°E, 13.476°N; image is...
Published on 05 Nov 2013
LROC Coordinates of Robotic Spacecraft - 2013 Update
Luna 17, the spacecraft that carried the Lunokhod 1 rover to the surface. You can make out the rover tracks around the lander. LROC NAC image M175502049RE [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 24 Sep 2013
Surveyor Crater, Before and After
Another look at the Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 landing site. See the full description for comparison with a Lunar Orbiter image of the same area taken 45 years ago! Image width is 470 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 09 Jul 2013
March of Time
Small white blotch with black center (in center of image) is likely a new impact crater formed during the LRO mission. Inset in lower left (38 meters wide) shows 4x enlargement. NAC M1117799545, 480 meters wide [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 20 May 2013
Impact!
The twin GRAIL spacecraft impacted the Moon on 17 December 2012, LROC was able to image the impact craters on 28 February 2013 showing them both to be about 5 meters in diameter. Upper panels show the area before the impact; lower...
Published on 19 Mar 2013
Taurus Littrow Valley, West-To-East
The magnificent Taurus Littrow valley seen obliquely from west-to-east by the LROC NAC. The Apollo 17 crew briefly explored portions of this valley 40 years ago this month. M1096343661LR, image ~10 km across the center...
Published on 19 Dec 2012
Ebb and Flow Finale
The two GRAIL spacecraft, Ebb and Flow, as imaged by the LROC NAC in lunar orbit at different times (A on 7th October, B on 8th October 2012) [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 17 Dec 2012
Surveyor 7 - America's Last Lunar Unmanned Lander
Surveyor 7, sitting on the ejecta blanket of Tycho Crater, was the last spacecraft of the Surveyor series, and the only to land in the lunar highlands. NAC M175355093L, image width is 500 m. Inset is zoomed 4x [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 07 Sep 2012