Featured Images
Wrinkle Ridges – How Deep Does the Fault Lie?
LROC NAC oblique of Montes Recti (right), a range of highlands massifs about 80 km across from west-to-east (west is at the top in this view) near the northern rim of Mare Imbrium. A wrinkle ridge deforms the mare basalts...
Published on 28 Sep 2022
Feature Mosaics: Behind the Seams
A seamless mosaic of a portion of Karpinsky crater (91 km diameter, 72.61° N, 166.80°E) seamless mosaic. Scene is 55 km across, NAC images M1309496597L/R, M1309503618L/R, M1309510644L/R, M1309517669L/R, and M1309524696L/R...
Published on 16 Mar 2020
Order from Chaos — Blagg Crater
Blagg crater, named for the British astronomer who helped bring order to lunar naming chaos, is full of surprises. Taken during morning with the Sun shining from the right (east), the image above shows an area of the Moon just 9.5...
Published on 16 Apr 2019
Lobate Scarps: The Movie
Lobate scarps - like those shown here on the floor of the farside crater d'Alembert - are not large, but they tell us much about how hot the Moon was when it was born and its ongoing thermal evolution. Image width is about four...
Published on 31 Oct 2018
'Shaping' Lunar Science with Vector Data
Twenty new shapefiles created by the LROC Team are now available! A few of the shapefiles shown here include mare age units, footprints of digital terrain models (DTMs), and the locations of small geologic features such as...
Published on 18 Jul 2017
NAC Anaglyph: Dorsa Whiston
A distinctive wrinkle ridge in Oceanus Procellarum named Dorsa Whiston. Ridges like this one result from substantial compression within portions of the lunar maria [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 12 May 2017
NAC Anaglyph: Dorsum Cloos
Dorsum Cloos -- a wrinkle ridge signifying that substantial forces within the rocks have led to folding and faulting in eastern Mare Smythii [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 10 Mar 2017
NAC Anaglyph: Mare Frigoris Wrinkle Ridges
Wrinkle Ridges in Mare Frigoris - Wrinkle ridges are a response to a local mass concentration, while others, as in this case, may be due to global contractional stress [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 03 Mar 2017
NAC Anaglyph: Vitello Ridge
A wrinkle ridge south of Vitello crater, formed by compressional stress that caused the rock to fold and fracture [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 09 Sep 2016
LROC NAC Anaglyph: Wrinkle Ridge near Fontenelle X
A wrinkle in rock, formed well after the lava solidified in northern Mare Frigoris [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 24 Jul 2015
Littered Wrinkles
LROC NAC image M1144863959L of portion of a wrinkle ridge found in Mare Nubium. The crest and side of the ridge is lined with high reflectance boulders, likely eroded from the fractured basalts that make up the ridge. Image width...
Published on 14 Aug 2014
Dorsum Nicol
This tectonic feature was formed as stresses built up in the lunar crust until the rock gave way. The energy released was immense, and the displaced rock is the north-south trending wrinkle ridge that we see today. This is LROC NAC...
Published on 17 Jul 2014
Elongated Crater
Full resolution LROC NAC M155084711R showing the northeastern wall and floor of Arago E crater. The floor is peppered with rocks that tumbled down the crater wall. In this image North is up, image width is ~0.5 miles (800 m)...
Published on 01 May 2014
Faulted Kipuka
This striking mountain within Mare Imbrium was altered at its base by the formation of a lobate scarp. A wrinkle ridge runs into the base of the mountain (bottom right). Image width is approximately 4.5 km. LROC NAC image M1098943917R...
Published on 21 Mar 2014
Wrinkled, But How Old?
LROC NAC image M139672711 showing a wrinkle ridge in eastern Mare Frigoris (centered at 54.430°N, 35.670°E). North is up. Image is ~2 km wide, illumination is from the south (bottom). [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 21 Jan 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
Offset Floor of Buys-Ballot Crater
Ridge along the edge of Buys-Ballot crater floor. LROC NAC M1095343282L, image center 21.321°N, 175.152°E, image width 1.41 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 05 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
Wrinkles in Mare Frigoris
A complex wrinkle ridge deforms Mare Frigoris (52.935°N; 11.131°E). NAC frame M181102837R, illumination is from the west (left), north is up, image is ~2.0 km wide. White arrow indicates small extensional feature discussed in text....
Published on 10 Oct 2013
Looking East Over Reiner Gamma
LROC NAC oblique image looking west to east over the Reiner Gamma Formation (7.409°N, 300.972°E, north is to the left). Image is ~22 km wide (M1127569280). Arrows highlight a scarp formed by thrust faulting [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 19 Sep 2013