Featured Images

The Moon in Arizona

This 3.48-kilometer-wide part of the Sea of Tranquility is very special, though no one has ever landed or walked here. NAC image M1123426954LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 02 Jul 2019

Yutu-2 Still on the Move!

Yutu-2 (horizontal arrow) was about 130 meters west of the Chang'e 4 lander (vertical arrow) on 3 June 2019. North is up, image is 495 meters wide and enlarged two times, M1314237625L [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 27 Jun 2019

Islands in the Dark

Darkness surrounds illuminated peaks between Shackleton crater (rim crest at right) and de Gerlache crater (out of scene left). As lunar days and seasons progress, darkness creeps along this elevated ridge near the south pole. Image...

Published on 20 May 2019

Beresheet Crash Site Spotted!

SpaceIL Beresheet crash site as seen by LROC eleven days after the attempted landing. Date in lower left indicates when the NAC image was acquired, M1310536929R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 15 May 2019

On and Around Mons Piton

Mons Piton rises 2300 meters above the dark volcanic rocks of Mare Imbrium. The image covers an area 15.5 kilometers wide, north is up, and the Sun shines from the east (right). LROC NAC image pair M190609650LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...

Published on 09 May 2019

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

Mysteries of Compton Crater

The oblique view of part of the north-central floor of Compton crater (center lat 55.9°, center lon 104.1°) shows floor fractures, the north slopes of its central peaks (center right), thousands of impact craters (some less than a meter...

Published on 10 Apr 2019

Chang'e 4 Rover on the Move

The Chang'e 4 rover, Yutu-2, moved between 1 February 2019 and 28 February 2019. The upper left panel (M1298916428L) shows the landing site before Chang'e 4 set down and the image in upper right panel (M1303619844L) has the best...

Published on 20 Mar 2019

Chladni 225

Chladni crater (center lat 3.96°N, center lon 1.11°E) is a classic bowl-shaped "simple" lunar crater located in Sinus Medii ("central bay"). The image displays the north and east parts of the 13.1-kilometer-wide crater, including part...

Published on 21 Feb 2019

Above the Landing Site

Looking down on the Chang'e 4 landing site; lander is just beyond tip of large arrow, rover at tip of small arrow. Image is 468 meters (1535 feet) across, 2x enlargement, LROC M1303619844LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 15 Feb 2019

Chang'e 4 Rover Comes into View

The Chang'e 4 rover is now visible to LROC! Just beyond the tip of the right arrow is the rover and the lander is to the right of the tip of the left arrow. The image appears blocky because it is enlarged 4x to make it easier to see the...

Published on 08 Feb 2019

First Look: Chang'e 4

Arrows indicate position of Chang'e 4 lander on the floor of Von Kármán crater. The sharp crater behind and to the left of the landing site is 3900 meters across (12,800 feet) and 600 meters (1970 feet) deep. Image was shrunk by more...

Published on 06 Feb 2019

The West Side of Plato Crater

Western Plato crater (at right) and the geologically complex region west of its rim — part of a controlled and corrected mosaic made up of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images. The late afternoon...

Published on 18 Jan 2019

Chang'e 4 Lander Coordinates

Following the Chang'e 4 descent frames (CNSA/CLEP) to the surface makes it easy to find the exact landing spot in a NAC image, which was taken before the landing. Note that the NAC image is rotated so north is down to match the Chang'e...

Published on 11 Jan 2019

On the Farside!

Safe on the farside, Chang'e 4 set down somewhere in this LROC image obtained 17 July 2010. The lines connect craters seen in the Chang'e 4 descent image (CNSA/CLEP) with the same craters seen in the LROC image. Image width 2700 meters,...

Published on 03 Jan 2019

Von Kármán Crater: Awaiting A Visitor

Von Kármán crater (186 kilometer diameter), a treasure house of geologic landforms! LROC Wide Angle Camera mosaic, five degree latitude and longitude grid [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 02 Jan 2019

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 2018

Korolev X and Z

Sharing a melt flow: visible in the right part of this oblique image is the bright wall of Korolev Z crater, the source of a 12.5-kilometer-long dark melt flow that drapes across the ancient floor of the degraded crater Korolev X. South...

Published on 14 Dec 2018

Lunar Beauty

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera imaged this bright young ray crater (3.13˚N, 281.07˚E) on 3 November 2018 — just three weeks ago. The Sun shone from the west (left, 48˚ incidence angle). This image covers an area 8.1 kilometers...

Published on 21 Nov 2018

Fractured Crater

Interior of Komarov crater (24.59°N, 152.25°E; 85 kilometers diameter), near the southern edge of Mare Moscoviense, on the lunar farside. Image 15 km wide across center, LROC NAC M1263901757LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 15 Nov 2018