Featured Images
Apollo 16, Footsteps Under High Sun
High-sun image of the Apollo 16 landing site showing the lunar module descent stage, various pieces of equipment, and disturbed lunar soil (seen as darker lines and areas) which marks where John Young and Charles Duke traversed in the...
Published on 08 Jul 2010
Rima Bode: Constellation region of interest
LROC NAC closeup of a small fresh crater (230 m across) with very dark ejecta within the regional pyroclastic deposit in the highlands near Rima Bode II. This site is near a NASA Constellation region of interest. This crater has...
Published on 18 May 2010
Retracing the Steps of Apollo 15: Constellation Region of Interest
The third and final EVA of Apollo 15 brought the astronauts to the edge of Hadley Rille (lower left). Disturbed regolith is observed along the crater rim at station 9 and at the edge of the rille at station 9A. Rover tracks are visible...
Published on 16 Apr 2010
The Apollo 15 Lunar Laser Ranging Retroreflector - A Fundamental Point on the Moon!
Close-up of the Apollo 15 landing site sowing the Falcon descent stage and other hardware from the mission. In this calibrated image the Lunar Laser Ranging RetroReflector (LRRR) array appears as the (circled) tiny white rectangular...
Published on 13 Apr 2010
Apollo Basin: Mare in a Sea of Highlands
High resolution LROC image of floor of the Apollo Basin, a large (538 km diameter) double-ringed impact crater in the southern hemisphere of the far side. This image shows part of the boundary between two flow units within the...
Published on 30 Mar 2010
Rocket impacts recorded by the Apollo seismic network
Bang! On April 14th 1970, the Apollo 13 Saturn IVB upper stage impacted the Moon North of Mare Cognitum, at -2.55° latitude, -27.88° East longitude. The impact crater, which is roughly 30 meters in diameter, is clearly visible in LROC...
Published on 22 Mar 2010
Precise 3D Measurements of Objects at Apollo 14 Landing Site from LROC NAC Stereo Images
Can we measure the size and shape of equipment and other objects on the Moon using today’s orbital images from LROC cameras? As an example, to demonstrate the precise 3D measurement capability of LROC NAC stereo imagery, three objects...
Published on 29 Jan 2010
King Crater's Unusual Melt Pond
A Constellation Program Region of Interest near the northeast edge of the unusually large melt pond adjacent to the lunar far side crater King. The boundary between the dark, coherent impact melt rock at the lower left of the image and...
Published on 26 Jan 2010
High Noon at Tranquility Base
As the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) neared the surface, Neil Armstrong could see the landing area was right on the rough bouldery ejecta of West crater. He had to change the flight plan and fly the LM westward to find a safe landing...
Published on 09 Nov 2009
Apollo 12 Second Look: Midday on the Ocean of Storms
New view of the Apollo 12 landing site in Oceanus Procellarum imaged from the LRO mapping orbit. Small black arrows show locations where astronaut footpaths can be clearly discerned. Image width is 490 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 04 Nov 2009
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
Apollo 14 S-IVB Impact Crater
Crater (center of image) formed by impact of the Apollo 14 Saturn IVB booster. The booster was intentionally impacted into the lunar surface on February 4, 1971 to serve as an energy source to probe the interior structure of the Moon...
Published on 08 Oct 2009
Apollo 11: Second look
LROC's second look at the Apollo 11 Landing Site [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 29 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
First LROC Stereo Results
Synthetic perspective view looking south from the Apollo 16 landing area, topography is rendered naturally (no vertical exaggeration) [NASA/GSFC/Ohio State University].
Published on 25 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
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