Featured Images
Fractures in the mare of Tsiolkovskiy Crater
Small fractures in the mare floor of Tsiolkovskiy Crater are a departure from the usual scene of smooth mare pitted with impact craters. As the mare cools, fractures like these can form, or these fractures might have formed due to...
Published on 24 Aug 2010
Remnants of the Imbrium impact
Mare basalts embayed ejecta structures formed by the massive Imbrium impact in LROC NAC image M131501983R. Arrows denote the contact between younger mare basalts and older Imbrium ejecta, image width is 902 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 03 Aug 2010
How Common are Mare Pit Craters?
One of three large pit craters so far found on the Moon -- do these pits provide access to open lava tubes? Image is 1170 meters wide, LROC NAC M106662246R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 14 Jul 2010
Depths of Mare Ingenii
Impact craters are visible everywhere on the Moon, but pits are rare. This pit in Mare Ingenii (located at 35.95°S, 166.06°E) is about 130 m in diameter! Image width is 550 m, illumination is from the upper right, NAC M128202846LE...
Published on 16 Jun 2010
Window to the Farside Mantle
Ejecta from small craters reveal ancient buried mare to the northeast of Dewar crater, near the center of a Constellation region of interest. Image width is 570 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 10 Jun 2010
Gruithuisen Domes - Constellation Region of Interest
A small rille hugging the contours at the base of Gruithuisen Gamma, at the contact between the dome and the surrounding mare. Image is 1.6 km wide, illumination is from the left, NAC frame M104776541R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 08 Jun 2010
Mare Humboldtianum Constellation region of interest
Small crater and associated boulders near the center of the Constellation region of interest in Mare Humboldtianum, located at the mare-highlands boundary. Note the different textures of the highlands (in the lower left) and the mare...
Published on 03 Jun 2010
Lunar Swirls at the Mare Ingenii Constellation Region of Interest
Close-up image of the Mare Ingenii Constellation region of interest. Mare Ingenii is one of the few mare basalt deposits on the farside of the Moon and it contains rare lunar swirls. Image width is 800 meters [LROC-NAC M105795162R;...
Published on 25 May 2010
Splendors of Mare Smythii
Interior of fresh impact crater in the Smythii Constellation region of interest. Portion of image M126371530LE, scene width is 530 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 20 May 2010
Mare Frigoris Constellation Region of Interest
The floor of a l.2-km diameter crater in the Mare Frigoris Constellation region of interest. Samples of this material could help us understand the complex geologic history of this region of the Moon. NAC image M126752534RE; scene width...
Published on 06 May 2010
Constellation Region of Interest at Mare Tranquillitatis
Close up of a northwest trending wrinkle ridge in the high-Ti basaltic lava plains of Mare Tranquillitatis, near a Constellation region of interest. The bright areas along the steepest parts of the ridge are places where less mature...
Published on 27 Apr 2010
Graben and Pyroclastics in SW Mare Humorum
A small graben (28 m in width) in a pyroclastic mantling deposit in the SW portion of Mare Humorum. The image width is 500 m. NAC frame M111885077L obtained at an altitude of 44.7 km, illumination is from the right....
Published on 08 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
Chain of secondary craters in Mare Orientale
A small secondary crater chain near the southwestern margin of Mare Orientale, within the Inner Rook Mountains. The ~125-meter-long chain lies within one of the Constellation Program regions of interest in the Orientale multi-ring...
Published on 29 Mar 2010
Soviet Union Lunar Sample Return Missions
On February 21, 1972, Luna 20 soft landed in the rugged highlands between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium. The next day a sample return capsule blasted off carrying 55 grams of lunar soil. The Luna 20 descent stage still sits...
Published on 15 Mar 2010
Crisium's Constellation Region of Interest
Boulders on a wrinkle ridge in Mare Crisium may help us understand the geology of this Constellation region of interest. The scene is 460 meters across; image number M119469420LE [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 11 Mar 2010
Montes Pyrenaeus meets Mare Nectaris
A contact between the dark basalt (left) of Mare Nectaris and the lighter anorthosite highlands (right) of Montes Pyrenaeus runs through the Constellation Program region of interest on the western rim of the Nectaris impact basin. ...
Published on 28 Jan 2010
Aitken Crater Constellation Program Region of Interest
A lobate scarp in the mare basalts of Aitken crater on the lunar farside (arrows). Aitken crater is one of the fifty regions of interest in NASA’s Constellation Program. The smooth mare basalts that flooded the floor of Aitken crater...
Published on 12 Jan 2010
Mare Moscoviense Constellation Site
A very subtle mare-highlands boundary in Mare Moscoviense on the lunar farside, near the center of the Constellation Program region of interest. The generalized geologic contact between the mare and the highlands has been highlighted...
Published on 04 Jan 2010
Wrinkle ridges of northwest Mare Imbrium.
A northeast-trending wrinkle ridge cuts across the plains of Mare Imbrium. The overall ridge is about 4.5 km wide. The contact between the ridge (right) and the surrounding mare basalt plains (left) runs diagonally up the image...
Published on 14 Dec 2009