Featured Lunar Sites
Some of the most requested LROC images; from newly discovered lunar features to the closest images of the Apollo landing sites since the astronauts left:
- 21st Century Spacecraft Impacts
- 21st Century Landing Sites
- New Impacts
- Apollo Landing Sites
- Apollo S-IVB Impact Sites
- Surveyor Landing Sites
- Ranger Impact Sites
- Luna Landing Sites
- Lunokhod Rover Sites
21st Century Spacecraft Impacts
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GRAIL A
GRAIL A
United States
The GRAIL-A spacecraft (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory), named "Ebb", was one of two spacecraft launched as part of a NASA Discovery mission on 10 September 2011. The goal of the GRAIL mission was to map the Moon's gravity field in unprecedented detail in order to understand the structure of the lunar interior, place limits on the size of the Moon's core, and determine the subsurface structure of the lunar crust. Following a primary science mission and a subsequent extended mission, Ebb was intentionally guided to an impact at the Sally K. Ride Impact Site on 17 December 2012. The crater resulting from the GRAIL A impact is 6 meters in diameter.
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GRAIL B
GRAIL B
United States
The GRAIL-B spacecraft (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory), named "Flow", was one of two spacecraft launched as part of a NASA Discovery mission on 10 September 2011. The goal of the GRAIL mission was to map the Moon's gravity field in unprecedented detail in order to understand the structure of the lunar interior, place limits on the size of the Moon's core, and determine the subsurface structure of the lunar crust. Following a primary science mission and a subsequent extended mission, Flow was intentionally guided to an impact at the Sally K. Ride Impact Site on 17 December 2012. The crater resulting from the GRAIL B impact is 6 meters in diameter.
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LADEE
LADEE
United States
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) launched on 7 September 2013 and reached lunar orbit on 9 October 2013. LADEE's mission was to characterize the Moon's tenuous surface bound exosphere and dust environment from orbit. After completing 30 days of commissioning phase science operations, LADEE successfully performed a 100 day primary mission and a 28 day extended mission. LADEE unceremoniously impacted the farside on 18 April 2014.
For more information about the LADEE mission, please visit: NASA's official LADEE website.
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21st Century Landing Sites
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Chang'e 3 Landing Site
Chang'e 3 Landing Site
China
Chang'e 3 launched on 1 December 2013 and successfully landed in Mare Imbrium on 14 December 2013. The Chang'e 3 spacecraft is equipped with a suite of instruments to study the surface and acquire astronomical observations. Chang'e 3 also carried the Yutu rover, which was successfully deployed several hours after landing and was fully operational for only a month.
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Chang'e 4 Landing Site
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Chang'e 4 Landing Site
China
Chang'e 4 launched on 7 December 2018 and successfully landed in Von Kármán crater in the South Pole-Aitken Basin on 3 January 2019. The Chang'e 4 lander is the first spacecraft to complete a soft landing on the lunar farside. Therefore, its launch was preceded by the Queqiao relay satellite to help with communication to Earth. The Yutu-2 rover was carried onboard the Chang'e 4 lander and was successfully deployed shortly after landing. The relay satellite, lander, and rover were equipped with scientific payloads to study the surface and acquire astronomical observations.
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New Impacts
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17 March 2013 Event
17 March 2013 Event
Natural Event
A team of Marshall Space Flight Center scientists monitors the Moon for flashes of light caused by meteoroids impacting the surface. Their brightest recorded flash was captured on 17 March 2013, this event was so bright that an observer on the Earth could spot it without a telescope! According to the Marshall Space Flight Center team, the meteor involved in the March 17th event weighed 40 kg, was 0.3 - 0.4 meters in diameter, and was traveling at an approximate speed of 56,000 mph. A LROC NAC image acquired on 28 July 2013 revealed a new 18-meter (59 feet) diameter crater that corresponds to the location of the bright flash. We are certain it is the correct crater because it does not appear in the “before” NAC image (10 March 2012).
New Crater 260
New Crater 260
Natural Event
The impact that created New Crater 260 occurred between 24 October 2010 and 28 March 2013, based on analysis of LROC image data. The resulting crater is 5 meters across.
New Crater 278
New Crater 278
Natural Event
The impact that created New Crater 278 occurred between 31 May 2011 and 24 November 2011, based on analysis of LROC image data. The resulting crater is 2 meters across.
New Crater 572
New Crater 572
Natural Event
The impact that created New Crater 572 occurred between 25 August 2010 and 8 February 2012, based on analysis of LROC image data. The resulting crater is 7 meters across.
Apollo Landing Sites
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Apollo 11
Longitude: 23.47° Latitude: 0.67° Elevation: -1929 m
Apollo 11
United States
Astronauts Neil Armstrong and "Buzz" Aldrin landed the Apollo 11 Lunar Module (LM) in Mare Tranquillitatis [0.67416° N, 23.47314° E], at 20:17:40 UTC 20 July 1969. They spent a total of 21.5 hours on the lunar surface, performing one Extra-Vehicular Activity (EVA) and collecting 21.5 kg of lunar samples. Astronaut Michael Collins orbited the Moon in the Lunar Command Module (LCM), awaiting the return of Armstrong and Aldrin from the surface. Apollo 11 was the first lunar landing, however it was the fifth manned Apollo mission, earlier missions laying the ground-work for Apollo 11.
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Apollo 12
Temporal Traverse Simple Traverse Flip Book Individual Images Description
Apollo 12
United States
Astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed the Apollo 12 Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) in Oceanus Procellarum, demonstrating precision landing by setting down the LEM near the Surveyor 3 lunar probe [3.0128° S, 336.57810° E]. Conrad and Bean landed at 06:54:35 UTC on 19 November 1969, and stayed for 1 day and 7.5 hours, during which they performed two Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) totaling 7.75 hours and collecting 35.34 kg of lunar samples.
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Apollo 14
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Apollo 14
United States
Astronauts Alan Shepard and Ed Mitchell landed the Apollo 14 Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) in the Frau Mauro formation [3.64589° S, 342.52806° E]. Shephard and Mitchell landed at 09:18:11 UTC on 5 February 1971, and stayed on the lunar surface for 1 day and 9 hours, during which they performed two Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) totaling 9.37 hours and collecting 42.28 kg of lunar samples.
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Apollo 15
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Apollo 15
United States
Astronauts David Scott and James Irwin landed the Apollo 15 Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) next to Hadley Rille in Mare Ibrium [26.13239° N, 3.63330° E]. Scott and Irwin landed at 22:16:29 UTC on 30 July 1971, and stayed on the lunar surface for 2 days and 18 hours, during which they performed three Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) totaling 18.5 hours and collecting 77 kg of lunar samples. Apollo 15 was the first of the J Class Missions, which included the new Metric and Panoramic orbital camera systems, the Lunar Rover and additional surface experiments.
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Apollo 16
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Apollo 16
United States
Astronauts John Young and Charles Duke landed the Apollo 16 Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) in the Descartes Highlands [8.9734° S, 16.5011° E]. Young and Duke landed at 02:23:35 UTC on 21 April 1972, and stayed on the lunar surface for 2 days and 23 hours, during which they performed three Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) totaling 20.25 hours and collecting 95.71 kg of lunar samples.
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Apollo 17
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Apollo 17
United States
Astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt landed the Apollo 17 Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) within the Taurus-Littrow Valley [20.1911° N, 30.7723° E]. Cernan and Schmitt landed at 19:45:57 UTC on 11 December 1972, and stayed on the lunar surface for 3 days and 2 hours, during which they performed three Extra-Vehicular Activities (EVA) totaling 22 hours and collecting 110.52 kg of lunar samples. Apollo 17 was the last manned mission to the lunar surface.
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Apollo S-IVB Impact Sites
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Apollo 13 S-IVB
Apollo 13 S-IVB
United States
The third stage of the Apollo 13 Saturn V launch vehicle was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 14 April 1970 to serve as an energy source to probe the interior structure of the Moon using seismometers placed on the surface by Apollo astronauts. The impact left a 37x28 meter crater.
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Apollo 14 S-IVB
Apollo 14 S-IVB
United States
The third stage of the Apollo 14 Saturn V launch vehicle was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 4 February 1971 to serve as an energy source to probe the interior structure of the Moon using seismometers placed on the surface by Apollo astronauts. The impact left a 30 meter crater.
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Apollo 15 S-IVB
Apollo 15 S-IVB
United States
The third stage of the Apollo 15 Saturn V launch vehicle was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 29 July 1971 to serve as an energy source to probe the interior structure of the Moon using seismometers placed on the surface by Apollo astronauts. The impact left a 36x38 meter crater.
Apollo 17 S-IVB
Apollo 17 S-IVB
United States
The third stage of the Apollo 17 Saturn V launch vehicle was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 10 December 1972 to serve as an energy source to probe the interior structure of the Moon using seismometers placed on the surface by Apollo astronauts. The impact left a 31 meter crater.
Surveyor Landing Sites
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Surveyor 1
Surveyor 1
United States
Surveyor 1 was launched on 30 May 1966 and landed in Oceanus Procellarum on 2 June 1966. The mission's objectives were to soft land on the Moon and collect information on the properties of the lunar regolith to prepare for the upcoming Apollo missions. Surveyor 1 carried a television camera system (which ultimately transmitted a total of 11,240 pictures) and an array of engineering sensors.
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Surveyor 3
Surveyor 3
United States
Surveyor 3 was launched on 17 April 1967 and landed in Oceanus Procellarum on 20 April 1967. The mission's objectives were to soft land on the Moon and collect information on the properties of the lunar regolith to prepare for the upcoming Apollo missions. Surveyor 3 carried a television camera system (which ultimately returned 6326 images) and a soil mechanics surface sampling device (which operated for over 18 hours) to test the properties of the lunar surface. During the Apollo 12 mission, Astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean landed near Surveyor 3 in on 19 November 1969 and returned some of the components of the Surveyor 3 spacecraft to Earth for engineering analysis. In the Surveyor 3 images, the Apollo 12 Lunar Module is clearly visible at the northwest edge of Surveyor Crater and, in the right lighting conditions, the tracks of the Apollo 12 astronauts are also clearly visible.
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Surveyor 5
Surveyor 5
United States
Surveyor 5 was launched on 8 September 1967 and landed in Mare Tranquillitatis on 11 September 1967. The mission's objectives were to soft land on the Moon and collect information on the properties of the lunar regolith to prepare for the upcoming Apollo missions. Surveyor 5 carried a television camera (ultimately returning 19,118 images) and an alpha particle backscattering instrument to measure the composition of the lunar regolith in-situ.
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Surveyor 6
Surveyor 6
United States
Surveyor 6 was launched on 7 November 1967 and landed in Sinus Medii on 10 November 1967. The mission's objectives were to soft land on the Moon and collect information on the properties of the lunar regolith to prepare for the upcoming Apollo missions. Surveyor 6 carried a television camera (ultimately returning 30,027 images) and an alpha particle backscattering instrument to measure the composition of the lunar regolith in-situ.
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Surveyor 7
Surveyor 7
United States
Surveyor 7 was launched on 7 January 1968 and landed near the north rim of Tycho crater on 10 January 1968. The landing site for Surveyor 7, specifically chosen for primarily scientific reasons, was far from the lunar maria in the southern highlands in order to enable investigations of materials different from the other Surveyor missions. Surveyor 7 carried a television camera (ultimately returning 21,038 images), an alpha particle backscattering instrument, and a soil mechanics surface sampling device.
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Ranger Impact Sites
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Ranger 6
Ranger 6
United States
The Ranger series of missions were designed to be launched into a lunar impact trajectory and provide progressively higher resolution images of the lunar surface right up until the point of impact in order to facilitate preparations for the Apollo missions. Ranger 6 was launched on 30 January 1964 and was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 2 February 1964 on the eastern edge of Mare Tranquillitatis, leaving a 14 meter crater. Unfortunately, due to a hardware malfunction, no image data was returned.
Ranger 7
Ranger 7
United States
The Ranger series of missions were designed to be launched into a lunar impact trajectory and provide progressively higher resolution images of the lunar surface right up until the point of impact in order to facilitate preparations for the Apollo missions. Ranger 7 was launched on 28 July 1964 and was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 31 July 1964 in Mare Cognitum, leaving a 13 meter crater. 4,308 images were returned prior to impact.
Ranger 8
Ranger 8
United States
The Ranger series of missions were designed to be launched into a lunar impact trajectory and provide progressively higher resolution images of the lunar surface right up until the point of impact in order to facilitate preparations for the Apollo missions. Ranger 8 was launched on 17 February 1965 and was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 20 February 1965 in Mare Tranquillitatis, leaving a 12 meter crater. 7,137 images were returned prior to impact.
Ranger 9
Ranger 9
United States
The Ranger series of missions were designed to be launched into a lunar impact trajectory and provide progressively higher resolution images of the lunar surface right up until the point of impact in order to facilitate preparations for the Apollo missions. Ranger 9 was launched on 21 March 1965 and was intentionally impacted on the lunar surface on 24 March 1965 in Alphonsus crater, leaving a 14 meter crater. 5814 images were returned prior to impact.
Luna Landing Sites
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Luna 16
Luna 16
Soviet Union
Luna 16 was launched on 12 September 1970 and successfully landed on the lunar surface in Mare Fecunditatis on 20 September 1970. After collecting 101 g of lunar soil, the Luna 16 ascent stage launched on 21 September 1970 and successfully landed back on Earth on 24 September 1970.
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Luna 17
Luna 17
Soviet Union
Luna 17 was the carrier spacecraft for the Lunokhod 1 rover. Luna 17 was launched on 10 November 1970 and successfully landed in Mare Imbrium on 17 November 1970. Lunokhod 1 was deployed several hours after landing.
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Luna 20
Luna 20
Soviet Union
Luna 20 was a successful automated sample return. Luna 20 was launched on 14 February 1972 and successfully landed in the rugged lunar highlands between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium on 21 February 1972. After collecting 55 g of lunar regolith, the Luna 20 ascent stage launched on 22 February 1973 and successfully landed back on Earth on 25 February 1972.
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Luna 21
Luna 21
Soviet Union
Luna 21 was the carrier spacecraft for the Lunokhod 2 rover. Luna 21 was launched on 8 January 1973 and successfully landed in Le Monnier crater on 15 January 1973. Lunokhod 2 was successfully deployed several hours after landing.
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Luna 23
Luna 23
Soviet Union
Luna 23 was an attempted automated sample return mission. Luna 23 was launched on 28 October 1974 and landed in Mare Crisium on 6 November 1974. Due to a spacecraft malfunction, a sample could not be obtained and the whole spacecraft (including the ascent stage) remains on the lunar surface.
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Luna 24
Luna 24
Soviet Union
Luna 24 was a successful automated sample return. Luna 24 was launched on 9 August 1976 and successfully landed in Mare Crisium near the Luna 23 spacecraft on 18 August 1976. After collecting 170 g of lunar regolith, the Luna 24 ascent stage launched on 19 August 1976 and successfully landed back on Earth on 22 August 1976.
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Lunokhod Rover Sites
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Lunokhod 1
Longitude: 324.99° Latitude: 38.32° Elevation: -2471 m
Lunokhod 1
Soviet Union
Lunokhod 1 was launched aboard the Luna 17 spacecraft on 10 November 1970, and the rover was deployed on 17 November following Luna 17's successful landing in Mare Imbrium. Lunokhod 1 carried a suite of analytical instrumentation including cameras, geotechnical measurement devices, an x-ray spectrometer, and cosmic-ray detectors. Lunokhod 1 survived for eleven lunar days and traveled slightly over 10 km on the lunar surface.
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Lunokhod 2
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Lunokhod 2
Soviet Union
Lunokhod 2 was launched aboard the Luna 21 spacecraft on 8 January 1973, and the rover was deployed on 16 January 1973 following a successful landing in Le Monnier crater. Lunokhod 2 carried a suite of analytical instrumentation including cameras, geotechnical measurement devices, an astrophotometer, a magnetometer, a radiometer, a photodetector, and a laser retroreflector. Lunokhod 2 operated for almost four months and traversed 39 km on the lunar surface.
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