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Luna 21 Lander

Luna 21 Lander

Luna 21 lander delivered the Lunokhod 2 rover to the floor of Le Monnier crater in January 1973, LROC NAC Image M122007650LE [NASA/GSFC/ Arizona State University].

Published on 19 Mar 2010

Soviet Union Lunar Rovers

Soviet Union Lunar Rovers

Soviet robotic lander Luna 17 still sitting on Mare Imbrium where it delivered the Lunokhod 1 Rover in November 1970, LROC NAC Image M114185541RE [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 17 Mar 2010

Soviet Union Lunar Sample Return Missions

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

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

Marius Hills Pit - Lava Tube Skylight?

Marius Hills Pit - Lava Tube Skylight?

The Marius Hills pit is a possible skylight in a lava tube in an ancient volcanic region of the Moon called the Marius Hills. This LROC image is the highest resolution image of the pit to date. Image width is 1400 meters, NAC...

Published on 01 Mar 2010

Near the Summit of Malapert Mountain

Near the Summit of Malapert Mountain

The lunar highlands exhibit rhythmic patterns thought to result from slow, downslope creep of the loose regolith (soil). These subtle patterns are most easily seen when the Sun is low to the horizon. Image is 2400 meters wide, north is...

Published on 22 Feb 2010

Van de Graaff Constellation Crater wall Region of Interest

Van de Graaff Constellation Crater wall Region of Interest

Wall of crater Van de Graaff C, where brighter material is exposed by more active processes associated with steeper slopes, recent small craters, and even individual rolling boulders. NAC image 112822306, image width 0.68 km...

Published on 11 Feb 2010

Intricate young ejecta blanket in ancient Murchison Crater

Intricate young ejecta blanket in ancient Murchison Crater

Overlapping petals of bright ejecta illustrate the complexity of ejecta emplacement, even in smaller impact events. The source crater is ~120 meters in diameter and lies on the floor of Murchison Crater, one of the Constellation...

Published on 09 Feb 2010

Riccioli Crater: Cracked, Melted, and Draped

Riccioli Crater: Cracked, Melted, and Draped

High-resolution LROC view of part of the floor of Riccioli Crater, near the center of the Constellation region of interest. The view is centered on the boundary between a spur of the crater's central peak materials (lower right half of...

Published on 04 Feb 2010

Out of the Shadows: Impact Melt Flow at Byrgius A Crater

Out of the Shadows: Impact Melt Flow at Byrgius A Crater

Spectacularly preserved viscous flow on the NE rim of Byrgius A (19 km diameter) crater. This flow has a form similar to lava flows on the Earth - however it formed as a result of an asteroid or comet slamming into the Moon at...

Published on 02 Feb 2010

Plato Crater Constellation Region of Interest

Plato Crater Constellation Region of Interest

The Constellation Program region of interest northwest of Plato crater exhibits a wide variety of geologic features. LROC WAC frame M109269483CE; 695 nm in red, 567 nm in green, 415 nm in blue [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 02 Feb 2010

Precise 3D Measurements of Objects at Apollo 14 Landing Site from LROC NAC Stereo Images

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

Montes Pyrenaeus meets Mare Nectaris

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

King Crater's Unusual Melt Pond

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

Aristarchus Plateau (2): Pyroclastic Deposit

Aristarchus Plateau (2): Pyroclastic Deposit

NAC Frame M111945148R. Part of the vast pyroclastic deposit near a Constellation Program Region of Interest located on the Aristarchus plateau is visible in this image. View is 537 m across [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 21 Jan 2010

 A Digital Terrain Model of the  Orientale Basin

A Digital Terrain Model of the Orientale Basin

A Digital Terrain Model (DTM) of the large Orientale Basin (1100 km diameter), located on the western hemisphere of the Moon, produced from stereo LROC WAC images. The image shows the hill-shaded, color-coded DTM with heights varying...

Published on 20 Jan 2010

Aristarchus Plateau (1): Amazing Geologic Diversity

Aristarchus Plateau (1): Amazing Geologic Diversity

Eastern slope (right to left is downhill) of the Vallis Schröteri, "Cobra Head". This feature is located in the western portion of a Constellation Program region of interest on the Aristarchus plateau. The slopes of the Cobra Head are...

Published on 19 Jan 2010

The Floor of Tycho - Constellation Region of Interest

The Floor of Tycho - Constellation Region of Interest

Boulders and impact melt line the floor of the 85-km crater Tycho, a potential site for future human exploration. Scene width is 620 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 14 Jan 2010

Aitken Crater Constellation Program Region of Interest

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

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