Featured Images

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 2024

Apollo 17 Remains Unchallenged After Fifty Years

Fifty years ago, the Apollo 17 crew concluded a series of human exploration missions that remain, like their footsteps, some of the greatest achievements in human history. Apollo 17 handheld image (AS17-134-20382) of astronaut Harrison...

Published on 10 Dec 2022

Mystery Rocket Body Found!

A rocket body impacted the Moon on 04 March 2022 near Hertzsprung crater, creating an apparent double crater, roughly 28 meters wide in the longest dimension. LROC NAC M1407760984R enlarged 3x [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 23 Jun 2022

Topography of the Taurus-Littrow Valley

Color-shaded relief map of the Taurus-Littrow Valley (APOLLO17 DTM mosaic) made from eleven NAC stereo pairs [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 11 Feb 2022

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 2021

IMPs: Young Lunar Volcanism?

Irregular Mare Patch located inside Sosigenes Crater (8.7° N, 17.5° E), approximately 17 km across. NAC controlled mosaic containing images M1264703188L/R, M1264710221L/R, and M1264717254L/R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 24 Feb 2021

Apollo 14 Fiftieth Anniversary!

Apollo 14 landing site (4.646°S, 342.528°E) showing the two extra-vehicular activities (EVAs; orange = EVA1 and teal = EVA2) with stations (pink triangles), and geologic features (white dots). 

Published on 05 Feb 2021

The Highs and Lows of Ryder Crater

Ryder Crater (13 x 17 km across) controlled Feature Mosaic; located at 43.8° S, 143.2° E, north is up, LROC NAC images M1172098182, M1172105288, and M1172112395 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 19 Oct 2020

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

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

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

Lobate Scarps: The Movie

Lobate scarps - like those shown here on the floor of the farside crater d'Alembert - are not large, but they tell us much about how hot the Moon was when it was born and its ongoing thermal evolution. Image width is about four...

Published on 31 Oct 2018

Deflector Shields Up!

Part of the westernmost swirl feature in Mare Marginis. This closeup of the center of the anaglyph strip below highlights an area little more than five kilometers wide. Bright swirl areas appeared "painted on" the landscape. Part of NAC...

Published on 06 Sep 2018

South Massif Landslide

By lunar standards South Massif is a relatively modest mountain, but with a rich history (geologic and exploration). The massif is about 7000 meters across at the base and 2300 meters tall; M1266925685LR, incidence angle 33°, slew angle...

Published on 09 Jun 2018

Curiously Fast Degradation of Small Lunar Craters

Taurus-Littrow valley, geologic exploration target for Apollo 17 and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera study team led by Dr. Prasun Mahanti.  Center latitude 20.15°N, center longitude 30.98°E, image 18 km wide, image...

Published on 24 Apr 2018

Spacecraft Related Coordinates - 2016 Update

Luna 17, the intrepid lander that carried the Lunokhod 1 rover to the surface. You can make out the rover's tracks around the lander, the tight circles were formed as the Earth-bound drivers tested out the maneuverability of their just...

Published on 25 Nov 2016

What's Next for LRO?

LRO and LROC will continue to explore the Moon during the mission's third extended mission to understand fundamental processes that shape our Solar System.

Published on 22 Aug 2016

Regolith Porosity from Orbit

Apollo 11 photograph of boot-print in the lunar regolith (cropped version of AS11-40-5878).  

Published on 08 Jun 2016

New Evidence For Young Lunar Volcanism!

One of many newly-discovered young volcanic deposits on the Moon (4.330°N, 33.750°E), this example is near the crater Maskelyne. The direction of sunlight is from the right and north is up, NAC M1123370138R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...

Published on 12 Oct 2014

The Chang'e 3 Landing Site in 3D

Slope map overlain on an LROC NAC image of the Chang'e 3 landing site at 44.12°N, 340.49°E in Mare Imbrium. The Chinese spacecraft landed just to the east of the large crater near the center.  Slopes range from zero (blue) to...

Published on 07 Oct 2014