Featured Images

First Look: Chang'e 4

Arrows indicate position of Chang'e 4 lander on the floor of Von Kármán crater. The sharp crater behind and to the left of the landing site is 3900 meters across (12,800 feet) and 600 meters (1970 feet) deep. Image was shrunk by more...

Published on 06 Feb 2019

The West Side of Plato Crater

Western Plato crater (at right) and the geologically complex region west of its rim — part of a controlled and corrected mosaic made up of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images. The late afternoon...

Published on 18 Jan 2019

Chang'e 4 Lander Coordinates

Following the Chang'e 4 descent frames (CNSA/CLEP) to the surface makes it easy to find the exact landing spot in a NAC image, which was taken before the landing. Note that the NAC image is rotated so north is down to match the Chang'e...

Published on 11 Jan 2019

On the Farside!

Safe on the farside, Chang'e 4 set down somewhere in this LROC image obtained 17 July 2010. The lines connect craters seen in the Chang'e 4 descent image (CNSA/CLEP) with the same craters seen in the LROC image. Image width 2700 meters,...

Published on 03 Jan 2019

Von Kármán Crater: Awaiting A Visitor

Von Kármán crater (186 kilometer diameter), a treasure house of geologic landforms! LROC Wide Angle Camera mosaic, five degree latitude and longitude grid [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 02 Jan 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

Mount Marilyn: A Lunar Love Story

Mount Marilyn, with its distinctive triangular shape, served as an important navigation landmark for the Apollo 11 astronauts. Portion of LROC Wide Angle Camera mosaic, 138 km wide [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 21 Dec 2018

Korolev X and Z

Sharing a melt flow: visible in the right part of this oblique image is the bright wall of Korolev Z crater, the source of a 12.5-kilometer-long dark melt flow that drapes across the ancient floor of the degraded crater Korolev X. South...

Published on 14 Dec 2018

Lunar Beauty

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera imaged this bright young ray crater (3.13˚N, 281.07˚E) on 3 November 2018 — just three weeks ago. The Sun shone from the west (left, 48˚ incidence angle). This image covers an area 8.1 kilometers...

Published on 21 Nov 2018

Fractured Crater

Interior of Komarov crater (24.59°N, 152.25°E; 85 kilometers diameter), near the southern edge of Mare Moscoviense, on the lunar farside. Image 15 km wide across center, LROC NAC M1263901757LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 15 Nov 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

New Monthly Schedule: LROC PDS Data Release 36A

A montage of the LROC NAC images in NASA Planetary Data System release 36A, the first of our new monthly schedule, released 15 October 2018. The image shows the center of every Sun-illuminated, calibrated NAC image with a Data...

Published on 15 Oct 2018

The South Side of Tycho Crater

Get out your red/blue anaglyph glasses for a three-dimensional treat! This extreme closeup of the south side of 86-kilometer-diameter Tycho Crater shows melt flows and pools, small craters, sagging slopes that look like ripples,...

Published on 08 Oct 2018

Another Layered Target

Copernicus crater central peak reveals the complexity of the lunar crust through distinct layering and patchy surface brightness. Image 3 km wide,  M1261372886LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 04 Oct 2018

Layered Target

Spectacular view across the rim of Wallach crater (5700 meter diameter), acquired when LRO was 93 kilometers above the surface, M1236317761LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Published on 11 Sep 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

Cool Cold Spots

Oblique (very!) view of Einthoven cold spot crater, located at 109.91° E, 6.74° S. White rays and the crater's rocky rim and rugged interior wall are visible signs of youth. The cold spot anomaly surrounding the crater is another sign...

Published on 21 Aug 2018

NAC Anaglyph: Moore F Crater

Moore F is an impact crater in transition. Image width is about eight kilometers. NAC images M125720601L/R and M125713813L/R. [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]

Published on 09 Aug 2018

Aristarchus Crater

The Aristarchus crater (40 kilometer diameter, 23.73°N, 312.51°E) and plateau is one of the most geologically complex areas on the Moon. In this amazing picture, the LRO spacecraft slewed 62° (west-to-east) looking across the crater....

Published on 04 Aug 2018

Another Eclipse!

LROC WAC mosaic centered at 22.0°N and 277.5°E showing the Earth's shadow during a partial lunar eclipse on June 26, 2010. It takes LRO two hours to orbit the Moon so only during one orbit was the spacecraft in the full shadow, or...

Published on 26 Jul 2018