Amazing Moon Photos from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Moon Zoo

Rocket Launches New U.S. Moon Probes

NASA's LRO and LCROSS moon probes blast off atop an Atlas 5 rocket in this June 18, 2009 image to begin NASA's lunar return. This image was taken as the ULA rocket launched from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Far Side of the Moon Explained

This graphic (not to scale) shows that the moon's crust is thickest on the central far side, and becomes thinner towards the north pole in a manner described with a simple math formula. The highlands appear to have formed early in the moon's history, when a magma ocean, shaped by tides caused by Earth's gravity, heated the moon's floating crust non-uniformly. Since then, the magma ocean has solidified.

New Moon Orbiter Sends First Lunar Snapshots

Cratered regions near the moon's Mare Nubium region, as photographed by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's LROC instrument, in a region 1,400 meters (0.87 miles) wide.

LRO

Moon’s South Pole Gets Close-Up in Restored Photos

Lunar Orbiter IV took this photo of the moon's south pole in May of 1967. It has been digitized and restored through the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project. For more images like this one, please visit the project's Web site,

Two NASA Moon Probes Head to Launch Site

The truck that is driving LRO to Florida left the Goddard Space Flight Center before dawn to avoid as much traffic as possible.

New Moon Photo Reveals Tracks from Tough Apollo Moonwalk

This annotated figure shows the positions of various landmarks surrounding the Apollo 14 landing site on the moon's Fra Mauro highlands as seen by the LRO spacecraft. The small white arrows highlight locations where the astronauts' path can be clearly seen.

Water on the Moon?

Artist's rendition of Centaur upper stage rocket approaching the moon with the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), "shepherding satellite," attached.

Water Discovered in Moon Samples

Researchers led by Brown geologist Alberto Saal analyzed lunar volcanic glasses, such these gathered by the Apollo 15 mission, and used a new analytic technique to detect water. The discovery strongly suggests that water has been a part of the Moon since its early existence – and perhaps since it was first created.