Three years ago, a camera aboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was struck by a tiny meteoroid as it was capturing an image of the lunar surface. By studying the resulting zigzag patterns, scientists have been able to estimate the speed and size of the offending object.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter really outdid itself with this amazing shot of the Earth over the rocky limb of the Moon. While complicated to capture, we think it was worth every moment.
Five years ago today, NASA launched its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter into space. It's been snapping high-resolution images of the moon's surface ever since, revealing secrets about its true "dark side," scouting out landing sites for future missions, and returning gorgeous images the likes of which have never been…
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) experiences 12 "earthrises" every day, but it recently took full advantage of an opportunity to capture this image of Earth — and it's marvelous.
There's a very strange place on our moon called Ina, a D-shaped depression about 1.2 miles (2 km) wide and 100 feet (30 m) deep — and it's unlike any other feature on the lunar surface. But what caused it?
Why? Because we never pass up the opportunity to sling Sean Connery puns. Also, this lunar ash hole is actually pretty cool.
It has been decades since humans last visited the moon, but this video, created by the Center for Lunar Science and Exploration from real photographic images, lets you imagine that you're flying over the moon's surface. So sit back, relax, and let the moon take over your monitor for a few minutes.
If you've ever heard someone talk about the Dark Side of the Moon, there's a decent chance they were actually referring to its far side — i.e. the face of the Moon that is permanently pointed away from Earth. If this was the case, they were actually using the term "dark side" incorrectly; the far side of our Moon…
I don't think I've ever been been this excited about a globe in my life. Don't get me wrong, globes are great, but according to the folks over at Sky & Telescope Magazine, we've just reached a major milestone for Moon globes — what they claim is the first major update to a physical lunar likeness in more than forty…
When we gaze up at the Moon, we expect a certain degree of consistency. Sure, it moves through its phases, shifting in and out of darkness over the course of the month, but generally speaking, the Moon's surface looks the same to us — night after night, year after year. But the Moon has not always looked the way it…
Unless you're an astronaut, we're willing to bet that you have never seen the Moon depicted as stunningly as it is here. For close to three years now, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been snapping high resolution photos of the Moon's surface. Now, the Goddard Visualization Studio has used those images to…
When you consider the utter vastness of space, it isn't hard to accept that, somewhere out there, extraterrestrial life probably exists. That being said, one can just as soon reason that the Universe is so immense, the odds of us actually finding evidence for the existence of alien organisms are probably pretty slim.…
Thanks to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, we can now see the Moon's mountains and craters in unprecedented detail. This beautiful topographic map is going to be an invaluable resource in planning the next generation of lunar missions.
Using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA has created the highest-resolution, most accurate map of the surface of the moon ever. Great. Now let's pick a spot to park our spaceships and let's get back there pronto.
This lunar soil marks the last time humans visited another world. It was here in December 1972 that the final Apollo astronauts walked on the Moon. This image is a solemn reminder of our space explorations past and (hopefully) future.
NASA showed images of the lunar landing sites in 2009, punching all moronic conspiracy theorists a new stupid face, Buzz Aldrin style. Now they have released new higher resolution shots taken again by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's cameras have just captured some stunning photographs of the tracks that humans left behind at the landing sites of Apollo 12, 14, and 17. You can see everything from astronaut footprints, to the tire tracks from the lunar rovers.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has provided us with some absolutely incredible images of the Moon — and its crowning achievement might just be this image, which is the most complete view of the far side of the Moon ever assembled.
It may not be a Double Rainbow, but it's a Lunar Rainbow! How could this be possible? it doesn't rain there. The Moon doesn't even have an atmosphere...so how could the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's camera capture this phenomenal phenomenon?
As part of Saturday's International Observe the Moon Night, NASA fired a ton of lasers at the moon. They weren't declaring war on alien life form, or trying to melt the cheese, but instead tracking the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
