The First Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Pictures Are Here!
July 02, 2009
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) launched on June 18 for a short trek to the moon. Only five days later, the LRO and companion spaceship, the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), arrived in lunar orbit. On June 30, the LRO opened its eyes and started taking pictures of the cratered surface. Prepare yourself, you're about to see the first images transmitted to Earth from the LRO.
Ready? Here they are...
[Update: Thanks to Phil Plait at Bad Astronomy, I've just found out that there is a fully zoomified calibration image available -- take a look, the resolution is an astounding 73 cm!]
"Our first images were taken along the moon's terminator -- the dividing line between day and night -- making us initially unsure of how they would turn out," said Mark Robinson, the Principal Investigator of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC).
"Because of the deep shadowing, subtle topography is exaggerated, suggesting a craggy and inhospitable surface. In reality, the area is similar to the region where the Apollo 16 astronauts safely explored in 1972. While these are magnificent in their own right, the main message is that LROC is nearly ready to begin its mission."
These first images are of a region south of Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds), in the lunar highlands, and the detail is striking. These two photos have been extracted from a larger image and are 1.4km (0.84 miles) wide and features as small as 3 meters are resolved.
The reconnaissance mission has officially begun! The data collected from both LRO and LCROSS will aid future manned missions to the lunar surface; preparing detailed observations of the landscape (including the tantalizing opportunity to image the Apollo landing sites), seeking out water ice and monitoring the effects of radiation on fake human tissue carried by the LRO...
Stunning!
37 years since the last manned landing on the moon, we can start getting excited about the next manned lunar mission -- hopefully by 2020, an objective the LRO is already working toward...
Source: NASA via Universe Today
Comments
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yea!
err how come they are in black and white? (21st century remember?)
anyway looking forward to some great moon pictures. i like my tax dollars going towards this.
Posted by: charles kafka | July 03, 2009 at 12:30 PM