spacetoday.net: LRO returns images of Apollo sites

LRO returns images of Apollo sites

Posted: Sat, Jul 18, 2009, 11:26 AM ET (1526 GMT)
LRO image of Apollo 11 site (NASA)

NASA released Friday the highest-resolution images taken to date of most of the Apollo landing sites, showing details such as the descent stages of the lunar landers. The images were taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a spacecraft launched last month whose payload includes a high-resolution camera. The images of all six of the Apollo sites, with the exception of Apollo 12, show the descent stages left behind by the landers and the shadows they cast. In some cases the images also show other details, such as trails of footprints left behind by the Apollo astronauts. Project officials said these are now the best images that LRO can generate: it will eventually be able to generate images with resolutions two to three times sharper.