NASA has released three photos of human lunar activity ahead of its upcoming GRAIL mission.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) captured images of the Apollo 12, 14, and 17 landing sites. The images were taken from space.
Noah Petro is a member of the LRO project science team and a lunar geologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
We can retrace the astronauts' steps with greater clarity to see where they took lunar samples, Petro said in a NASA press release.
The photos come just in time for NASA's GRAIL mission launch.
The purpose of NASA's GRAIL mission is to learn more about the moon's interior structure.
NASA will launch a twin spacecraft Thursday morning, weather pending, on a Delta II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
Mission objectives include mapping the structure of the moon's crust and lithosphere and placing limits on the size of a possible solid inner core, according to NASA's Web page for the mission.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image released on September 6, 2011 shows the Apollo 14 landing site on the moon and paths left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell on both Apollo 14 moon walks. (At the end of the second moon walk, Shepard famously hit two golf balls.) The descent stage of the lunar module Antares is also visible. LRO captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made when the astronauts explored the lunar surface. NASA says the image brightness and contrast have been altered to highlight surface details.ReutersNASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image released on September 6, 2011 shows the Apollo 14 landing site on the moon and paths left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell on both Apollo 14 moon walks. (At the end of the second moon walk, Shepard famously hit two golf balls.) The descent stage of the lunar module Antares is also visible. LRO captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made when the astronauts explored the lunar surface. NASA says the image brightness and contrast have been altered to highlight surface details.ReutersNASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image released on September 6, 2011 shows the Apollo 12 landing site on the moon. LRO captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made when the astronauts explored the lunar surface. NASA says the image brightness and contrast have been altered to highlight surface details.ReutersNASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image released on September 6, 2011 shows the Apollo 12 landing site on the moon. LRO captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made when the astronauts explored the lunar surface. NASA says the image brightness and contrast have been altered to highlight surface details.ReutersMining activities on the Moon appears to become a fast-approaching reality as U.S. astronomers reported last week the likely presence of titanium ore on the lone Earth’s natural satellite, with reserves rich enough to encourage man in establishing a mine colony.ReutersNASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image released on September 6, 2011 shows the Apollo 17 site on the moon, where the tracks laid down by the lunar rover are clearly visible, along with the last foot trails left on the moon. The images also show where the astronauts placed some of the scientific instruments that provided the first insight into the moon's environment and interior. LRO captured the sharpest images ever taken from space of the Apollo 12, 14 and 17 landing sites. Images show the twists and turns of the paths made when the astronauts explored the lunar surface. NASA says the image brightness and contrast have been altered to highlight surface details.Reuters
