Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter

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NASA Finds Japan's Moon Lander—and Its Dent

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter snaps photos of impact site in Atlas crater

(Newser) - The Japanese spacecraft that crashed on the moon earlier this year left a scar that's reportedly at least 200 feet across. Scientists used NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to zoom in on the site where ispace's Hakuto-R lunar lander crash-landed in the Atlas crater after its rocket engines...

How the Earth Is Changing the Surface of the Moon

Our gravity is making patterns in lunar cliffs

(Newser) - Earth's gravity is making patterns in the thousands of small cliffs that wrinkle the shrinking surface of the moon, according to a new in Geology. Scientists determined the moon was shrinking—its surface has moved about 300 feet closer to its core over 4 billion years—back in 2010...

Video Unveils 'Dark' Side of the Moon

NASA makes video with data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

(Newser) - Curious about the far side of the moon? No one has seen it from Earth because it's always facing away from us, but a new animated video aims to light up the darkness, Tech Times reports. NASA made the video using data from its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has...

Mona Lisa Sent to Outer Space via Laser

Feat represents a major advancement in laser communication

(Newser) - Outer space just got a little more cultured. NASA scientists have successfully beamed an image of the Mona Lisa to its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter using a special laser signal, a feat that represents a major leap in laser communication technology, Space.com reports. "This is the first time anyone...

New Moon Images Show Astronaut Tracks

They also show debris left behind from Apollo missions

(Newser) - NASA today released a batch of high-resolution images of the moon that show close-ups of landing sites from three Apollo missions, reports Space.com . (NASA has labeled and unlabeled versions of the images, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, here .) They show astronauts' footprints, the tracks of their lunar...

NASA May Have Found Lost Lunar Probe

Lunar Orbiter 2 crashed on dark side of the moon

(Newser) - NASA may have found a lost spaceship on the dark side of the moon. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a ship designed to map the surface of the moon, has spotted a butterfly-shaped pattern that Fox News speculates might be the probe’s predecessor, the Lunar Orbiter 2. The craft, launched...

NASA to Smash Moon in Hunt for Lunar Ice

Spacecraft will study dust after partner vessel crashes

(Newser) - No, they're not angry at the moon—but NASA is preparing two spacecraft for head-on collisions with the lunar South Pole. The idea is that the double impact might uncover ice suspected to be hiding in the moon's poles, Space.com reports. Scientists detected large amounts of hydrogen there on...

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