PRoVisG

First Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Results

Saturday, May 22, 2010

A 3-D DEM (digital elevation model) of the topography seen by the Apollo 16 astronauts, including South Ray crater, has been created by researchers at the Mapping & GIS Lab as their first results from the new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC). The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite, launched June 18 from the Kennedy Space Center, is the first mission in the United State's new Vision for Space Exploration program. The spacecraft will orbit the Moon for as many as five years taking images in search of valuable lunar resources and potential future landing sites. LRO news can be found on the NASA LRO project website and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera website. The DEM is available at http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/news/?archives/97-First-LROC-Stereo-Results.html.

Perspective view, LROC image, and DEM [NASA/GSFC/Ohio State University].

The area covered by this stereo pair shows the topography seen by the Apollo 16 astronauts, including rolling plains with many impact craters.  The 3-D DEM is colored showing elevations, ranging over about 1 km. South Ray Crater (A) in the perspective view is 750m in diameter and approximately 70m deep. The surrounding craters range from several meters in diameter to 1,200 m. The tallest mountain in the southwest corner (lower right) of the DEM is 880m above the plain. The DEM area [NAC images M102064759 and M102057602; centered at 9° S, 15.4° E] is 50km long and 7km wide. The LROC images were taken on July 12, 2009 during LRO orbit 218 near the Apollo 16 landing site. Images were processed using software developed by the Mapping and GIS Laboratory at the Ohio State University. Click on the image for a more detailed view.

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