LRO Releases Photos of Apollo Sites

On Friday, July 17, 2009, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) released photos of five of the six Apollo Moon landing sites. The photos show hardware left by the astronauts as well as disturbed soil.

A photo of the Apollo 11 landing site, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first walked on the Moon, shows the Eagle lunar lander. There is no way to tell if the American flag that was erected on the site is still there.

A detailed image of the Apollo 14 landing site shows scientific instruments, marks in the soil made by the astronauts and tracks left by the astronauts' tool cart. Apollo 14 was launched in January 1971.

LRO did not take a picture of the Apollo 12 landing site. Apollo 12 was launched in November 1969. LRO is expected to pass by the Apollo 12 site within two weeks.

NASA promises that the quality of the photos will be even higher once the LRO's instruments are fully commissioned.

From 1969 to 1972, the Apollo program brought 12 Americans to the Moon.

The LRO is mapping the surface of the Moon to search for places where astronauts could land on the Moon again in 2020. The LRO is mapping the surface of the Moon to search for places where astronauts could land on the Moon again in 2020. It is looking for water ice as well as changes in the surface that could reveal how often a particular area of the Moon is bombarded by rocks from space.