Places & History

Apollo 11 · 20 July 1969

Armstrong and Aldrin landed Eagle here, beginning the first human exploration of the lunar surface. Orbital images record the descent stage and surface tracks.

Surveyor 3 / Apollo 12 · 1967 and 1969

Surveyor 3 landed in this crater before Apollo 12 arrived nearby. The shared setting links an early robotic landing to a later astronaut visit.

Apollo 14 · 5 February 1971

Apollo 14 explored the Fra Mauro highlands, studying impact-related material and the terrain around Cone Crater.

Apollo 15 · 30 July 1971

Apollo 15 explored the meeting of mare plains and the Apennine mountains. The mission introduced the Lunar Roving Vehicle to crewed surface exploration.

Apollo 17 · December 1972

Apollo 17 explored this valley between highland massifs and volcanic plains. It was the final lunar landing mission of the Apollo program.

Chang'e 4 · 3 January 2019

China's Chang'e 4 landed on the floor of Von Karman Crater, becoming the first spacecraft to make a soft landing on the lunar far side.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter · Orbital geological survey

Tycho exposes impact melt, boulder fields and crater slopes. Stereo orbital views reveal the structure of its rim and impact-related landforms.

NASA lunar terrain archive · Orbital terrain model

NASA provides a 3D resource for the Aristarchus region. This stop focuses on comparing crater terrain with its surrounding plateau.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter · Polar illumination studies

Shackleton has illuminated rim regions and a permanently shadowed interior. Such cold traps are important targets for understanding possible volatile deposits.

SOFIA · 26 October 2020 announcement

SOFIA detected molecular water in the sunlit Clavius region. This observation concerns water in lunar material, not an exposed lake or a ready source of drinking water.