Chandrayaan-3: Vikram lands in the Moon’s southern latitudes
The 23 August 2023 landing, Pragyan rover operations and local soil-composition measurements.
An explanation existsVikram landing area, southern high latitudes
Atlas of mysteries
Items: 143Lunar archive
Landings, impact flashes and reported lunar glows.
17 March 2013 flash: an impact that left a new crater
A bright ground-based flash received an independent check when LRO identified a fresh surface crater.
An explanation existsMare Imbrium, the confirmed 2013 impact crater
GRAIL: two controlled impacts and unexpectedly dark traces
After their gravity-mapping mission, Ebb and Flow were directed into the surface. Orbital images revealed small craters with unusual ejecta.
An explanation existsNorthern latitudes, GRAIL A impact site
LCROSS: an impact into shadow and water in the ejecta
On October 9, 2009 a Centaur stage struck a permanently shadowed area in Cabeus. LCROSS instruments examined the ejecta and detected water; the estimate concerns a particular sampled locati…
An explanation existsCabeus crater, lunar south polar region
Chandrayaan-1: how water appeared in lunar soil spectra
Measurements by three spacecraft changed the picture of a dry lunar surface. What did the instruments actually detect?
An explanation existsBroad areas of the lunar surface
Lunokhod 1: eleven lunar days and the rediscovery of a reflector
The first successful planetary rover arrived in November 1970 and traveled more than ten kilometers. Decades later orbital images helped researchers use its laser reflector again.
An explanation existsMare Imbrium, Luna 17 landing site
Luna 16: a hundred grams of lunar soil returned without an astronaut
In September 1970 a Soviet probe landed in lunar darkness, collected a sample and sent it to Earth: the first successful fully robotic return of lunar material.
An explanation existsMare Fecunditatis
Apollo 11: the first human landing on the Moon
The documented Eagle landing, surface activities and coordinates refined from orbital imagery.
An explanation existsMare Tranquillitatis, Tranquility Base
Surveyor 1: footpads on the ground, a camera begins to look
On June 2, 1966 Universal Time, Surveyor 1 made the first American soft landing on the Moon and returned images of its immediate surroundings.
An explanation existsOceanus Procellarum, Flamsteed P region
Luna 9: a panorama intercepted by an observatory on Earth
The first soft landing produced surface photographs; independent reception in Britain made it a story of radio tracking and newspaper technology.
An explanation existsOceanus Procellarum