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Coordinates of Anthropogenic Features on the MoonHigh-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) reveal the landing locations of recent and historic spacecraft and associated impact sites across the lunar surface. Using multiple images of each site acquired between 2009 and 2015, an improved Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) ephemeris, and a temperature-dependent camera orientation model, we derived accurate coordinates ( less than 12 meters) for each soft-landed spacecraft, rover, deployed scientific payload, and spacecraft impact crater that we have identified. Accurate coordinates enhance the scientific interpretations of data returned by the surface instruments and of returned samples of the Apollo and Luna sites. In addition, knowledge of the sizes and positions of craters formed as the result of impacting spacecraft provides key benchmarks into the relationship between energy and crater size, as well as calibration points for reanalyzing seismic measurements acquired during the Apollo program. We identified the impact craters for the three spacecraft that impacted the surface during the LRO mission by comparing before and after NAC images.
Document ID
20160009148
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Wagner, R. V.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Nelson, D. M.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Plescia, J. B.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Robinson, M. S.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Speyerer , E. J.
(Arizona State Univ. Tempe, AZ, United States)
Mazarico, E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD United States)
Date Acquired
July 19, 2016
Publication Date
May 11, 2016
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Publisher: Elsevier
Volume: 278
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC-E-DAA-TN33765
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other
Keywords
Moon
Surface
image processing

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