![]() Scientists were unsure of the rover's whereabouts, though at least one team of researchers were searching for it, hoping to bounce a laser off of its retroreflector mirrors. Lunokhod 1 was the name of a Russian robotic rover that landed on the moon in 1970 and navigated about 6 miles (10 km) of the lunar surface over 10 months before it lost contact in September 1971. › Learn more about the Apollo 14 mission image Images from LRO now show precisely just how far the astronauts traveled and how close they came to reaching the crater, their tracks ending only about 100 feet (30 meters) from the rim! Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University Though geologists say it did not greatly affect the success of the scientific goal, the astronauts were personally disappointed in failing to make it to the top. They never reached the edge of the crater. After traversing nearly a mile (1400 meters), the steep incline of the crater rim, the high heart rates of the astronauts and the tight schedule of the activity resulted in mission control ordering them to gather whatever samples they could and return to the landing module. Without having the aid of the lunar rover and having to drag a cart full of scientific equipment along with them, the trek from the descent module to Cone Crater proved to be a physically intense one. The mission called for Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell to go to Fra Maura where they would attempt to gather samples from the rim of Cone Crater. While all of the Apollo missions are fascinating, the Apollo 14 activities provided a particularly interesting story to see in the images from LRO. › Learn more about the Apollo 11 landing site Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University Beyond their use for science, the images of all six manned landing sites observed by LRO provide a reminder of NASA's proud legacy of exploration and a note of inspiration about what humans are capable of in the future. This LRO data has important scientific value, as it provides context for the returned Apollo samples. Images of the Apollo 11 landing site from LRO clearly show where the descent stage (about 12 feet in diameter) was left behind as well as the astronauts' tracks and the various equipment they deployed. Though their stay was only brief, Armstrong and Aldrin had about two and a half hours to track around outside the module, taking pictures and deploying a few science experiments before returning to orbit and ultimately, the safety of Earth. On July 20, 1969, NASA added a page to the history books when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first humans to set foot on the moon. › Learn more about the moon's coldest places Image Credit: NASA/Goddard/University of California, Los Angeles Extremely cold regions similar to the one in Hermite Crater were found at the bottoms of several permanently shaded craters at the lunar south pole and were measured in the depths of winter night. For comparison, scientists believe that Pluto's surface only gets down to about -300 degrees Fahrenheit (-184 Celsius). Diviner, LRO's temperature instrument, found a place in the floor of the moon's Hermite Crater that was detected to be -415 degrees Fahrenheit (-248 Celsius) making it the coldest temperature measured anywhere in the solar system. One of LRO''s observations from the past year goes beyond cool to absolutely frigid. If you like these, visit the official LRO web site at to find out even more! Note that the stories here are just a small sample of what the LRO team has released and barely touch on the major scientific accomplishments of the mission. ![]() To celebrate one year in orbit, here are ten cool things already observed by LRO. In only the first year of the mission, LRO has gathered more digital information than any previous planetary mission in history. Maps and datasets collected by LRO’s state-of-the-art instruments will form the foundation for all future lunar exploration plans, as well as be critical to scientists working to better understand the moon and its environment. ![]() Having officially reached lunar orbit on June 23rd, 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has now marked one full year on its mission to scout the moon.
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