Copernicus from Lunar Orbiter

To prepare for the Apollo landings, NASA launched five robotic Lunar Orbiter spacecraft during 1966 and 1967 to gather detailed images of the Moon. Dramatic views returned by the spacecraft cameras included this stark moonscape. This mosaic of the 50 mile-wide, or 93 kilometer-wide, impact crater Copernicus features central peaks rising above the crater floor and rugged crater walls.

Copernicus is 93 km wide and is located within the Mare Imbrium Basin, northern nearside of the Moon (10 degrees N. 20 degrees W.). This image shows crater floor, floor mounds, rim, and rayed ejecta. Rays from the ejecta are superposed on all other surrounding terrains which places the crater in its namesake age group: the Copernican system, established as the youngest assemblage of rocks on the Moon.