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Apollo 17 Landing Region
This image showcases Hubble Space Telescope's first high-resolution ultraviolet and visible imaging of the Apollo 17 landing region within the Taurus-Littrow valley of the Moon. Humans last walked and drove on the lunar surface in this region (marked "+" in the image at left and at lower right) in December 1972.
The image at upper right was taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts (Dr. H. Jack Schmitt and Gene Cernan). It illustrates a view of the rim of Shorty crater and the lunar roving vehicle against a backdrop of the mountain-like massifs that define the Taurus-Littrow valley. The Hubble Space Telescope image at lower right was constructed by overlaying the Hubble image (at left) with a digital-terrain model acquired by the Apollo program to provide a perspective view looking from west to east up the valley. These Hubble data illustrate the high-resolution resolving power of the Advanced Camera for Surveys and display features smaller than a soccer field from low-Earth orbit some 248,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) distant. These images were acquired at nearly full Moon, so the long, dark shadows typical of many lunar orbital photos are not seen; however, this is perfect lighting for color analysis from which to interpret subtle compositional differences.
The Hubble Space Telescope Lunar Exploration team is using the Apollo 17 images (and those acquired of the Apollo 15 site) as "ground-truth" in an effort to discriminate lunar materials enriched in ilmenite, a titanium-bearing oxide of potential value as a resource in human exploration of the Moon.
The images at left and at lower right were taken Aug. 16, 2005 by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. North is at the top in these images.
Images were processed by the Hubble Space Telescope Lunar Exploration team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Northwestern University, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.
About the Object
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.The Moon is 238,857 miles (384,403 kilometers) from the Earth.
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.The Moon has a diameter of 2160 miles (3476 kilometers).
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.These HST data are from proposal 10719. NASA's HST Lunar observation team is led by Chief Scientist J. Garvin. The team includes M. Robinson (Northwestern Univ.), D. Skillman (NASA/GSFC), B. Hapke (Univ. of Pittsburgh), C. Pieters (Brown Univ.), M. Ulmer (Northwestern Univ.), J. Bell (Cornell Univ.), and J. Taylor (Univ. of Hawaii). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/HRC (left and bottom right), and Apollo 17 (top right)
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.August 16, 2005 (HST), and December 1972 (Apollo 17)
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.HST: F250W (250nm), F344N (344nm), F502N (502nm), F658N (658nm)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.moon
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Earth's Satellite
- Release DateOctober 19, 2005
- Science ReleaseNASA’s Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
- Credits
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
