![]() Follow for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter and on Facebook. You can follow staff writer Denise Chow on Twitter. ![]() This story was updated to correctly reflect the statements made by scientist Mark Robinson referring to the U.S. The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission is made up of twin spacecraft that will orbit the moon in tandem. 8), NASA will launch a new mission to measure the moon's gravity field in unprecedented detail. The LRO probe is currently on an extended mission through at least September 2012. The $504 million car-sized spacecraft first captured close-up images of the Apollo landing sites in July 2009, which revealed new details about the sites and even spotted hardware that was left behind on the lunar surface. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been in orbit around the moon since June 2009. In mid-December, LRO will shift into an elliptical orbit with its lowest altitude at 19 miles (30 km) over the south pole, and its highest point at 124 miles (200 km) over the north pole. Today, the probe returns to a more circular orbit, Vondrak said. The location of the descent stage for Apollo 12's lunar module, Intrepid, also can be seen. The locations of the flag shadow, experiment package, astronaut paths, and the Surveyor 3 spacecraft are marked. The tracks made in 1969 by astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean, the third and fourth humans to walk on the moon, can be seen in this LRO image of the Apollo 12 site. The Apollo 12 landing site visualized in three dimensions using photography and a stereo digital elevation model from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. In a more practical sense, it allows us to find the exact spot where samples were collected." "They tell us something about the photometric properties of the moon – why are they darker? Scientists are working to investigate that question. "From a science standpoint, are important for two reasons," Robinson said. In particular, being able to clearly see tracks and equipment on the moon – and their relative brightness or darkness on the moon's surface – can reveal important clues about the lunar environment. These maps provide a new context for understanding the data and rock. Images of the Apollo landing sites provided by LROC have enabled scientists to make detailed maps of the astronauts’ activity on the surface of the Moon. Scientists and historians alike are hoping they will help paint a clearer and more detailed picture of the Apollo missions. The LRV was driven over 35 km by Cernan and Schmitt during their stay on the Moon. The new batch of images released today represent three different lunar landing sites: Apollo 12, Apollo 14 and Apollo 17. (At the end of the second moon walk, Shepard famously hit two golf balls.) The descent stage of the lunar module Antares is also visible. The paths left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell on both Apollo 14 moon walks are visible in this LRO image.
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