New NASA interactive lets you explore the moon
High-resolution image of the moon. (Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University)
Published Thursday, March 20, 2014 5:02PM EDT
Last Updated Thursday, March 20, 2014 10:59PM EDT
Remember that scene in Apollo 13 when Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, holds his thumb in front of the moon and then moves it away?
He eventually made it a lot closer than the 384,400 kilometres the vast majority of us will never cross. But now with new high-resolution images and an interactive photo provided by NASA, you can take a tour of the moon the same way we can take a tour of a neighbourhood in our own city or a national park or the prime minister’s office. Just zoom and move the mouse.
NASA’s first interactive map of the lunar north pole is also not just a tool for us to explore -- it provides scientists with a new research tool.
The image is actually 10,581 pictures pieced together, which were taken using two cameras onboard NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It encompasses nearly 900 billion pixels. If you printed the image in a square sheet it would be wider than a football field and remain clear.
“This unique image is a tremendous resource for scientists and the public alike, says John Keller, LRO project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space flight Center, in a statement.
“Creation of this giant mosaic took four years and a huge team effort across the LRO project, says Mark Robinson, principal investigator for the LROC at Arizona State University, in a statement. “We now have a nearly uniform map to unravel key science questions and find the best landing spots for future exploration.”
LRO entered lunar orbit in June 2009 with the goal of mapping the surface, probing the radiation environment, investigating water and mineral resources and gathering geological clues about the moon’s evolution.
Go for it. Zoom in, mouse around and see how cool the moon is.