On June 11, NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) captured images of the location the place the ispace Mission 2 SMBC x HAKUTO-R Enterprise Moon (RESILIENCE) lunar lander skilled a tough touchdown on June 5, 2025, UTC.
RESILIENCE was launched on Jan. 15 on a privately funded spacecraft.
LRO’s proper Slim Angle Digicam (one in a set of cameras often known as LROC) captured the photographs featured right here from about 50 miles above the floor of Mare Frigoris, a volcanic area interspersed with large-scale faults often known as wrinkle ridges.
The darkish smudge seen above the arrow within the picture fashioned because the car impacted the floor, kicking up regolith — the rock and dirt that make up Moon “soil.” The faint shiny halo encircling the location resulted from low-angle regolith particles scouring the fragile floor.
LRO is managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Launched on June 18, 2009, LRO has collected a treasure trove of knowledge with its seven highly effective devices, making a useful contribution to our data concerning the Moon. NASA is returning to the Moon with business and worldwide companions to increase human presence in house and produce again new data and alternatives.
More on this story from Arizona State University’s LRO Camera website
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