NASA has just released the latest topography map of the moon — gathered from information sent back from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) launched in June, 2009.
This stunning new image is able to show elevations and depressions within 328-foot-per-pixel accuracy, the highest resolution yet.
The brilliantly colored image is not only beautiful to look at, it will also help scientists determine the slope of all major topography of the moon. The detail will help scientists understand how the moon's crust has devolved, the impact of crater mechanics and previous volcanic activity. All this will also inform future robotic and human missions to the moon.
Providing the most detail since the Apollo era explorations of the moon's surface, the data was collected by the LRO's Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter's wide angle lens camera (LROC) and the Lunar Orbital Laser Altimeter (LOLA).
Via BBC
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