The Lunar Surface in 3-D

^{Image Credit: Paul Schenk and Lunar and Planetary Institute}

When you are able to see this stereo pair of images in three dimensions (3-D), you get a sense of what the Apollo 15 astronauts (David R. Scott, Alfred M. Worden, and James B. Irwin) saw from lunar orbit when they looked down on their landing site. Mission Commander Scott landed the lunar module Falcon at the spot marked by the white cross nearly twenty-five years ago, on August 7, 1971.

The landing site is located on the lava terrain of a small bay at the eastern edge of Mare Imbrium (Sea of Rains). From orbit the terrain looks smooth and flat, but in reality it consists of rolling hills peppered by small craters. Nearby meanders Hadley Rille, the mile-wide canyon in the lower left half of the image that was carved by molten lava. To the east rises a rugged mountain range, the Montes Apennines, which is part of the rim of Mare Imbrium. The tallest peaks shown in the image rise 14,600 feet above the valley floor.

How to View the Stereo Pair of Images

To get the 3-D effect from the above image pair, focus on each image separately and allow your eyes to relax. If you wear glasses, you may have to remove them. View the images from six to ten inches away. Placing an index card upright between the two images helps in getting the 3-D perspective.

The vertical relief in this image pair is exaggerated by a factor of about three.

More Cool Stuff

The above image and information come from the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) homepage. Check out the site for other 3-D images of the moon (click on the "Hot Topics" and "Exploring the Moon" buttons), other solar system images and information, a Solar System Express Newsletter, and K-12 educational material:

http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/lpi.html

The "Exploring the Moon" pages of the LPI site allow you to relive one of humankind's great adventures, the U.S. and Russian lunar exploration missions. Automated probes and manned landers are included, starting in 1966 and continuing to today. This extensive presentation contains great images (some in 3-D), maps, audio and video clips, and excellent text:

http://cass.jsc.nasa.gov/moon.html

The Apollo program (1968-1972) was designed to land humans on the Moon and bring them safely back to earth. Go to NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), the National Air and Space Museum (NASM), and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) for additional descriptions of the program:

http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/lunar/apollo.html

http://www.nasm.edu/APOLLO

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/alsj/

Go to the following page for excerpts from President Kennedy's famous address to Congress on May 25, 1961, in which he posed the challenge, I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to earth:

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/Moonport/preface.html

Check out other observations in the Observation of the Week Archive.