Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

A Jolt to the Camera

Wild back-and-forth lines
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Published: October 20, 2017

The first wild back-and-forth line records the moment on October 13, 2014 when the left Narrow Angle Camera's radiator on NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was struck by a meteoroid, a small natural object in space.

ENLARGE

Related

2023 has been a big year for the Moon. Here are a few highlights. 
More
Oblique view of the Moon's surface, with craters dramatically lit and shadowed by low-angle sunlight.
Lunar Science and Exploration Highlights: Recent Updates
A view from Apollo 13 of the lunar farside showing the crater Tsiolkovsky.
More
large lunar crater filled with dark, solidified lava
Crater Tsiolkovsky from Apollo 13
Explainer video on lunar eclipses
More
Graphic that depicts that the Earth casts a shadow on the Moon when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in line.
Lunar Eclipse Essentials
NASA successfully launched Apollo 6 (AS-502) from KSC's Complex 39A at 7:00 am (EST) on a mission to qualify the Saturn V launch vehicle for manned space flights.
More
Apollo 6 spacecraft launch
Launch of Saturn V AS-502
The second human lunar landing mission, Apollo 12, launched from launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14, 1969 via a Saturn Five launch vehicle. 
More
Astronaut collecting rock samples on the moon
Apollo 12
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this oblique view of the area surrounding Hadley Base, the landing site of Apollo 15.
More
hills and valleys on the lunar surface
Soaring Over Lunar Mt. Hadley
Last image taken by Ranger 8 camera-A from a distance of 4.2 km, 2 seconds before impact on 20 February 1965.
More
Image of the surface of the moon
Ranger 8 Image Taken 2 Seconds Before Impact
A high resolution topographic map of the Moon. 
More
topographic map of the rugged lunar surface with bright colors representing altitudes
High Resolution Topographic Map of the Moon
Dr. Wernher von Braun, John Casani and Dr. James Van Allen inspect components of the Pioneer IV spacecraft on March 1, 1959.
More
Black and white image of three men holding a small, conical spacecraft.
Pioneers and Pioneer IV
Close up image of the Oceanus Procellarum region of the Moon from the Soviet Luna 9 lander in February 1966.
More
Grainy black and white photo of the moon.
First Photo from the Surface of the Moon
A total solar eclipse is seen on Monday, August 21, 2017 as the Moon passed in front of the Sun as seen from Earth. 
More
sun blocked by moon in total eclipse, with just corona visible
The Moon Blocks the Sun
Animations to explain the science behind how the Moon affects the tides on Earth 
More
Animations of the Earth and Moon
Tides
The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 17 (Spacecraft 114/Lunar Module 12/Saturn 512) space vehicle is launched from Pad A., Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida, at 12:33 a.m. (EST), Dec...
More
Apollo 17 launch illuminates nighttime scene
Apollo 17 Launch
The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 14 (Spacecraft 110/Lunar Module 8/Saturn 509) space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), Florida at 4:03:02 p.m. (EST), Jan....
More
Apollo 14 liftoff
Launch - Apollo XIV - Lunar Landing Mission - KSC
Three images of Tycho crater and its central peak, located at 43 S, 11 W, on the Moon.
More
Three images of a crater
UV/Visible Composite Images of Tycho Crater on the Moon
Video tour of an interactive tool that lets you hold virtual Moon rocks in your hand.
More
Screen shot of a virtual version of a textured, grey rock with white flecks and cracks throughout its volume.
Astromaterials 3D: Moon Rocks
The three crew members of Apollo 8 were the first humans to leave Earth orbit and the first to travel around the Moon.
More
Trio of men in spacesuits walking down a hall.
Apollo 8: First Humans to Leave Earth Orbit
Dunned in his space suit, Lunar Module pilot Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. does a final check of his communications system before the boarding of the Apollo 11 mission.
More
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr. in his space suit
Saturn Apollo Program
This small, unnamed crater displays a beautiful ejecta pattern resembling a starburst. Looking at this image you can almost imagine the shower of ejecta falling to the ground. The pattern formed ou...
More
Black and white image showing a spray of impact debris from a moon crater.
Action Shot
On July 16, 1969, the huge, 363-feet tall Saturn V rocket launches on the Apollo 11 mission from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, at 9:32 a.m. EDT.
More
Video of Apollo 11 launch
Apollo 11 Launch
Get out your red/blue anaglyph glasses for a three-dimensional treat! This extreme closeup of the south side of the Moon's Tycho Crater shows melt flows and pools, small craters, sagging slopes tha...
More
red-blue 3D look at rough lunar terrain
The South Side of Tycho Crater in 3D
Overall view of the Mission Operations Control Room in the Mission Control Center, Building 30, on the first day of the Apollo 10 lunar orbit mission. 
More
View of mission control center
Overall View of Mission Operations Control in Mission Control Center
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this view on March 3, 2023.
More
Dramatic grayscale image of a mountainous lunar landscape. Large craters with black shadows inside are visible in the background. In the foreground, a mountain is sunlit from the right and pocked with small craters.
Malapert Massif
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera imaged this bright young ray crater on Nov. 3, 2018. The Sun shone from the west (left). This image covers an area about five miles (8.1 kilometers) across. 
More
bright crater seen from directly above
Lunar Beauty
Relief Map of the Moon's South Pole–Aitken basin
More
color-coded map of heavily-cratered terrain
Color Shaded Relief Map of the Moon's South Polar Region

You Might Also Like

Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates.
More
Diagram of the Moon's phases
Moon Phases
Between four and seven times a year, Earth, Moon and Sun line up just right to create the cosmic-scale shadow show known as an eclipse.
More
Composite of lunar eclipse phases over night sky
Eclipses
Several theories vie for dominance but most agree on one thing — Earth's Moon was born from destruction.
More
Artist depiction of two planets colliding.
Moon Formation