Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

First Photo from the Surface of the Moon

Grainy black and white photo of the moon.
Image Credit: National Space Science Data Center
Published: September 26, 2017

Close up image of the Oceanus Procellarum region of the Moon from the Soviet Luna 9 lander in February 1966.

Luna 9 made the first survivable landing on the moon and snapped the first photos from its surface.

Related

This bootprint marks one of the first steps human beings took on the moon in July 1969.
More
This bootprint marks one of the first steps human beings took on the moon in July 1969.
Apollo 11 Bootprint
A floor fracture and central peak structure on the floor of the Moon's Humboldt Crater--128 miles (207 kilometers) in diameter-- that formed directly after impact. Intrusive volcanic activity likel...
More
Red-blue 3D anaglyph of rough lunar terrain seen from above
Anaglyph: Humboldt Crater Floor
Mrs. Mary Haise receives an explanation of the revised flight plan of the Apollo 13 mission from astronaut Gerald P. Carr in the viewing room of the Mission Control Center (MCC), Building 30, at th...
More
Man and woman in mission control viewing center
Mrs. Haise in Viewing Room Overlooking FCR
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured a dramatic view of Jackson crater on the Moon's farside.
More
Rocky terrain of Jackson Crater
Central Peak of Jackson Crater
A view of the Apollo 9 Lunar Module (LM), "Spider", in a lunar landing configuration, as photographed from the Command and Service Modules (CSM) on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 Earth-orbital missi...
More
Apollo 9 Lunar Module in space with Earth in the background
Apollo 9 Lunar Module in Lunar Landing Configuration
A close-up view of a footpad and surface sampler with scoop (arm, out of frame) on the Surveyor 3 spacecraft which was photographed by the Apollo 12 astronauts during their second extravehicular ac...
More
Close-up of the footpad of Surveyor 3 on lunar surface
Apollo 12 Mission Image – View of the Surveyor III Craft, Which Landed April 19, 1967
Not everyone gets to become a part of history, but mathematician Billie Robertson is one of the lucky ones.
More
Woman sitting at desk holding telephone and pencil
Running a Real-Time Simulation of Go-No-Go for Apollo 17
This black-and-white image of the Earth-Moon system was captured on Sept. 25, 2017 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
More
Black and white image of Earth and the moon.
OSIRIS-REx Pictures of Earth and the Moon
The moon’s famous Tycho crater, as seen at a low angle by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Tycho is about 53 miles (85 kilometers) in diameter, and its central peak rises more than 6562 feet (2000...
More
Black and white image of mountains in a crater on the Moon.
Tycho Crater Oblique View
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this detailed look at the floor of Komarov crater on the far side of the Moon. 
More
deep grooves in gray lunar terrain
Fractured Crater
The Moon's Giordano Bruno crater, as seen by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. 
More
deep crater on the Moon
Giordano Bruno Crater
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the Moon.
More
astronaut on the surface of the Moon, next to a lander leg of the lunar module
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon
Animation of before-and-after images of a new 39-foot (12-meter) impact crater on the Moon, obtained by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
More
alternating images showing lunar plain before and after the appearance of a small impact crater
Dynamic Moon!
We've got a lunar mystery on our hands! How did the Gruithuisen Domes form? 
More
This is an image of the Gruithuisen Domes, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The Gruithuisen Domes protrude outward from the surrounding lunar terrain. The Gruithuisen Domes were formed by eruptions of silicic lavas, which didn't flow outward easily, creating domes.
A Lunar Mystery: The Gruithuisen Domes
United States President Richard M. Nixon was in the central Pacific recovery area to welcome the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, prime recovery ship for the historic Apollo 11 lunar lan...
More
Richard Nixon greeting the three Apollo 11 astronauts
President Nixon - Welcome - Apollo XI Astronauts - USS Hornet
The Moon's Hell Q crater, as imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) camera aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, which is now studying the Moon. 
More
sharply defined crater
Hell Q Crater
Pictured from left to right, the Apollo 9 astronauts, James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart, pause in front of the Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle that would launch the Apollo...
More
Three astronauts, one holding American flag, with Apollo 9 spacecraft in background
Saturn Apollo Program
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
This false-color photograph is a composite of 15 images of the Moon.
More
Rainbow colored Moon.
Colorful Moon
A bird's-eye view of Apollo 6 and its gantry leaving the Vehicle Assembly Building on the transporter heading to the launch site on Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center.
More
View from above of Apollo 6 on its transporter
Saturn Apollo Program
Searchlights illuminate this nighttime scene at Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center, Florida, showing the Apollo 17 (Spacecraft 114/Lunar Module 12/Saturn 512) space vehicle during prela...
More
Spacecraft on launchpad with full moon in background
Prelaunch – Apollo 17 (Rollout)
Searchlights penetrate the darkness surrounding Apollo 8 on Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center.
More
Searchlights illuminate the Apollo 8 spacecraft at night
Saturn Apollo Program
Astronaut Neil Armstrong blowing out candles on his birthday cake in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory Crew Reception Area after the Apollo 11 mission.
More
man blowing out birthday cake candles with people watching from behind
Birthday Boy
This spectacular view across the rim of the Moon's Wallach crater, 3.5 miles (5700 meters) across, comes from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It was taken when the spacecraft was just 58 miles...
More
crater seen almost edge-on
Wallach Crater
A view of the Apollo 11 lunar module "Eagle" as it returned from the surface of the Moon to dock with the command module "Columbia".
More
A view of the Apollo 11 lunar module "Eagle" as it returned from the surface of the moon to dock with the command module "Columbia".
Eagle's Return

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