Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

The South Side of Tycho Crater in 3D

red-blue 3D look at rough lunar terrain
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Published: November 5, 2018

Get out your red/blue anaglyph glasses for a three-dimensional treat. This extreme closeup of the south edge of the Moon's famous Tycho Crater shows melt flows and pools, small craters, sagging slopes that look like ripples, boulders, and part of the crater rim. North is at the top. Image width is about six miles (10 kilometers).

Pairs of images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter were combined to create the 3D view.

Details ›

crater with box marking location of 3D image on this page
This image shows Tycho in mid-afternoon, when its rugged western (left) rim and terraces and complex central peak have begun to cast dramatic shadows within the crater. The red outline encloses the swatch of Tycho's southern floor, rim, and flank in the long anaglyph image seen above. Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

ENLARGE

Related

This false-color photograph is a composite of 15 images of the Moon.
More
Rainbow colored Moon.
Colorful Moon
A close-up view of a commemorative plaque left on the Moon at the Hadley-Apennine landing site in memory of 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts.
More
A close-up view of a commemorative plaque left on the Moon at the Hadley-Apennine landing site.
In Memoriam
Apollo 17 mission commander Gene Cernan inside the lunar module on the Moon
More
dusty astronaut with helmet removed inside spacecraft
Gene Cernan in the Lunar Module
On Aug. 23, 1966, NASA's Lunar Orbiter 1 snapped the first photo of Earth as seen from lunar orbit.
More
earth rising over lunar horizon in two images, the original and the smoother, restored version
First Lunar Earthrise, Old and New
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
View of Astronaut David R.Scott, Apollo 9 Command Module pilot, inside the Command Module "Gumdrop" during the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission.
More
Astronaut in main cabin of Apollo 9 Command Module
Apollo 9 Mission Image - Scott in CM Cabin
Flight controllers in the Mission Operations Control Room (MOCR) of the Mission Control Center (MCC) view a colorful display which signals the successful splashdown and recovery of the crew of the ...
More
Mission control display monitors show "Welcome Home" message
Flight Controllers in Mission Control Center During Splashdown of Apollo 14
Lunar Orbiter 1 new of the Moon and crescent Earth. This is the first good image of the Earth taken from the vicinity of the Moon, 380,000 km away.
More
View of Earth from the moon
First View of Earth From the Moon and Oblique View of the Lunar Surface
Astronaut David R. Scott, commander, standing on the slope of Hadley Delta, uses a 70mm camera during Apollo 15 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the lunar surface.
More
Astronaut photographing the lunar surface
Astronaut David Scott on Slope of Hadley Delta During Apollo 15 EVA
A simple visualization of Moon orbiting Earth in a view from the north ecliptic pole.
More
A simple visualization of Moon orbiting Earth in a view from the north ecliptic pole.
Earth and Moon
Apollo 12 astronauts relax during a flight rehearsal in the Apollo mission simulator.
More
Three men in a space capsule.
Apollo 12 Crew Training
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
A scanning electron microscope photograph of iron crystals which grow in a small vug or cavity in a recrystallized breccia (fragmented rock) from the Apollo 15 Hadley-Apennino lunar landing site.
More
Magnified view of iron crystals
Scanning Electron Microscope View of Iron Crystal
Apollo 6 (also known as AS-502), launched on April 4, 1968, was the final unmanned test of the Saturn V launch vehicle and Apollo Command & Service modules. AS-502 climbs to orbit, as seen from...
More
Apollo 6 spacecraft climbing to orbit
Apollo 6 Climbs to Orbit
This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn.
More
This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn.
Earthrise
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
This graphic highlights locations on the moon NASA considers "lunar heritage sites" and the path NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory spacecraft will take on their final flight. 
More
Illustration showing key points of interest on the surface of the Moon.
Lunar Heritage Sites
Four views of the Moon constructed from images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
More
four full-disc views of the moon
Four Sides of the Moon
The Taurus-Littrow valley, a geologic exploration target for Apollo 17 and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. The center latitude is 20.15°N, center longitude 30.98°E. The image is about 11 m...
More
lunar surface with craters and hills
Taurus-Littrow Valley
Surveys from orbit informed the landing sites of future Apollo missions and deployment of scientific instruments.
More
Surface of Moon
Landing Sites
A waxing crescent moon pictured from the International Space Station during an orbital sunset
More
Photograph of a crescent Moon over a rainbow curved atmosphere.
Crescent Moon from the International Space Station
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
Rima Prinz is a channel carved by an immense lava flow. 
More
a valley on the Moon
Rima Prinz and Vera
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
To celebrate its 5th Anniversary, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission decided to hold a contest to pick a cover image for "The Moon As Art" collection.
More
Video of Moon art contest entries
The Moon As Art

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