Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

Four Sides of the Moon

four full-disc views of the moon
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Published: October 5, 2017

Four hemispheric views of the Moon constructed from images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Upper left: nearside (0°N, 0°E); Upper right: eastern hemisphere (0°N, 90°E); Lower left: farside (0°N, 180°E); Lower right: western hemisphere (0°N, 270°E). See more details.

ENLARGE

Related

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
The Apollo 9 spacecraft, with astronauts James A. McDivitt, David R. Scott, and Russell L. Schweickart aboard, approaches touchdown in the Atlantic recovery area to conclude a successful 10-day Ear...
More
Apollo 9 spacecraft approaching splashdown with parachutes deployed
Photo - Apollo/Saturn (A/S)-11 - 500 Ft. Above Water - Chutes Deployed
The crater Eimmart A is about 4.5 miles (7.3 kilometers) wide. It was observed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. 
More
lunar crater seen at oblique angle
Eimmart A Crater
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
Photomosaic of lunar panorama near the Tycho crater taken by Surveyor 7. The hills on the center horizon are about eight miles away from the spacecraft.
More
View of crater from the surface of the moon
Photomosaic of Tycho Crater - Surveyor 7
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
Engineers prepare NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft for acoustic environmental testing.
More
Engineers prepare NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft for acoustic environmental testing.
LADEE in the Clean Room
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
This photograph of a nearly full moon was taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Dec. 22, 1968. 
More
nearly full moon, with some far side features visible
Nearly Full Moon from Apollo 8
Neil Armstrong strums on a ukulele in a quarantine facility after Apollo 11 returned from the Moon.
More
Man sitting on table in small room playing a ukulele while others look out window.
Neil Armstrong Strums on a Ukulele
A distorted view of a full Moon intersecting Earth's horizon, as seen from the International Space Station.
More
moon at horizon seen through blue hazy atmosphere
Moon as Seen from ISS
Eastern rim of Dionysius crater.
More
Eastern rim of Dionysius crater.
Dionysius Crater
These three astronauts are the prime crew of the Apollo 15 lunar landing mission.
More
Portrait of three astronauts
Apollo 15 Prime Crew Portrait
The Apollo 8 Crew included (L to R) James Lovell, Command Module (CM) pilot; William Anders, Lunar Module (LM) Pilot; and Frank Borman, Commander. 
More
Crew of Apollo 8 mission
Saturn Apollo Program
Lunar swirls are bright curls on the surface of the Moon with the appearance of abstract paintings. They are unique to the Moon and have long defied easy explanation.
More
A white curly eye-like shape over a gray-scale pock-marked surface. Satellite image of the Moon. A scale bar shows the image is over 100 kilometers wide.
Lunar Swirl Reiner Gamma
The five F-1 engines of the huge Apollo/Saturn V space vehicle's first (S-IC) stage leave a gigantic trail of flame in the sky above the Kennedy Space Center seconds after liftoff.
More
Flame trailing from Apollo 6 spacecraft
F-1 Engines of Apollo/Saturn V First Stage Leave Trail of Flame After Liftoff
The first image taken by the Ranger 8 camera B on 20 February 1965 shows the 164 km diameter Ptolemaeus crater, top center, and below it Alphonsus crater (diameter 108 km).
More
View of two large craters on the moon
Ptolemaeus and Alphonsus Craters on the Moon
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
The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle, in a landing configuration was photographed in lunar orbit from the Command and Service Module Columbia.
More
Lunar landing module above the Moon.
The Eagle Prepares to Land
The rising Earth above the lunar horizon as seen from the Apollo 8 spacecraft.
More
blue Earth against a black sky above the barren lunar surface
The rising Earth as seen by Apollo 8
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
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
This is a close-up view of an astronaut’s foot and footprint in the lunar soil, photographed by a 70 mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA).
More
Astronaut's foot and footprint on lunar soil
Saturn Apollo Program
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
Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt with the U.S. flag and the Earth in the sky. 
More
Apollo 17 astronaut Jack Schmitt with the U.S. flag and the Earth in the sky.
A Flag Points Home

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