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Views Of The Moon - Lunar Images Taken From Orbit by Nasa Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)


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    • By NASA
      NASA/Michael DeMocker The full moon rises over the Superdome and the city of New Orleans, Louisiana on Monday evening, January 13, 2025.
      New Orleans is home to NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility where several pieces of hardware for the SLS (Space Launch system) are being built. For more than half a century, NASA Michoud has been “America’s Rocket Factory,” the nation’s premiere site for manufacturing and assembly of large-scale space structures and systems.
      See more photos from NASA Michoud.
      Image credit: NASA/Michael DeMocker
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      The G-IV aircraft flies overhead in the Mojave Desert near NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California. Baseline flights like this one occurred in June 2024, and future flights in service of science research will benefit from the installment of the Soxnav navigational system, developed in collaboration with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California and the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute in California’s Silicon Valley. This navigational system provides precise, economical aircraft guidance for a variety of aircraft types moving at high speeds.NASA/Carla Thomas NASA and its partners recently tested an aircraft guidance system that could help planes maintain a precise course even while flying at high speeds up to 500 mph. The instrument is Soxnav, the culmination of more than 30 years of development of aircraft navigation systems.
      NASA’s G-IV aircraft flew its first mission to test this navigational system from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California, in December 2024. The team was composed of engineers from NASA Armstrong, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and the Bay Area Environmental Research Institute (BAERI) in California’s Silicon Valley.
      “The objective was to demonstrate this new system can keep a high-speed aircraft within just a few feet of its target track, and to keep it there better than 90% of the time,” said John Sonntag, BAERI independent consultant co-developer of Soxnav.
      With 3D automated steering guidance, Soxnav provides pilots with a precision approach aid for landing in poor visibility. Previous generations of navigational systems laid the technical baseline for Soxnav’s modern, compact, and automated iteration.
      “The G-IV is currently equipped with a standard autopilot system,” said Joe Piotrowski Jr., operations engineer for the G-IV. “But Soxnav will be able to create the exact level flight required for Next Generation Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AirSAR-NG) mission success.”
      Jose “Manny” Rodriguez adjusts the Soxnav instrument onboard the G-IV aircraft in December 2024. As part of the team of experts, Rodriguez ensures that the electronic components of this instrument are installed efficiently. His expertise will help bring the innovative navigational guidance of the Soxnav system to the G-IV and the wider airborne science fleet at NASA. Precision guidance provided by the Soxnav enables research aircraft like the G-IV to collect more accurate, more reliable Earth science data to scientists on the ground.NASA/Steve Freeman Guided by Soxnav, the G-IV may be able to deliver better, more abundant, and less expensive scientific information. For instance, the navigation tool optimizes observations by AirSAR-NG, an instrument that uses three radars simultaneously to observe subtle changes in the Earth’s surface. Together with the Soxnav system, these three radars provide enhanced and more accurate data about Earth science.
      “With the data that can be collected from science flights equipped with the Soxnav instrument, NASA can provide the general public with better support for natural disasters, tracking of food and water supplies, as well as general Earth data about how the environment is changing,” Piotrowski said.
      Ultimately, this economical flight guidance system is intended to be used by a variety of aircraft types and support a variety of present and future airborne sensors. “The Soxnav system is important for all of NASA’s Airborne Science platforms,” said Fran Becker, project manager for the G-IV AirSAR-NG project at NASA Armstrong. “The intent is for the system to be utilized by any airborne science platform and satisfy each mission’s goals for data collection.”
      In conjunction with the other instruments outfitting the fleet of airborne science aircraft, Soxnav facilitates the generation of more abundant and higher quality scientific data about planet Earth. With extreme weather events becoming increasingly common, quality Earth science data can improve our understanding of our home planet to address the challenges we face today, and to prepare for future weather events.
      “Soxnav enables better data collection for people who can use that information to safeguard and improve the lives of future generations,” Sonntag said.
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      Last Updated Feb 07, 2025 EditorDede DiniusContactErica HeimLocationArmstrong Flight Research Center Related Terms
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    • By NASA
      Credit: NASA The Aerospace Safety Advisory Panel (ASAP), an advisory committee that reports to NASA and Congress, issued its 2024 annual report Thursday examining the agency’s safety performance, accomplishments, and challenges during the past year.
      The report highlights 2024 activities and observations on NASA’s work, including:
      strategic vision and agency governance Moon to Mars management future of U.S. presence in low Earth orbit health and medical risks in human space exploration “Over the past year, NASA has continued to make meaningful progress toward meeting the intent of the broad-ranging recommendations the panel has made over the last several years,” said retired U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Susan J. Helms, chair of ASAP. “We believe that the agency’s careful attention to vision, strategy, governance, and program management is vital to the safe execution of NASA’s complex and critical national mission.”
      This year’s report reflects the panel’s continued focus on NASA’s strategies for risk management and safety culture in an environment of growing space commercialization. Specifically, the panel cites its 2021 recommendations for NASA on preparing for future challenges in a changing landscape, including the need to evaluate NASA’s approach to safety and technical risk and to evolve its role, responsibilities, and relationships with private sector and international partners.
      Overall, the panel finds NASA is continuing to make progress with respect to the agency’s strategic vision, approach to governance, and integrated program management. The NASA 2040 new agencywide initiative is working to operationalize the agency’s vision and strategic objectives across headquarters and centers. With the establishment of NASA’s Moon to Mars Program Office in 2023, it finds NASA has implemented safety and risk management as a key focus for NASA’s Artemis campaign.
      The 2024 report provides details on the concrete actions the agency should take to fulfill its previous recommendations and spotlights its recommendations for the agency moving ahead. It addresses safety assessments for Moon to Mars and current International Space Station operations, as well as risk-related issues surrounding NASA’s planned transition to commercial low Earth orbit destinations.
      It covers relevant areas of human health and medicine in space and the impact of budget constraints and uncertainty on safety.
      The annual report is based on the panel’s 2024 fact-finding and quarterly public meetings; direct observations of NASA operations and decision-making; discussions with NASA management, employees, and contractors; and the panel members’ experiences.
      Congress established the panel in 1968 to provide advice and make recommendations to the NASA administrator on safety matters after the 1967 Apollo 1 fire claimed the lives of three American astronauts.
      To learn more about the ASAP, and view annual reports, visit:
      https://www.nasa.gov/asap
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      Jennifer Dooren / Elizabeth Shaw
      Headquarters, Washington
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      jennifer.m.dooren@nasa.gov / elizabeth.a.shaw@nasa.gov
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      Last Updated Feb 06, 2025 EditorJessica TaveauLocationNASA Headquarters Related Terms
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    • By NASA
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      What You Need To Know About the March 2025 Total Lunar Eclipse
      The Moon will pass into Earth’s shadow and appear to turn red on the night of March 13 or early in the morning of March 14, depending on time zone. Here’s what you need to know about the total lunar eclipse.
      The March 2025 total lunar eclipse will take place between late night on March 13 and early morning on March 14 across several time zones. In this data visualization, the Moon moves from right to left, passing through Earth’s shadow and leaving in its wake an eclipse diagram with the times (in UTC) at various stages of the eclipse. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio What is a lunar eclipse?
      A lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and Moon align so that the Moon passes into Earth’s shadow. In a total lunar eclipse, the entire Moon falls within the darkest part of Earth’s shadow, called the umbra. When the Moon is within the umbra, it turns red-orange. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons” because of this phenomenon.
      Alignment of the Moon, Earth, and Sun during a lunar eclipse (not to scale). NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio How can I observe the eclipse?
      You don’t need any special equipment to observe a lunar eclipse, although binoculars or a telescope will enhance the view. A dark environment away from bright lights makes for the best viewing conditions.
      This eclipse will be visible from Earth’s Western Hemisphere.
      Map showing where the March 13-14, 2025 lunar eclipse is visible. Contours mark the edge of the visibility region at eclipse contact times, labeled in UTC. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio What can I expect to observe?
      Milestone: What’s happening: Penumbral eclipse begins (8:57pm PDT, 11:57pm EDT, 03:57 UTC) The Moon enters the Earth’s penumbra, the outer part of the shadow. The Moon begins to dim, but the effect is quite subtle. Partial eclipse begins (10:09pm PDT, 1:09am EDT, 05:09 UTC) The Moon begins to enter Earth’s umbra and the partial eclipse begins. To the naked eye, as the Moon moves into the umbra, it looks like a bite is being taken out of the lunar disk. The part of the Moon inside the umbra will appear very dark. Totality begins (11:26pm PDT, 2:26am EDT, 06:26 UTC) The entire Moon is now in the Earth’s umbra. The Moon will turn a coppery-red. Try binoculars or a telescope for a better view. If you want to take a photo, use a camera on a tripod with exposures of at least several seconds. Totality ends (12:31am PDT, 3:31am EDT, 07:31 UTC) As the Moon exits Earth’s umbra, the red color fades. It will look as if a bite is being taken out of the opposite side of the lunar disk as before. Partial eclipse ends (1:47am PDT, 4:47am EDT, 08:47 UTC) The whole Moon is in Earth’s penumbra, but again, the dimming is subtle. Penumbral eclipse ends (3:00am PDT, 6:00am EDT, 10:00 UTC) The eclipse is over. Data visualization showing a telescopic view of the Moon as the March 2025 total lunar eclipse unfolds. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio Why does the Moon turn red during a lunar eclipse?
      The same phenomenon that makes our sky blue and our sunsets red causes the Moon to turn reddish-orange during a lunar eclipse. Sunlight appears white, but it actually contains a rainbow of components—and different colors of light have different physical properties. Blue light scatters relatively easily as it passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Reddish light, on the other hand, travels more directly through the air.
      When the Sun is high on a clear day, we see blue light scattered throughout the sky overhead. At sunrise and sunset, when the Sun is near the horizon, incoming sunlight travels a longer, low-angle path through Earth’s atmosphere to observers on the ground. The bluer part of the sunlight scatters away in the distance (where it’s still daytime), and only the yellow-to-red part of the spectrum reaches our eyes.
      During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears red or orange because any sunlight that’s not blocked by our planet is filtered through a thick slice of Earth’s atmosphere on its way to the lunar surface. It’s as if all the world’s sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the Moon.
      During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is reddened by sunlight filtered through Earth’s atmosphere. NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio What else can I observe on the night of the eclipse?
      Look to the western sky on the night of the eclipse for a glimpse of planets Jupiter and Mars. The Moon will be in the constellation Leo, under the lion’s hind paw, at the beginning of the eclipse; soon afterward, it will cross into the constellation Virgo. As Earth’s shadow dims the Moon’s glow, constellations may be easier to spot than usual.
      Visit our What’s Up guide for monthly skywatching tips, and find lunar observing recommendations for each day of the year in our Daily Moon Guide.

      Read more: The Moon and Eclipses

      Writers: Caela Barry, Ernie Wright, and Molly Wasser
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