Tuesday, March 16, 2010

ASU LROC camera spots Russian lunar lander

 The ASU-run Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera spotted the Soviet's Luna 20 spacecraft on the moon.

From the LROC web site:  On February 21, 1972, Luna 20 soft landed in the rugged highlands between Mare Fecunditatis and Mare Crisium. The next day a sample return capsule blasted off carrying 55 grams of lunar soil. The Luna 20 descent stage still sits silently on the Moon, clearly visible in LROC NAC image M119482862RE [photo credit, NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].