Want to stay on top of all the space news? Follow @universetoday on Twitter
If you're a fan of moon observation, it's lucky for you that spacecraft such as the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter exist. For about the past five years, the NASA spacecraft has been in orbit around a closest large neighbor, taking images of the surface in high-definition.
To celebrate LRO's fifth anniversary, NASA is asking members of the public to vote on which of those images (above) is their favorite. This isn't so much a statement about the scientific data it has collected, NASA said, but more appreciating the images as art.
Voting runs from May 23 to June 6, and the winner will be announced with the full collection's release on June 18 - the actual official fifth anniversary of the launch. You can find more information about the vote at this page.
By the way, LRO not only takes good pictures of the moon, but also of other spacecraft. You can check out its pictures of LADEE and Chang'e-3 in these past Universe Today articles.
Meanwhile, James Garvin - NASA's chief scientist of the sciences and exploration directorate - eloquently weighs in below on his favorite images of the moon. His description of Aristarchus is interesting: 'Here is Mother Nature's expression of a gigantic landform made by a cosmic collision.' You can check out the other four below.
Elizabeth Howell is the senior writer at Universe Today. She also works for Space.com, Space Exploration Network, the NASA Lunar Science Institute, NASA Astrobiology Magazine and LiveScience, among others. Career highlights include watching three shuttle launches, and going on a two-week simulated Mars expedition in rural Utah. You can follow her on Twitter @howellspace or contact her at her website.
Tagged as: LRO, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Entities 0 Name: NASA Count: 4 1 Name: moon Count: 3 2 Name: LRO Count: 2 3 Name: Utah Count: 1 4 Name: LADEE Count: 1 5 Name: NASA Lunar Science Institute Count: 1 6 Name: NASA Astrobiology Magazine Count: 1 7 Name: Universe Today Count: 1 8 Name: James Garvin Count: 1 9 Name: Chang Count: 1 10 Name: Elizabeth Howell Count: 1 11 Name: Space.com Count: 1 Related 0 Url: http://ift.tt/1vSkvi9 Title: NASA Is Letting Citizens Commandeer a Long-Lost Satellite Description: Yesterday evening, NASA officially granted permission to a group of scientists and enthusiasts who want to do what NASA can't afford: Make contact with a 36-year-old satellite called ISEE-3 that's still capable of taking directions for a new mission. It's the first agreement of its kind--and it could hint at where the space industry is going.
Post a Comment for "Which Of These Moon Pictures Catches Your Eye? NASA Asks You To Pick The ..."