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PIA12987: Two-toned Impact Crater in Balmer Basin: A Reflection of the Target?
 Target Name:  Moon
 Is a satellite of:  Earth
 Mission:  Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
 Spacecraft:  Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
 Instrument:  Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (NAC)
 Product Size:  1001 x 1001 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Other  
Information: 
More details and images at LROC
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA12987.tif (1.003 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA12987.jpg (185 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

Materials excavated during formation of this ~450 m diameter impact crater have an unusual two-toned character, likely a reflection of heterogeneity in the target materials. This crater occurs in Balmer Basin, an area thought to harbor a type of 'cryptomare' -- an old volcanic surface covered by later light-toned impact deposits. The dark materials may be basaltic rock excavated from deeper parts of the crater. The crater is located at 18.341°S latitude and 69.950°E longitude. The scene is 540 m across, a subset of NAC M111138159LE.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center built and manages the mission for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera was designed to acquire data for landing site certification and to conduct polar illumination studies and global mapping. Operated by Arizona State University, LROC consists of a pair of narrow-angle cameras (NAC) and a single wide-angle camera (WAC). The mission is expected to return over 70 terabytes of image data.

Image Credit:
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Image Addition Date:
2010-03-26