PIA14429: Slumping rim of Darwin C
 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:  1200 x 1200 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Other  
Information: 
More details and images at LROC
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA14429.tif (1.442 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA14429.jpg (173.3 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

High incidence angle (83°) accentuates the slumping rim of Darwin C. The parallel fractures along the crater rim are slump blocks pulling away from the rim toward the interior of the crater, which is in shadow (lower right). LROC NAC M148624404R, image is 720 meters across.

Darwin C (20.5°S, 288.9°E) is one of several satellite craters associated with the crater Darwin. Compared to its sister satellite craters, this one is less degraded. However, the rim of Darwin C provides an excellent example of post-impact modification of a crater rim.

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:
2011-04-28