The latest images of the central peak area of Copernicus Crater are outstanding! Thank you Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and all the Arizona scientists who keep this wonderful mission on track. The photo here has a resolution of 4 m per pixel which is almost good enough (but not quite) to spot a lander on the surface.
In this photo I can see in exquisite detail all the craters, mounds and mountains which make up the principle sites which Wernher von Braun and Alan Bean visit in my novel Lunatics. With these latest pictures, I feel I could jump right into the picture and follow the Lunar Rover’s tracks! Would that I could!
There are no plans for Americans to return to the moon in the foreseeable future, this despite the fact that one of the principal goals of the LRO mission was to prepare maps for future landing sites.
Meanwhile lunar scientist can only ogle in awe at the moonscapes, feeling, as I’m sure they must, that they could almost reach out and touch that piece of pristine olivine bedrock…
Some day… but not any time soon.
Sigh…
More LROC photos on my Lunatics page.
