NASA has released animation and stills of space junk that has been sitting on the moon since Apollo's trip more than 40 years ago.
Scientists say the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, circling the moon, has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and rubbish left by Apollo astronauts in visits from 1969 to 1972.
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter got close enough to see the astronauts' path when they walked on the moon.
The photos also show ruts left by a moon buggy and backpacks pitched out of the lunar landers before the US visitors returned to Earth.
The photos were taken two weeks ago from 20km to 24km above the moon's surface.
Image 1
NASA's description: "In the thin lunar soil, the trails made by astronauts on foot can be easily distinguished from the dual tracks left by the lunar roving vehicle, or LRV".
Image 2
NASA's description: "The paths left by astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell on both Apollo 14 moon walks are visible in this LRO image. (At the end of the second moon walk, Shepard famously hit two golf balls.) The descent stage of the lunar module Antares is also visible."
Image 3
NASA's description: "What is visible in an image is not simply a matter of the size of a pixel projected onto the surface. Sun angle and direction are also important factors, as is the exposure level. When the Sun is high above the horizon differences in surface brightness are enhanced, and when the Sun is low surface roughness is more obvious. Linear features are enhanced when they lie perpendicular to the direction to the Sun, and tend to disappear when parallel. When an image is underexposed or overexposed contrast and detail suffer. The top two images (a,b) have larger pixel scales (49 cm, 54 cm) and incidence angles (55° and 21° from vertical) that bracket the new higher resolution image (c; 45°)."
