United States
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In 1967, Lunar Orbiter Mission 4 sent back to Earth a superb series of photographs of the surface of the Moon, despite severe degradation caused by scanning artifacts and the reconstruction processes involved in transmission from lunar orbit.
Using 21st century techniques, Charles Byrne – previously System Engineer of the Apollo Program for Lunar Orbiter Photography – has removed the artifacts and imperfections to produce the most comprehensive and beautifully detailed set of images of the lunar surface.
Lunar Orbiter Photographic Atlas of the Near Side of the Moon has been organized to make it easy for astronomers to use, enabling ground-based images and views to be compared with the Orbiter photographs. The photographs are striking for their consistent Sun angles (for uniform appearance). All features have been identified with their current IAU-approved names, and each photograph has been located in terms of latitude and longitude. To help practical astronomers, all the photographs are systematically related to an Earth-based view.
The enhanced and cleaned photographs for screen viewing, lectures, etc., can be found online.
- Overview of the Atlas
- Lunar Orbiter Mission 4
- The Mission
- Overview of the Nearside of the Moon
- Organization of the Photos
- Orientale Basin Region
- Humorum Basin Region
- Imbrium Basin Region
- Nectaris Basin Region
- Serenitatis Basin Region
- Eastern Basins Region
- North Polar Region
- South Polar Region
- Glossary
- References
"With plans to return astronauts to the Moon, our nearest planetary body is of obvious interest at the moment. [...] The book has been organised to make it easy for astronomers to use [...] . the quality of reproduction in this volume is excellent and readers will undoubtedly spend endless hours vicariously exploring the lunar surface. Moreover, as a bonus [...] all the high and medium resolution photos from Lunar Orbiter 4, duly 'cleaned up' are also presented on a CD-ROM included with the book."
- International Space Review, 2006
