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Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Its laser altimeter (LOLA) and camera (LROC) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO. The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. When a month is compressed into 24 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. This wobble is called libration. The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead. The Moon is subject to other motions as well. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by more than 10%. The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases, caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. By first quarter, the Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight. The full Moon rises at sunset and is high in the sky at midnight. The third quarter Moon is often surprisingly conspicuous in the daylit western sky long after sunrise. Celestial north is up in these images, corresponding to the view from the northern hemisphere. The descriptions of the print resolution stills also assume a northern hemisphere orientation.

A new video miniseries explores the intricate world of operating the Hubble Space Telescope. In Hubble – Eye in the Sky, viewers get an inside look at the challenges of operating the telescope, along with an understanding of the groundbreaking discoveries that forever changed the way we view space. Leading scientists, engineers and a Nobel prize winner take us through the innovation and strategies that keep the telescope in prime condition. Starting on July 15, the first episode, “Driving the Telescope,” visits Hubble’s control center to find out how a telescope in space is managed and operated from Earth. The following two episodes will premiere on July 20 and 23. They explore the riveting discoveries, technological updates and “time machine” capabilities of Hubble.

In the final part of Dr. Garvin's lecture he continues discussion for the future of exploring Mars with the upcoming Mars Science Lab/Curiosity Rover, the concepts for a future Mars sample-return mission, and his dreams of one day sending humans to Mars. (Show Description) Chief Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Jim Garvin, takes us on a journey to Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars. Why does space matter? Why is exploring the inner solar system so crucial? Where will humans and robots venture to next? In this video lecture, filmed July 14, 2010 in NASA Goddard's HD Science Studio with an audience of summer interns and co-op students, Dr. Garvin discusses NASA's past, present, and future of discovery on our nearest neighbors in the solar system.

In part 5, Dr. Garvin conveys the amazing past successes of robotic explorations on Mars and what we have to look forward to with the upcoming Mars Science Lab, also known as the Curiosity rover. (Show Description) Chief Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Jim Garvin, takes us on a journey to Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars. Why does space matter? Why is exploring the inner solar system so crucial? Where will humans and robots venture to next? In this video lecture, filmed July 14, 2010 in NASA Goddard's HD Science Studio with an audience of summer interns and co-op students, Dr. Garvin discusses NASA's past, present, and future of discovery on our nearest neighbors in the solar system.

Part 4 of Dr. Garvin's talk includes a hypothetical trip to a near-Earth object, a look at NASA's explorations of our own place in the solar system, planet Earth, and an introduction to what makes Mars such a fascinating place to study. (Show Description) Chief Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Jim Garvin, takes us on a journey to Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars. Why does space matter? Why is exploring the inner solar system so crucial? Where will humans and robots venture to next? In this video lecture, filmed July 14, 2010 in NASA Goddard's HD Science Studio with an audience of summer interns and co-op students, Dr. Garvin discusses NASA's past, present, and future of discovery on our nearest neighbors in the solar system.

In part 3, Dr. Garvin talks about the recent science and exploration breakthroughs at Earth's moon and explains why there's so much interest these days in near-Earth objects. (Show Description) Chief Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Jim Garvin, takes us on a journey to Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars. Why does space matter? Why is exploring the inner solar system so crucial? Where will humans and robots venture to next? In this video lecture, filmed July 14, 2010 in NASA Goddard's HD Science Studio with an audience of summer interns and co-op students, Dr. Garvin discusses NASA's past, present, and future of discovery on our nearest neighbors in the solar system.

n part 2, Dr. Garvin continues explaining how much left we have to learn about Venus and recounts NASA's visits to the moon with the Apollo program. (Show Description) Chief Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Jim Garvin, takes us on a journey to Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars. Why does space matter? Why is exploring the inner solar system so crucial? Where will humans and robots venture to next? In this video lecture, filmed July 14, 2010 in NASA Goddard's HD Science Studio with an audience of summer interns and co-op students, Dr. Garvin discusses NASA's past, present, and future of discovery on our nearest neighbors in the solar system.

Chief Scientist of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Dr. Jim Garvin, takes us on a journey to Mercury, Venus, Earth, the moon, near-Earth objects, and Mars. Why does space matter? Why is exploring the inner solar system so crucial? Where will humans and robots venture to next? In this video lecture, filmed July 14, 2010 in NASA Goddard's HD Science Studio with an audience of summer interns and co-op students, Dr. Garvin discusses NASA's past, present, and future of discovery on our nearest neighbors in the solar system.

This episode discusses dwindling groundwater resources in India.

This episode discusses food security.

This episode discusses land cover and land use change.

Episode 3: Time Machines – Hubble has looked back billions of years in time to see some of the earliest galaxies in their infancy, and it has fundamentally changed what we know about the universe itself. Find out from Nobel laureate John Mather and Hubble Senior Project Scientist Jennifer Wiseman how Hubble will work with the future James Webb Space Telescope to revolutionize our understanding of the universe even further. This series, Hubble – Eye in the Sky, takes you behind the scenes into the world of Hubble Space Telescope operations. Discover the strategies needed to run a bus-sized observatory as it speeds around Earth at 17,000 miles per hour, and find out how Hubble collects the incredible images and groundbreaking data that have transformed humanity’s vision of space. Witness the ingenuity that keeps such a complex and remote machine working to investigate the mysteries of the universe for more than 30 years.

Episode 2: An Unexpected Journey – With five servicing missions, upgraded instruments, and new ways of operating, Hubble is not the same telescope it was when it launched. Discover the innovative ways astronomers and engineers use Hubble today. This series, "Hubble – Eye in the Sky," takes you behind the scenes into the world of Hubble Space Telescope operations. Discover the strategies needed to run a bus-sized observatory as it speeds around Earth at 17,000 miles per hour, and find out how Hubble collects the incredible images and groundbreaking data that have transformed humanity’s vision of space. Witness the ingenuity that keeps such a complex and remote machine working to investigate the mysteries of the universe for more than 30 years.

Driving the Telescope – Visit Hubble’s control center to learn about the challenges and techniques of performing extraordinarily detailed observations with an orbiting space telescope. Tour the rarely seen, life-size simulator at NASA that helps engineers and operators investigate problems and test new solutions before implementing them on the real telescope in space. This series, Hubble – Eye in the Sky, takes you behind the scenes into the world of Hubble Space Telescope operations. Discover the strategies needed to run a bus-sized observatory as it speeds around Earth at 17,000 miles per hour, and find out how Hubble collects the incredible images and groundbreaking data that have transformed humanity’s vision of space. Witness the ingenuity that keeps such a complex and remote machine working to investigate the mysteries of the universe for more than 30 years.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Project Scientist Rich Vondrak explains the LRO suite of instruments and how each will greatly benefit our understanding of the Moon.

The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument on board NASA's LRO spacecraft will be responsible for building the highest detail topography available of the lunar terrain. In this video David Smith, LOLA's Principal Investigator, explains how this technology works.

The seven instruments aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter provide varied and unique datasets, but because of its polar orbit, the data coverage from LRO is best at the lunar poles. This visualization shows datasets from three LRO instruments at the moons south pole and then flies around the lunar terrain shown by the last of the three, the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter.

To celebrate one year in orbit, here are ten cool things already observed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Note that the stories here are just a small sample of what the LRO team has released and barely touch on the major scientific accomplishments of the mission.

Newly discovered cliffs in the lunar crust indicate the moon shrank globally in the geologically recent past and might still be shrinking today, according to a team analyzing new images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft. The results provide important clues to the moon's recent geologic and tectonic evolution.