ESASMART-1ESA Science
   
About SMART-1
SMART-1 factsheet
Towards final impact
Approaching the mission endFrequently Asked QuestionsAsk about the SMART-1 impactJoin the SMART-1 impact observation campaign
About the journey
About the mission
About the Moon
Multimedia
SMART-1 imagesSMART-1 videosSMART-1 animations3D Flash 'model'SMART-1 wallpaperLaunch replay
Services
Comments
 
 
 
 
News
 
printer friendly page
SMART-1's oblique look on the north lunar far west
SMART-1's oblique look on the north lunar far west
An oblique look on the north lunar far west
 
9 August 2006
This image, taken by the Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA’s SMART-1 spacecraft, provides an 'oblique' view of the lunar surface towards the limb, around the Mezentsev, Niepce and Merrill craters, on the far side of the Moon.
 
"This cratered terrain is similar in topography to near-side highlands, while the far-side equator bulge can reach heights of 7 km, and the South Pole Aitken basin has depths down to 8 km," says SMART-1 Project Scientist Bernard Foing.

AMIE obtained this sequence on 16 May 2006. The imaged area is centred at a latitude of 73º North and a longitude of 124º West(or 34º further than the West limb seen from Earth).

Normally, the SMART-1 spacecraft points the AMIE camera straight down, in the so-called Nadir pointing mode. In this image, AMIE was looking out 'the side window' and pointing towards the horizon, showing all craters in an oblique view. The largest craters shown are Mezentesev, Niepce and Merrill, located on the lunar far side, not visible from the Earth. Mezentsev is an eroded crater 89 kilometres in diameter, while Niepce and Merrill have the same size 57 km.  
 
Mezentsev is named after Yourij Mezentsev, a Soviet engineer (1929 - 1965) who was one of the first people to design rocket launchers. Joseph Niepce was the French inventor of photography (1765 - 1833), while Paul Merrill was an American astronomer (1887 - 1961).
 
 
For more information:
 
Bernard H. Foing
ESA SMART-1 Project Scientist
Email: bernard.foing @ esa.int

Jean-Luc Josset
AMIE Principal Investigator
SPACE-X Space Exploration Institute
Email: jean-luc.josset @ space-x.ch
 
 

Send this page to a friend
 


 SMART-1
More about...
Mare Serenitatis: crater statistics and lunar chronologyMersenius crater – wrinkles between Humorum and ProcellarumLomonosov – a large crater filled by lavaSMART-1 birthday postcard of Apollo 11 landing siteGruithuisen: non-mare volcanism in ProcellarumLandscapes from the ancient and eroded lunar far sideSMART-1 view of crater Sulpicius GallusThe SMART-1 way - giving the Moon some great new looksMare Humorum: where craters tell the story of basaltGassendi crater - clue on the thermal history of Mare HumorumKepler Crater as seen by SMART-1Lunar West Side Story - the SMART-1 MovieSMART-1 close-up on Zucchius crater's central peaksHighlands and Mare landscapes on the Moon
Related links
Space-XAdvanced Moon micro-Imager Experiment (AMIE)
 
 
 
   Copyright 2000 - 2009 © European Space Agency. All rights reserved.