Science

NASA's LRO gives lunar surface the 3D treatment

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Lobate scarps (a type of cliff) on the moon can be viewed in 3D thanks to NASA's LRO (Photo: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
Lobate scarps (a type of cliff) on the moon can be viewed in 3D thanks to NASA's LRO (Photo: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
Janssen K is a roughly 12-kilometer-diameter crater on the floor of the large Janssen Crater (Photo: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
An ancient channel formed as massive eruptions of very fluid lava poured across the surface of the moon (Photo: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
Ancient radial scars of ejecta extend out from the Orientale basin for hundreds of kilometers and consist of aligned craters and massive dune-like forms (Credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University)
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It’s time to pull out the old red/cyan 3D glasses for these anaglyphs created with high-resolution stereo images beamed back from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Having revealed the fate of the Apollo lunar flags earlier this year, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) is now enabling the creation of anaglyphs to bring the third dimension to craters, volcanic flows, lava tubes and tectonic features on the lunar surface.

Unlike consumer 3D cameras such as the Fujifilm FinePix Real 3D that capture a 3D image in one go using two separate lenses, the LROC captures two different perspectives of the same location on two consecutive orbits. These separate images, which are each at a resolution of 0.5 to 2 meters (1.6 to 6.5 ft) a pixel, are then combined into one anaglyph that can be viewed in 3D using red/cyan glasses.

A small number of anaglyphs has already been released, but the amount of images will continue to increase with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Narrow Angle Camera (LROC NAC) team from the University of Arizona and Arizona State University currently working on a processing system that will automatically generate anaglyphs from the pairs of images beamed back to earth.

If you’ve got a pair of red/cyan glasses handy, click through to the gallery to view the moon in all its 3D glory. Additional images will be released through the LROC website and NASA LRO website as they become available.

Source: NASA

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