Does LROC imagery cover all Apollo landing sites?

Yes. Narrow-angle coverage exists for Tranquility Base, the Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 area, Fra Mauro (Apollo 14), Hadley–Apennine (Apollo 15), Descartes (Apollo 16), and Taurus–Littrow (Apollo 17). ASU publishes featured-site pages for each; the table above links to those entries.

Where should I start for Apollo 11 from orbit?

Use the Apollo 11 row for the LROC featured-site link, then open the Apollo 11 mission dossier for crew, timeline, and additional LROC posts (e.g. low-altitude NAC campaigns) cited there.

Is orbital imagery the only proof humans landed on the Moon?

No. Lunar laser ranging from Apollo retroreflectors, visible hardware and tracks, returned samples under chain-of-custody, and extensive NASA archives each provide independent constraints. Orbital imaging is one converging line—see How we know for the full sketch.

LRO / LROC

Apollo landing sites from orbit

After Apollo, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s narrow-angle camera (LROC) imaged every crewed landing zone. Published strips and featured-site pages show hardware, experiments, and regolith disturbance at the coordinates flight plans and surface logs already documented.

Overview

This page is a mission-level index: where each landing sits, when it occurred, and where Arizona State University / NASA host the LROC “featured site” materials for that zone.

LROC does not “replace” surface photography or laser ranging; it adds an independent, georeferenced view from above. Narrow-angle (NAC) frames can resolve landers, experiment packages, and—on later flights—rovers and traverse tracks when lighting and incidence angles are favorable.

For category-level catalogue entries (first-look releases, resolution campaigns, related posts), use the Evidence page. For how orbital imagery fits other proof lines, read How we know. For coordinates on a map, open Explore.

How these images are used

Georeferencing, lighting, and cross-checks

LROC products are published with documented geometry so analysts can tie pixels to selenographic coordinates. That allows predictions about shadows, slopes, and hardware scale to be compared with what the orbiters record—separately from what astronauts photographed on the surface.

Surface crews took Hasselblad panoramas and traverse maps; those products can be aligned with digital terrain models built from orbital data. Agreement within stated uncertainty is another convergence test, not a substitute for the underlying archives.

All six crewed landings

LROC featured pages and mission dossiers

Each row links to ASU’s LROC featured-site view (primary) and to this site’s mission dossier for context, crew, and additional NASA / LROC citations.

Mission	Landing site	Region	Landing date	LROC featured site	Dossier
Apollo 11	Sea of TranquilityMare Tranquillitatis	Mare Tranquillitatis	July 20, 1969	LROC — Apollo 11 featured site	Apollo 11
Apollo 12	Ocean of StormsOceanus Procellarum	Oceanus Procellarum	November 19, 1969	LROC — Apollo 12 & Surveyor 3 featured site	Apollo 12
Apollo 14	Fra MauroFra Mauro Formation	Fra Mauro Formation	February 5, 1971	LROC — Apollo 14 featured site	Apollo 14
Apollo 15	Hadley RillePalus Putredinis	Palus Putredinis	July 30, 1971	LROC — Apollo 15 featured site	Apollo 15
Apollo 16	Descartes HighlandsDescartes Highlands	Descartes Highlands	April 21, 1972	LROC — Apollo 16 featured site	Apollo 16
Apollo 17	Taurus-LittrowTaurus-Littrow Valley	Taurus-Littrow Valley	December 11, 1972	LROC — Apollo 17 featured site	Apollo 17

Common questions

Does LROC imagery cover all Apollo landing sites?: Yes. Narrow-angle coverage exists for Tranquility Base, the Apollo 12 and Surveyor 3 area, Fra Mauro (Apollo 14), Hadley–Apennine (Apollo 15), Descartes (Apollo 16), and Taurus–Littrow (Apollo 17). ASU publishes featured-site pages for each; the table above links to those entries.
Where should I start for Apollo 11 from orbit?: Use the Apollo 11 row for the LROC featured-site link, then open the Apollo 11 mission dossier for crew, timeline, and additional LROC posts (e.g. low-altitude NAC campaigns) cited there.
Is orbital imagery the only proof humans landed on the Moon?: No. Lunar laser ranging from Apollo retroreflectors, visible hardware and tracks, returned samples under chain-of-custody, and extensive NASA archives each provide independent constraints. Orbital imaging is one converging line—see How we know for the full sketch.

Continue on this site

Evidence catalogue — orbital imagery

Catalogued LROC releases, context strips, and related primary links.

How we know — orbital photography

Why post-Apollo narrow-angle imaging is treated as an independent line of evidence.

Explore

Interactive atlas with landing coordinates and site detail.

Sources — LROC / ASU

Portals and data access for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.

All Apollo missions

Chronological mission list with highlights and sources.