LRO narrow-angle camera products georeference hardware and surface disturbance at the published coordinates for Descartes Highlands. Featured-site pages and catalogue links below point to the same releases cited on the Evidence page. All six Apollo sites from orbit lists every crewed zone with LROC featured links in one table.
Commissioning-era LROC strip over the Descartes landing site—consistent with other Apollo zones.
Featured-site pages and NAC strips resolve the LM, ALSEP, and rover tracks in highland regolith.
Orbital SIM bay context
Mattingly’s instrument suite provides independent orbital mapping that frames surface geology objectives.
Highlands sample suite
Returned mass and thin-section petrology are published in open literature with chain-of-custody from mission rules.
Selected frames
First surface views after touchdown.
NASA
LM in the highlands lighting.
NASA
Common questions about evidence for this landing
Factual shortcuts—full citations sit in the sections above and in mission source links.
What do LRO and LROC images show at Descartes Highlands?
Published Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) narrow-angle products resolve hardware, experiments, and regolith disturbance at the selenographic coordinates on this page. Use the orbital section above and the official LROC / NASA links under “Official sources” for the featured-site and data-product pages for Apollo 16.
Where can I read how this evidence fits the wider Apollo record?
The How we know page summarizes independent lines of proof. The Evidence catalogue groups LRO imagery, hardware, LLR, photo comparisons, and NASA documents with primary links.
Site imagery
Curated in explorer Site Detail
Apollo 16 — Descartes highlands. Use the explorer’s Site detail tab for the same rasters, or open the official product pages below.
Site map
Site map — regional NAC (LROC post 157, Descartes)
Official LROC Apollo landing sites release (July 2009, post 157): ~1 km-scale narrow-angle frame centered on the Cayley Plains Apollo 16 landing area.
Young and Duke explored the Descartes highlands with the LRV, targeting volcanic and impact materials while Mattingly operated SIM bay science in lunar orbit.
Key achievements
Highlands geology campaign
Record-setting rover traverses
Far-ultraviolet observations
Surface hardware & experiments
Lunar Roving Vehicle
ALSEP
Far-ultraviolet camera/spectrograph
Timeline highlights
April 16, 1972
Launch to the central highlands
Translunar injection targets the Descartes landing zone for three EVAs and extensive orbital remote sensing.
April 21, 1972
Landing at Descartes
Orion touches down on the Cayley Plains; crew deploys ALSEP and begins rover geology traverses.
April 21–23, 1972
Rover geology & station science
Stone Mountain and other stations yield documented samples tied to traverse maps and photography.
April 27, 1972
Return & splashdown
Transearth coast completes with film and sample return under standard Apollo recovery.
Official sources
Primary portals and data releases for verifying mission-specific claims. Cross-check themes on the Evidence catalogue and the wider How we know overview when you need category-level context.
