Using cameras aboard the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) space probe, a team of NASA scientists has created the largest high-resolution mosaic of the Moon’s north pole .
The giant mosaic is made up of 10,581 images , taken by the LRO’s two narrow-angle cameras capable of recording a wide range of light and shadow areas. Each pixel equals 2 meters , so the total covers an area similar to more than a quarter of the United States.
The entire image measures 931,070 square pixels (about 867 trillion pixels in total). If we wanted to print the mosaic with an acceptable resolution to see sharpness in the image, we would need a square sheet of paper almost as long and wider than a professional soccer field. If the entire mosaic were processed as a single file, it would require about 3.3 terabytes of storage space. To avoid this saturation, the mosaic was divided into millions of small files, all of them compressed, so that it would be manageable via the web for users.
Through the website provided by NASA, we can zoom in and out on the target or even scroll through a specific area for a closer view. The mosaic has such a level of detail that it is possible to see the textures and shadows of the lunar surface.
The LRO space probe entered lunar orbit in June 2009 and is equipped with seven instruments to create a map of the Moon’s surface, investigate environmental radiation, water, and mineral resources, and gather geological clues about the evolution of this. star.
