Early morning sunlight illuminates the western wall of this unnamed crater, leaving deep shadows on the ground and in the interior. The image was taken on August 30, 2023, by LROC (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera). LROC is a system of three cameras and one of the seven instruments aboard NASA’s LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) mission, which launched in June 2009 and continues in orbit around the Moon. LRO’s primary mission was to make a 3D map of the lunar surface to help identify future landing sites and resources such as polar ice, to investigate the radiation environment, and to prove new technologies, all in anticipation of future robotic and human exploration.

In 2011, LRO data led to production of the highest-resolution, near-topographical map of the Moon, and an interactive mosaic of the lunar North Pole was published in 2014. In addition, LRO has taken high-resolution photographs of myriad lunar landing sites from NASA’s Apollo missions and others. LRO also conducted the first demonstration of laser communication with a lunar satellite.

This image is the NASA Science Image of the Month for March 2026. Each month, NASA’s Science Mission Directorate chooses an image to feature, offering desktop wallpaper downloads, as well as links to related topics, activities, and games.

Image credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/Intuitive Machines