The LROC team recently completed a large effort updating coordinates of known robotic and crewed targets on the Moon (landers, rovers, equipment, and impact craters). Using multiple images of each site acquired between 2009 and 2015, an improved LRO spacecraft ephemeris, and a temperature-dependent camera orientation model, the LROC team derived accurate coordinates for each soft-landed spacecraft, rover, and spacecraft impact crater that we have so far identified. Details of how these coordinates were derived were just published in the journal Icarus by Wagner and co-workers.

Making sure that the lunar cartographic network is accurate is a critical component for planning future lunar missions for both human and robotic exploration of the Moon. The historic spacecraft serve as benchmarks (especially the laser retroreflectors) for global mapping efforts. When new images of each site arrive, and the final ephemeris is in hand, we can check if the hardware has "moved" – well, actually we see the level of uncertainty in computing latitude/longitude coordinates which is currently about ±15 meters.

The table at the bottom of this post lists the final coordinates (mean Earth/polar axis (ME) system) of all spacecraft hardware and spacecraft impact craters. You can also download a PDF version of this listing and an Excel spreadsheet containing coordinates for each image at each site.

Check out this map of robotic spacecraft sites on the lunar surface!

To generate the list of observed latitudes and longitudes, we compiled a list of line and sample coordinates for the center of each object in each image. Each image was then initialized using the USGS Integrated Software for Imagers and Spectrometers (ISIS) software package, attaching the appropriate spacecraft position and pointing information, along with the GLD100 lunar shape model for elevation. ISIS routines were then used to compute the latitude and longitude of the spacecraft (or crater) in that image. The LRO spacecraft position was provided by the latest cross-over corrected spacecraft positioning kernels provided by the LRO LOLA team, with an orbital position uncertainty of ±15 m. Finally, temperature-corrected NAC camera kernels produced by the LROC team contributed to the high precision and accuracy. The coordinates listed in the table are the statistical means from multiple images acquired for a particular site.

Crewed Missions

Object Mean Observed Lat Mean Observed Lon Elevation (m) Uncertainty (m) Apollo 11 LM 0.67416 23.47314 -1926 0.3 Apollo 11 PSE 0.67322 23.47315 -1928 0.4 Apollo 12 LM -3.0128 336.5781 -1422 2.2 Apollo 12 ALSEP -3.0098 336.5751 -1422 2.2 Apollo 12 PSE -3.0099 336.5752 -1423 2.6 Apollo 14 LM -3.64589 342.52806 -1062 0.4 Apollo 14 ALSEP -3.64419 342.52232 -1064 0.4 Apollo 14 PSE -3.64408 342.52233 -1064 0.4 Apollo 15 LM 26.13239 3.63330 -1931 1.0 Apollo 15 ALSEP 26.13406 3.62991 -1924 0.5 Apollo 15 PSE 26.13411 3.62980 -1924 0.3 Apollo 15 LRV 26.13174 3.63803 -1928 0.5 Apollo 16 LM -8.9734 15.5011 8 3.0 Apollo 16 ALSEP -8.9759 15.4986 12 3.0 Apollo 16 PSE -8.9759 15.4986 12 2.5 Apollo 16 LRV -8.9729 15.5037 10 3.7 Apollo 17 LM 20.1911 30.7723 -2626 3.5 Apollo 17 ALSEP 20.1923 30.7655 -2622 3.5 Apollo 17 LRV 20.1896 30.7769 -2628 3.2 Apollo 17 SEP 20.1920 30.7768 -2627 3.7

Robotic Missions

Object Mean Observed Lat Mean Observed Lon Elevation (m) Uncertainty (m) Surveyor 1 -2.4745 316.6602 -1889 5.6 Surveyor 3 -3.0162 336.5820 -1433 2.6 Surveyor 5 1.4551 23.1943 -2052 11.9 Surveyor 6 0.4742 358.5725 -757 6.7 Surveyor 7 -40.9812 348.4873 81 3.5 Luna 16 -0.5137 56.3638 -2452 3.7 Luna 17 38.23764 324.99837 -2471 0.5 Lunokhod 1 38.3150 324.9919 -2471 3.8 Luna 20 3.7863 56.6242 -1780 4.3 Luna 21 25.9994 30.4076 -2680 13.4 Lunokhod 2 25.8323 30.9222 -2761 7.5 Luna 23 12.6667 62.1511 -3668 3.0 Luna 24 12.7142 62.2129 -3670 3.7 Chang'e 3 44.1214 340.4883 -2630 9.1 Yutu Rover 44.1208 340.4878 -2630 12.9 Ranger 6 9.3864 21.4806 -1996 4.4 Ranger 7 -10.6340 339.3230 -1791 6.4 Ranger 8 2.6376 24.7881 -2165 4.9 Ranger 9 -12.8281 357.6116 -1531 5.8 A13 SIVB -2.5550 332.1125 -1166 9.8 A14 SIVB -8.1810 333.9695 -1785 4.5 A15 SIVB -1.2897 348.1755 -1109 3.8 A16 SIVB 1.9210 335.3770 -1104 19.2 A17 SIVB -4.1681 347.6693 -1206 5.6 GRAIL-A 75.6088 333.4060 750 10.7 GRAIL-B 75.6508 333.1659 1039 12.2 LADEE 11.8494 266.7506 2803 6.1

Link to journal paper:

R.V. Wagner, D.M. Nelson, J.B. Plescia, M.S. Robinson, E.J. Speyerer, E. Mazarico (2016), Coordinates of anthropogenic features on the Moon, Icarus, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2016.05.011

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