Comparing Moon Boulders: Lunar Orbiter (1967) Vs LRO (2012)

[Left] High resolution image taken on 11 August 1967 by Lunar Orbiter 5 took of the central uplift features inside crater Copernicus. Resolution is ~2 meters, image was taken at an altitude of 103.15 km. This image was recently retrieved by the Lunar Orbiter Image Recovery Project (LOIRP) [Right] Image taken of the same location by LRO in 2012. Resolution is 1.8 meters and was taken in 2012 from an altitude of 102 km. Lighting angles for both images are almost identical.

When looking at higher resolution imagery it is obvious that the dynamic range of the LOIRP- retrieved Lunar Orbiter image is comparable to that presented in the LRO image – especially in bright regions.

When comparing LOIRP-retrieved imagery with USGS previously scanned versions of the same image (See LOIRP poster from the 2012 Lunar Science Forum), the increase in resolution and dynamic range is even more pronounced.