New lunar south polar maps from SMART-1

Not to be outdone by NASA Goldstone Radar, ESA has released a mosaic of Lunar South Pole images that add to the appreciation of that region's true depths and heights recently unveiled.

In a matter of weeks, the public knows more about this ancient terrain of Earth's Moon than in fifty years of close ups, twice as cratered as the landing site of Apollo 15

ESA 11 March 2008
SMART-1’s Advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) has collected many images of the lunar south-polar region, with unprecedented spatial resolution. The images, obtained over a full year of changing seasons were used to study the different levels of solar illumination on the Moon’s surface.

The orientation of the lunar rotation axis is such that the Sun just about grazes the lunar poles, leaving some regions permanently shadowed. Shackleton crater is located in the inner ring of the south pole Aitken basin, the largest known impact basin in the solar system. It has a diameter of 2600 km. The south pole is located on the rim of Shackleton crater.

SMART-1 took images around the crater, which is a strong contender for a future robotic and human exploration site and for a permanent human base. The polar mosaics show geological features of interest within reach from the south pole. Monitoring of the illumination of selected polar sites has allowed scientists to confirm that a ridge located 10 km from the Shackleton rim is prominently illuminated, and could be a strong contender for a potential future lunar outpost.

The large number of impact craters in the area indicates that the terrain is ancient. An example is crater Amundsen, 105 km in diameter, lying 100 km from the pole. It shows central peaks and asymmetric terraces that deserve geological and geochemistry studies.

Essentially more HERE.