The new LRO images that was released yesterday, has allready led to new discoveries.

Among these is the reclaim of the longest drive outside of earth by the Russian Lunokhod 2 rover in 1973.

Yesterday, images and data from Nasa’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) were posted. The LRO, scheduled for a one year exploration mission about 31 miles above the lunar surface, will produce a comprehensive map, search for resources and potential safe landing sites, and measure lunar temperatures and radiation levels.

Using his atlas and the NASA images, Professor Phil Stooke from Unioversity of Ontario pinpointed the exact location of the Russian rover Lunokhod 2, discovering tracks left by the lunar sampler 37 years ago after it made a 35-kilometre trek.

The journey was the longest any robotic rover has ever been driven on another celestial body, and much longer than even the Mars rovers

As soon as the NASA photos were released, scientists around the world, including Stooke, began work to locate the rover. Stooke set up a searchable image database and located the photograph he needed, among thousands of others.

Stoke says: “The tracks were visible at once. Knowing the history of the mission, it’s possible to trace the rover’s activities in fine detail. We can see where it measured the magnetic field, driving back and forth over the same route to improve the data. And we can also see where it drove into a small crater, and accidentally covered its heat radiator with soil as it struggled to get out again. That ultimately caused it to overheat and stop working. And the rover itself shows up as a dark spot right where it stopped.”

The find, he adds will mean that older maps published by Russia will now need to be revised.

Sorce: University of Western Ontario