Fact Sheet
'Photo of the (Last) Century'
This image of the floor of Copernicus, a large crater of the Moon, was hailed as the "Photo of the Century" when it was published in late 1966. It was snapped by Lunar Orbiter 2, one of a series of craft designed to help select landing sites for the manned Apollo missions. Mountain peaks jut from the floor of the crater, with its terraced rim -- which extends miles above the floor -- in the distance. The Carpathian Mountains loom beyond the crater. The first Lunar Orbiter arrived at the Moon on August 13, 1966. [Credit: NASA/LRC]
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