Looking Into the Moon's Permanently Shadowed Craters

By Nancy Atkinson - March 7, 2013 at 2:42 PM UTC | Planetary Science

There are some craters on the Moon that never see the light of day. But that doesn't stop the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from shedding new light on some the darkest mysteries on the lunar surface. With its battery of instruments, LRO has been collecting data so that we can learn more about what we can't see with our eyes or with optical telescopes. The video provides more details, but by studing the Moon, we'll improve our understanding of the solar system, bringing new discoveries to light.

For more info, see the

LRO website.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com