<p>A spacecraft circling the moon has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and trash left behind by Apollo astronauts in their visits from 1969 to 1972.<br /><br />Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 13 to 15 miles up show the astronauts' paths when they walked on the moon, as well as ruts left by a moon buggy.<br />Experts could even identify the backpacks astronauts pitched out of their lunar landers before they returned to Earth.<br /><br />"What we're seeing is a trail," said Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter's chief scientist. "It's totally awesome."<br /><br />However, the photos were not close enough to see individual bootprints, Robinson said.<br />The pictures were taken two weeks ago and show the landing sites for Apollo 12, 14 and 17.<br /><br />The closest images are of the 1972 Apollo 17 site, the last moon mission.<br />Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the photo gives him a chance to revisit those days, "this time with a little nostalgia and disappointment.<br /><br />Nostalgia because those special days are fondly etched in my memory and disappointment because it looks like now we will not be going back within the days I have left on this planet."<br /><br />Two years ago, images from the same spacecraft from 30 and 60 miles out showed fuzzier images.</p>
<p>A spacecraft circling the moon has snapped the sharpest photos ever of the tracks and trash left behind by Apollo astronauts in their visits from 1969 to 1972.<br /><br />Images taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from 13 to 15 miles up show the astronauts' paths when they walked on the moon, as well as ruts left by a moon buggy.<br />Experts could even identify the backpacks astronauts pitched out of their lunar landers before they returned to Earth.<br /><br />"What we're seeing is a trail," said Arizona State University geology professor Mark Robinson, the orbiter's chief scientist. "It's totally awesome."<br /><br />However, the photos were not close enough to see individual bootprints, Robinson said.<br />The pictures were taken two weeks ago and show the landing sites for Apollo 12, 14 and 17.<br /><br />The closest images are of the 1972 Apollo 17 site, the last moon mission.<br />Apollo 17 Commander Eugene Cernan wrote in an email to The Associated Press that the photo gives him a chance to revisit those days, "this time with a little nostalgia and disappointment.<br /><br />Nostalgia because those special days are fondly etched in my memory and disappointment because it looks like now we will not be going back within the days I have left on this planet."<br /><br />Two years ago, images from the same spacecraft from 30 and 60 miles out showed fuzzier images.</p>
