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Remarkable new images of the Apollo 17 landing site on the Moon have been captured by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which has been circling the Moon since 2009. The images show, in a level of detail not seen before, clear evidence of the landing including astronaut footprints, the left-behind science equipment, the Apollo 17 descent stages and even the final wheel direction of parked Apollo 17 Lunar Roving Vehicle.

The LRO probe was originally conceived as a robotic precursor to future manned missions. However, when NASA might return to the lunar body with astronauts is still not clear. Last year, US politicians cancelled a project, named Constellation, that was intended to return to the Moon.

You can find one labelled image courtesy of the BBC News website below, or visit the LRO mission website for the full collection.