NASA creates high-res Moon map, taunts you about your terrestrial tethers

Chances are you will never set foot on the Moon. Sorry, we don't mean to rain on your parade (alright, maybe we do), but the closest you'll ever get is looking at pictures or traipsing around Google Moon. NASA's LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) has been circling our rocky satellite capturing such images, and now 69,000 of them have been stitched together to create the highest resolution topographic map of the lunar surface ever. The Global Lunar DTM 100 m topographic model has a scale of roughly 100 meters per-pixel, allowing researchers to better understand how the crust is formed and accurately scout landing sites for future missions -- be they robotic or manned. Check out the source for a larger image and a few more details.