NASA today released some stunning pictures of several Apollo landing sites, as imaged from orbit by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), the space agency’s latest return to the Moon.

They are stunning less in their pixelated detail than in what they actually represent: the remnants of spacecraft built and piloted by humans to the surface of another world. The picture of the Apollo 14 site (right) shows the path scuffed by astronauts between their lunar module lander and the site where they set up a raft of scientific instruments. In its eloquent evocation of the loneliness of space travel it brings to mind the descent image of the Mars Phoenix spacecraft above the backdrop of the Heimdall crater.

If you can’t get enough of Apollo reminiscing, check out Nature’s special on the Apollo 11 landing here.