Abstract: Currently more and more technologies of information science, such as image processing and pattern recognition, are used in the development of space science. The autonomous crater detection which gains many researchers'attention in recent years is one of the good examples in this field. This paper introduces the autonomous crater detection technology from passive images in details. Firstly, the applications of autonomous crater detection in three areas including geology or astronomy, space database establishment and spacecraft navigation and positioning are discussed. Secondly, the state of autonomous crater detection technology is introduced, esp. some typical algorithms are addressed. In order to explain these methods clearly, the related algorithms are classified into three kinds: Unsupervised Detection, Supervised Detection and Combination Detection. Finally, the difficulties, further work of autonomous crater detection and the author's work are addressed shortly.