Solar System Exploration Data Services Office

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)

Class:

Flight Project

Status:

Operational

Organizations:

WEBSITE:

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is an unmanned spacecraft designed to create a comprehensive atlas of the moon's physical features, radiation environment, temperatures, and resources. The mission places special emphasis on the moon's polar regions, where permanently shadowed craters may contain significant amounts of water ice that future human explorers might be able to exploit. LRO launched on June 18, 2009.

Aritst's conception of LRO in orbit around the Moon