LRO Reshapes Our Understanding of the Moon

Experts at the American space agency say that the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has already helped scientists change their view of the Earth's Moon. Thus far, the spacecraft has sent back the equivalent of 41,000 data DVDs, and the work is still being carried on.

The information glimpsed by the LRO suite of seven scientific instruments provided mission managers with everything they needed to create the most impressive maps ever of the lunar surface, geology, altitudes, slopes, angles, roughness and so on.

LRO was originally set in a 30-by-70 kilometer polar orbit, but was then moved to a 30-by-216 kilometer orbit after its first year of mission. NASA planned to use the orbiter for only 12 months, but a 5-year mission extension was granted after the scientific return the machine made became apparent.

Currently one year and a few days into its extension, the LRO launched from Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41) at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS), in Florida, on June 18, 2009. It was carried to space aboard an Atlas V delivery system.

Since then, the seven instrument aboard the orbiter managed to produce about 192 terabytes of data. The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) alone “has taken more than 100 times more measurements than all previous lunar instruments of its kind combined,” a NASA press release says.

The instrument created the most precise lunar topographical maps, using more than 4 billion measurements. That number is still growing, and will continue to do so for at least another 4 years.

“This is a tremendous accomplishment. The exploration phase of the mission delivered a lot more than it originally promised, and that's been just the beginning for LRO,” explains Douglas Cooke.

He holds an appointment as the associate administrator of the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD), at the NASA Headquarters, in Washington, DC.

“Before LRO, we actually knew the shape of Mars better than we knew the shape of the Moon, our nearest neighbor. But because of LRO and LOLA, we now have detailed maps of both the near side and far side of the Moon,” explains NASA official John Keller.

He is the deputy scientists for the LRO project, and is based at the space agency's Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), in Greenbelt, Maryland.