Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Illustration of LRO
Mission type	Lunar orbiter
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	2009-031A
SATCAT №	35315
Website	lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov
Mission duration	Primary mission: 1 year Science mission: 2 years Extension 1: 2 years Extension 2: 2 years Elapsed: 7 years, 7 months and 7 days
Spacecraft properties
Manufacturer	NASA / GSFC
Launch mass	1,916 kg (4,224 lb)
Dry mass	1,018 kg (2,244 lb)
Payload mass	92.6 kg (204 lb)
Dimensions	Launch: 390 × 270 × 260 cm (152 × 108 × 103 in)
Power	1850 W
Start of mission
Launch date	June 18, 2009, 21:32:00 (2009-06-18UTC21:32Z) UTC
Rocket	Atlas V 401
Launch site	Cape Canaveral SLC-41
Contractor	United Launch Alliance
Entered service	September 15, 2009
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Selenocentric
Semi-major axis	1,798 km (1,117 mi)
Periselene	20 km (12 mi)
Aposelene	165 km (103 mi)
Epoch	May 4, 2015
Moon orbiter
Orbital insertion	June 23, 2009
Instruments CRaTER Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation DLRE Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment LAMP Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project LEND Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector LOLA Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter LROC Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Mini-RF Miniature Radio Frequency

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit. Data collected by LRO has been described as essential for planning NASA's future human and robotic missions to the Moon. Its detailed mapping program is identifying safe landing sites, locating potential resources on the Moon, characterizing the radiation environment, and demonstrating new technologies.

Launched on June 18, 2009, in conjunction with the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), as the vanguard of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, LRO was the first United States mission to the Moon in over ten years. LRO and LCROSS were launched as part of the United States's Vision for Space Exploration program.

The probe has made a 3-D map of the Moon's surface at 100-meter resolution and 98.2% coverage (excluding polar areas in deep shadow), including 0.5-meter resolution images of Apollo landing sites. The first images from LRO were published on July 2, 2009, showing a region in the lunar highlands south of Mare Nubium (Sea of Clouds).

The total cost of the mission is reported as US$583 million, of which $504 million pertains to the main LRO probe and $79 million to the LCROSS satellite.

Developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, LRO is a large (1,916 kg/4,224 lb) and sophisticated spacecraft. Its mission duration was planned for one year, but has since been extended numerous times after review by NASA.

After completing a preliminary design review in February 2006 and a critical design review in November 2006, the LRO was shipped from Goddard to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 11, 2009. Launch was planned for October 2008, but this slid to April as the spacecraft underwent testing in a thermal vacuum chamber. Launch was rescheduled for June 17, 2009, because of the delay in a priority military launch, and happened one day later, on June 18. The one-day delay was to allow the Space Shuttle Endeavour a chance to lift off for mission STS-127 following a hydrogen fuel leak that canceled an earlier planned launch.