Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

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LRO Home Page

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched on the 18th of June, 2009. It is Mapping Luna from an altitude of 31 miles and carrying out many scientific investigations. The goals are not merely pure science but also finding landing sites and other resources that might be used by future explorers.[1] LRO is planned to continue its mission for at least a year.[2]

The NASA LRO Spacecraft carries the following experiments into lunar orbit:

Institution Experiment Investigator
Boston University CRaTER Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation PI:Harlan Spence CoI:Justin C. Kasper BU page
Institute for Space Research LEND Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector Dr. Igor Mitrofanov NASA page
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center LOLA Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter Dr. David E. Smith LOLA page
Northwestern University LROC Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Dr. Mark Robinson LROC page
NASA Ames Research Center LCROSS Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite Dr. Anthony Colaprete LCROSS page
Southwest Research Institute LAMP Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project Dr. Alan Stern LAMP page
UCLA DIVINER Radiometer David. A. Paige UCLA page

Student Procedure Available

A procedure is now available that allows high school and college undergraduate students to read and analysis the latest LRO/LOLA lunar data. It is called Design your own Moon base with the latest NASA data. This step-by-step Student use of LOLA Data procedure requires no permissions and only commonly available computers and software with an Internet connection.

Although somewhat tedious, students can use this procedure to make contour maps of altitude with colored dots representing the slope for any location on the Moon. This new power to study the Moon can be handy whether you are checking out the setting of your next science fiction story or computer game, reviewing key historic and scientific locations, or scouting a destination for a mission you would like to lead.

References

1. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/news/popular_science.html
2. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/overview/index.html