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LRO's Project Site

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Learn more about the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from the project Web site maintained by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.

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LCROSS Web Site

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The Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), managed by NASA's Ames Research Center in California, was launched with LRO on June 18, 2009. LCROSS searched for water ice in a permanently shadowed crater near one of the moon's poles. Visit the website below for more information about LCROSS and the crater impact.

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Related Links

› Why the moon?
› Lunar ACT-REACT Quick Map →
› LRO Camera Gallery →
› Apollo's 40th Anniversary website
› NASA Exploration website
› Lunar Precursor Robotic Program →

Featured Stories

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LRO Featured in Journal Special Edition

Scientific observations made by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) are the subject of a special edition of Journal of Geophysical Research ...

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image of the Mona Lisa superimposed over a view of the moon

NASA Beams Mona Lisa to the Moon

NASA beamed an image of the Mona Lisa to the LRO spacecraft as part of the first demo of laser communication with a satellite at the moon.

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Mission News

    LRO and GRAIL Update: 12.18.12

    The GRAIL impact sites are now in darkness, so they cannot be imaged by LRO. The first opportunity for LRO to view them in sunlight will be in about three weeks, but the impact site will still be in deep shadows, so it will be difficult for LRO to image them. The most favorable opportunity will be when LRO and the sun are directly over the impact site in March/April 2013.


    LRO Resources
    › LRO/LCROSS Press Kit


    Five Things to Know about LRO
    • LRO is leading NASA’s way back to the moon.
    • The primary objective of LRO is to conduct investigations that prepare for future lunar exploration. Specifically LRO will scout for safe and compelling landing sites, locate potential resources (with special attention to the possibility of water ice) and characterize the effects of prolonged exposure to the lunar radiation environment. In addition to its exploration mission, LRO will also return rich scientific data that will help us to better understand the moon’s topography and composition.
    • Seven scientific instruments outfit LRO. These instruments will return lunar imagery, topography, temperature measurements and more.
    • Launched along with LRO was the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), a partner mission that will search for water ice on the moon.
    • In response to LRO's "Send Your Name to the Moon" initiative, the spacecraft carries a microchip with nearly 1.6 million names submitted by the public. Click here to view a photo of the microchip containing the names as engineers prepare to install it on the spacecraft.

Imagery from the LRO Camera

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