Home > Term: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
A NASA Moon-orbiting mission launched in the fall of 2008. Its low-polar orbit and instrument payload is acquiring new data in support of future human landing sites and resource exploration including polar volatiles (especially water ice). These data include high-resolution imaging and topography, lunar radiation environment, and global surface composition. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) launched with LRO, then traveled independently for a controlled crash on October 9, 2009 into a permanently-shadowed crater at the lunar south pole to support our search for water ice. An estimated 5. 6 ± 2. 9% by mass water ice was reported in the regolith at the LCROSS impact site, Cabeus crater.
- Part of Speech: noun
- Industry/Domain: Astronomy
- Category: Planetary science
- Company: PSRD
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- kathy.tucson
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