Lunar Recognition Orbiter or merely LRO is one of NASA's instruments that enabled us to understand hidden elements of our natural satellite, the Moon. The probe is now 10 years old (more exactly on June 18th, the launch anniversary), although it was originally anticipated to last one or two years.
Due to its tools gathered more information than any other planetary science mission, NASA is particularly proud of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. And it's also thanks to this probe that we have the Moon's up-to - the-minute maps with an unprecedented detail.
In reality, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has inside a laser altimeter that enables impulses to be sent to map valleys, craters (fresh and old) and mountains on the ground 28 times a second. Among the other discoveries we owe to this probe are, for example, the detection of lunar temperatures (among the lowest ever measured in the Solar System) or the fact that the Moon in its tectonics is a dynamic celestial object and less "dead" than was originally thought.
With the Trump administration's push for space exploration and especially with the Artemis mission, LRO information will be essential for mission planning and tracking. It also gave the opportunity to simple enthusiasts or curious to learn more about our satellite after collecting petabytes of images of the lunar soil.
A very comprehensive map of the Moon can be viewed on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's dedicated website as well as other mission data with all the recent science updates on the topic. What's in store for us our natural satellite? Probably much data will come back in the coming years thanks to LRO.
