Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter : NASA
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) recently captured the image of India’s Chandrayaan-3 lander.
- Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a NASA spacecraft that was launched on June 18, 2009.
- Primary Objective is to make a 3D map of the Moon’s surface from lunar polar orbit.
- It has also been used to study the Moon’s geology, mineralogy, and environment.
- It orbits the Moon in an eccentric polar mapping orbit.
- LRO is equipped with 7 science instruments, the most well-known of which is a 195-millimeter (7.7-inch) telescope and camera system that can see details up to 2.5 meters across.
- LRO is equipped with a laser altimeter that produces 3D maps by shooting lasers at the surface and measuring reflection times.
- The spacecraft also carries two instruments suited to peering into dark craters to search for signs of water ice and a temperature instrument that led to the discovery of the coldest place in the solar system.
