Explained: NASA's "LRO", which could help ISRO understand the fate of the Chandrayaan-2 lander on the Moon

ISRO will try to figure out what happened to Vikram de Chandrayaan-2 on Tuesday, when a NASA spacecraft will fly over the landing site of the LG on the moon.

Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) from NASA is likely to publish images that he takes from Vikram, US media reported.

"NASA will share images before and after flights over the region around the target landing site of Chandrayaan-2 Vikram to support the analysis of the Indian Space Research Organization, "said Noah Petro, LRO project scientist, quoted by spaceflightnow.com.

So, what is NASA's lunar reconnaissance orbiter (LRO)?

The LRO is a robotic spacecraft currently orbiting the moon. He studies the surface of the Moon, clicks on the images and collects data to determine the presence and possibility of water ice and other resources on the Moon, as well as to plan his future missions.

According to NASA: "The main mission of the Moon Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, operated by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, was to measure the entire lunar surface in order to create a high resolution 3D map of the image. Moon with images of a resolution of ~ 50 centimeters to assist in the planning of future robotic and crew missions. In addition, LRO would map the polar regions and search for the presence of ice-water. "

Since when does the LRO do this work?

More than 10 years now. Lunar reconnaissance lunar reconnaissance and lunar crater observation observation missions began on June 18, 2009. The LRO entered lunar orbit on June 23, 2009. In September 2010, it completed its mission cartography and started an extended scientific mission around the Moon. his responsibility is transferred to the Science Mission Directorate of NASA.

READ The communication system of the Vikram LG can be deactivated during the hard landing

According to NASA: "The mission has provided technical innovations and surprising discoveries that have changed our vision of the Moon. The instruments aboard the spacecraft return global data, such as day-night temperature maps, a global geodetic grid, high resolution color imagery, and the UV albedo of the moon.

However, special attention has been paid to the Polar Regions of the Moon where continued access to solar lighting may be possible and where there may be a possibility of water presence in permanently shaded areas at the poles. . "

It is estimated that the LRO has enough fuel to stay on the mission for at least six years.

And what has the LRO accomplished so far?

According to NASA, some of LRO's technical innovations include the first global thermal mapping of a planetary body covering a full range of local periods and seasons, the first bi-static radar imaging measurements of the Earth to a planetary orbiter, and more than five years of laser altimetry measurements yielding more than 8 billion topographic points, better than any other object in the solar system.

On March 15, 2011, LRO provided more than 192 terabytes of data from its core mission to its Global Data System, or PDS, to make this information available to researchers, students, the media and the general public.

"LRO continues to date providing data to the PDS, having generated the largest volume of data from a NASA global science mission," NASA said.