LRO Data

NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned an immense amount of data about Earth's Moon, including enough images in enough detail to allow NASA to construct a map of the entire lunar surface of unprecedented accuracy. The images show several heretofore unnoticed natural bridges, for example. Such formations probably should be common on low-gravity worlds, but the fact remains it took LRO imaging to find many of them. LRO also reveals where large amounts of water ice might be readily available, and identifies sites that receive 240 or more days of sunshine per year-- excellent places to harvest solar power.

LRO was seen originally as a scout to help NASA identify sites for possible lunar bases. Since the launch, however, the Constellation Moonbase program has been canceled. Still, the wealth of the database LRO has built-- and continues to build-- will be a boon to planetary scientists.

It's also true that NASA wasn't the only group contemplating a lunar base. An international lunar base is still in the early talking stages. Private groups, including for-profit corporations, are also looking at possible lunar base projects. LRO data may yet be used for its originally intended purpose.