Developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, LRO is a large (1,916 kg/4,224 lb) and sophisticated spacecraft.
Its mission duration was planned for one year, but has since been extended numerous times after review by NASA.

After completing a preliminary design review in February 2006 and a critical design review in November 2006, the LRO was shipped from Goddard to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 11, 2009.
Launch was planned for October 2008, but this slid to April as the spacecraft underwent testing in a thermal vacuum chamber.
Launch was rescheduled for June 17, 2009, because of the delay in a priority military launch, and happened one day later, on June 18.
The one-day delay was to allow the Space Shuttle Endeavour a chance to lift off for mission STS-127 following a hydrogen fuel leak that canceled an earlier planned launch.

Areas of investigation include selenodetic global topography; the lunar polar regions, including possible water ice deposits and the lighting environment; characterization of deep space radiation in lunar orbit; and high-resolution mapping, at a maximum resolution of 50 cm/pixel (20 in/pixel), to assist in the selection and characterization of future landing sites.

In addition, LRO has provided images and precise locations of landers and equipment from previous American and Russian lunar missions, including the Apollo sites.
Developed at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, LRO is a large (1,916 kg/4,224 lb) and sophisticated spacecraft. Its mission duration was planned for one year, but has since been extended numerous times after review by NASA.
After completing a preliminary design review in February 2006 and a critical design review in November 2006, the LRO was shipped from Goddard to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on February 11, 2009. Launch was planned for October 2008, but this slid to April as the spacecraft underwent testing in a thermal vacuum chamber. Launch was rescheduled for June 17, 2009, because of the delay in a priority military launch, and happened one day later, on June 18. The one-day delay was to allow the Space Shuttle Endeavour a chance to lift off for mission STS-127 following a hydrogen fuel leak that canceled an earlier planned launch.
Areas of investigation include selenodetic global topography; the lunar polar regions, including possible water ice deposits and the lighting environment; characterization of deep space radiation in lunar orbit; and high-resolution mapping, at a maximum resolution of 50 cm/pixel (20 in/pixel), to assist in the selection and characterization of future landing sites.
In addition, LRO has provided images and precise locations of landers and equipment from previous American and Russian lunar missions, including the Apollo sites.
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter