NASA’s Lunar Reconaisance Orbiter (LRO) opens the possibility for researchers to create the most detailed and complete map of the Moon’s complex, cratered surface ever. Data collected by the probe will be a fundamental reference for several future Moon missions.

With its first year of service the LRO has managed to collect a total of 3 million datapoints with its laser altimeter (Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter, LOLA), with a near-even longitudinal coverage. Based on these, a highly detailed topographic map was created from the Moon, which was presented at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco December 17. Researchers expect that data collection can continue in the same pace for the next two years, leading finally to an even more accurate dataset, reaching a near GPS accuracy in the polar regions of our celestial companoin.

LRO’s altimeter generates a laser beam which is split into 5 portions by the probes mechanics, and is then projected toward the lunar surface. The beams refleting from the Moon are detected by the satellite, and the exact time of detection is recorded. Using the precise time measurements combined with the position of the probe a map of the surface can be created. The split lasebream covers a circular area on the surface, also allowing to determine the sloping of the terrain.

The maps created in such way are more accurate than any other previous measurement of the lunar surface. Current resolution can be down to 1-10km on the far side of the Moon, where direct satellite tracking is not possible. This can be tuned to a 30m horizontal and 1m vertical resolution with the new technique and the increased number of datapoints.

Using the newly made map scientists have already been able to discover more details about the Earth’s companion, especially about crater density, surface dinamics, and multi-layered craters. Apart from this, it may be possible to get a glimpse inside the Moon’s polar craters, determine their surface features and calculate the temperatures inside which could allow to estimate the amount of water ice present there.