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one of the Lunar Reconnaissance orbiters

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primary objectives is to scout safe

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landing sites for future manned and

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robotic missions to the moon to do so

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LRO's suite of instruments work

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collectively to build a detailed picture

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of the surface let's take a look at how

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this is done the first thing we want to

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assess is the topography of the lunar

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terrain LRO uses an instrument called

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Lola that bounces laser pulses off of

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the surface when the pulse has returned

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to Lola their timing intensity and

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spread reveal the lunar landscape the

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resulting map shows steep slopes rough

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terrain and gives a general idea of what

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areas might be level enough to provide

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safe landing sites shown here in green

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LRO's next step is to create a

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temperature map of the surface using an

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instrument called diviner temperatures

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change more slowly in areas with lots of

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loose materials so by looking at thermal

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maps we can eliminate areas for landing

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that may have a dangerous abundance of

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rocks the regions in yellow represent

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places where the thermal signatures

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indicate they are unsafe landing sites

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lastly we want to double-check and

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refine our map even further LRO does

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this with a set of cameras that make

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detailed pictures of the surface looking

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closely at these images we can actually

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pick out individual boulders and craters

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these will clearly be hazardous places

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to land so we've labeled them red and

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remove them from our safe areas

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at this point any sites that are left

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green have been checked and rechecked to

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be Louisville smooth and free from

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hazards based on LRO scouting we would

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consider these safe locations to land

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it should be noted that while it is

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absolutely essential to find safe

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landing sites a safe place to land is

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not necessarily an interesting place to

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land when it comes time to pick the best

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landing site many other factors and

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as astronauts make their descent toward

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the lunar surface late in the next

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decade they can thank NASA's small robot