Planetary Science

LRO

1,011 tracked publications and 28,993 citations from 2010–2026. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Launched 2009. Life-cycle cost: $806M in 2025 dollars. Active Mission Window October 1, 2009 to January 1, 2024: 768 publications, 48 top-10% credit.

Orbiter · h-index 80 · 64 papers with 100+ citations · prime mission ended 2010

Lifetime

Scope Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Papers published from the first full month after science operations begin through 2 years after the prime mission ends. Citations are counted through the third calendar year after each paper appears. Methods Every tracked publication to date, with every citation to date. Methods

Key measures

Active Mission Window · papers October 1, 2009 to January 1, 2024
Tracked publicationsTracked publications: peer-reviewed research papers we found for the mission. The list may not be complete. Methods768
CitationsCitations received by the tracked publications in the selected scope. The two windowed scopes count each paper’s citations only within its citation window. Methods8,040
Mean citations per publicationMean citations: total citations divided by tracked publications in the selected scope. One blockbuster paper can lift it. Methods10
Median citations per publicationMedian citations: the middle paper’s citation count in the selected scope; half the papers have more, half fewer. A single blockbuster sways it less than the mean. Methods7
Uncited publicationsUncited publications: papers with no citations in the selected scope. Methods58 (7.6%)
Top-10% creditTop 10%: among the 10% most-cited papers from this division’s missions, ranked against papers published around the same time. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods48 · 4.4% of division
Top-1% creditTop 1%: among the 1% most-cited papers from this division’s missions within the selected window. Not adjusted for publication year. A paper naming several missions is split evenly among the missions in this division that claim it, so counts can be fractional. Methods2 · 1.8% of division
Lifetime indices · every tracked publication to date, in any scope
h-indexh-index: the largest h such that h papers have at least h citations each. It only grows with time, so older missions score higher. Methods80
g-indexg-index: the largest g for which the g most-cited papers together hold at least g² citations. Like the h-index, but it lets the most-cited papers count for more. Methods133
m-index, as of October 4, 2026m-index: a mission’s h-index divided by the years since its first peer-reviewed paper. It falls every 1 January even when nothing else changes, so it belongs to the date shown; it also discounts the long operating life that larger missions paid for. Methods4.7
toritori (total research impact, from ADS): for every paper citing one of the mission’s papers, 1 divided by the citing paper’s reference count times the cited paper’s author count, summed, with self-citations removed. It favors citations from papers with short reference lists and from outside the mission’s own authors. Computed over the tracked citation graph, which can be slightly incomplete. Methods132
riqriq (research impact quotient): 1,000 times the square root of tori, divided by the years since the mission’s first paper. A rate, not a total, so it does not keep growing with age the way the h-index and tori do. Methods639

Tracked publications

  1. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Instrument Overview

    Robinson, M. S., 2010, SSRv

    1,045 citations

  2. The Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter Investigation on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission

    Smith, David E., 2010, SSRv

    480 citations

  3. A new lunar digital elevation model from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter and SELENE Terrain Camera

    Barker, M. K., 2016, Icar

    476 citations

  4. Diviner Lunar Radiometer Observations of Cold Traps in the Moon’s South Polar Region

    Paige, David A., 2010, Sci

    468 citations

  5. Initial observations from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA)

    Smith, David E., 2010, GeoRL

    443 citations

  6. Direct evidence of surface exposed water ice in the lunar polar regions

    Li, Shuai, 2018, PNAS

    421 citations

  7. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

    Paige, D. A., 2010, SSRv

    418 citations

  8. The global surface temperatures of the Moon as measured by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

    Williams, J.-P., 2017, Icar

    364 citations

  9. Global Regolith Thermophysical Properties of the Moon From the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

    Hayne, Paul O., 2017, JGRE

    324 citations

  10. Illumination conditions of the lunar polar regions using LOLA topography

    Mazarico, E., 2011, Icar

    314 citations

  11. Hydrogen Mapping of the Lunar South Pole Using the LRO Neutron Detector Experiment LEND

    Mitrofanov, I. G., 2010, Sci

    308 citations

  12. Lunar surface rock abundance and regolith fines temperatures derived from LRO Diviner Radiometer data

    Bandfield, Joshua L., 2011, JGRE

    293 citations

  13. Evidence for exposed water ice in the Moon's south polar regions from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ultraviolet albedo and temperature measurements

    Hayne, Paul O., 2015, Icar

    261 citations

  14. Optical measurements of the Moon as a tool to study its surface

    Shkuratov, Y., 2011, P&SS

    257 citations

  15. Lunar equatorial surface temperatures and regolith properties from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment

    Vasavada, Ashwin R., 2012, JGRE

    221 citations

  16. Global Silicate Mineralogy of the Moon from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer

    Greenhagen, Benjamin T., 2010, Sci

    217 citations

  17. Lunar mare TiO₂ abundances estimated from UV/Vis reflectance

    Sato, Hiroyuki, 2017, Icar

    213 citations

  18. Highly Silicic Compositions on the Moon

    Glotch, Timothy D., 2010, Sci

    208 citations

  19. GLD100: The near-global lunar 100 m raster DTM from LROC WAC stereo image data

    Scholten, F., 2012, JGRE

    183 citations

  20. Evidence for basaltic volcanism on the Moon within the past 100 million years

    Braden, S. E., 2014, NatGe

    179 citations

How we found these papers

We searched NASA’s Astrophysics Data System (ADS) for peer-reviewed articles naming LRO in the title, abstract or keywords; standard filters drop articles that are not peer-reviewed and magazine pieces. SciX is ADS’s current interface.

((=abs:"Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter" OR =abs:"Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera" OR =abs:"Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector" OR =abs:"Lyman-Alpha Mapping Project" OR =abs:"Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter" OR =abs:"Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation" OR =abs:"Diviner Lunar Radiometer" OR ((=abs:Moon OR =abs:lunar) AND (abs:LRO OR =abs:LROC OR abs:LEND OR abs:LAMP OR abs:LOLA OR abs:CRaTER OR =abs:Diviner OR abs:"Mini-RF")))) AND property:refereed AND doctype:article AND pubdate:[2009-10 TO 2040-01] AND NOT bibstem:("A&R" OR "AIASJ" OR "AeAm" OR "AirSp" OR "AsNow" OR "AsUAI" OR "AvWST" OR "C&E" OR "C&T" OR "CAPJ" OR "E&S" OR "ENews" OR "IrAJ" OR "JCos" OR "JRASC" OR "LAstr" OR "MNSSA" OR "Met" OR "NewSc" OR "Orion" OR "PhT" OR "PhTea" OR "PhuZ" OR "PhyOJ" OR "PhyW" OR "PlR" OR "SciAm" OR "SpFl" OR "ZemVs")

Open in SciX

Added after review (2)

  1. Flight Calibration of the LROC Narrow Angle Camera In-flight calibration of the LROC Narrow Angle Camera using LRO flight data. Decision 🤖
  2. Inflight Calibration of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera Wide Angle Camera In-flight calibration of the LROC Wide Angle Camera using LRO flight data. Decision 🤖

Removed after review (20)

  1. High Resolution Seamless Dom Generation Over CHANG'E-5 Landing Area Using Lroc Nac Images Duplicate record of 2018ISPAr42W4..271D (same paper). Decision 🤖
  2. Photogrammetric Processing of Planetary Linear Pushbroom Images Based on Approximate Orthophotos Duplicate record of 2018ISPAr42W4..391G (same paper). Decision 🤖
  3. a New Realization of the Global Lunar Reference Frame Based on Co-Registered Lola Tracks Duplicate record of 2018ISPAr42W4..397G (same paper). Decision 🤖
  4. An Integrated Photogrammetric and Photoclinometric Approach for Pixel-Resolution 3d Modelling of Lunar Surface Duplicate record of 2018ISPAr.423.1117L (same paper). Decision 🤖
  5. 2010SSRv..150....1V Editorial preface to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  6. 2010SSRv..150....3M Editorial foreword to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  7. The Ultraviolet Spectrograph on NASA's Juno Mission Describes Juno's ultraviolet spectrograph; mentions LRO only as design heritage. Decision 🤖
  8. The ARTEMIS Mission Overview of the ARTEMIS mission; mentions LRO only as a concurrent mission. Decision 🤖
  9. Dose spectra from energetic particles and neutrons Describes a proposed dosimeter; mentions CRaTER only as a design analogue. Decision 🤖
  10. 2025AcAau.234..154B Proposed lunar mission concept (LUGO); does not involve LRO. Decision 🤖
  11. 2025PSJ.....6..134H Io Volcano Observer mission concept study; does not involve LRO. Decision 🤖
  12. Promising Neutron Detector with Anticoincidence Protection Describes a proposed neutron detector design; reports no LRO results. Decision 🤖
  13. Preface: The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Editorial preface to a journal special issue; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  14. When Earth got pummeled News commentary on another paper; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  15. Introduction to special section on Results of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Mission Editorial introduction to a journal special section; not a research paper. Decision 🤖
  16. The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Payload Development and Performance in Flight Describes the LCROSS instrument payload; mentions LRO only as a co-launched mission. Decision 🤖
  17. ShadowCam Instrument and Investigation Overview Instrument overview of ShadowCam (KPLO); mentions LROC only as a comparison. Decision 🤖
  18. Chandrayaan-2 dual-frequency SAR: Further investigation into lunar water and regolith Pre-launch description of the Chandrayaan-2 radar; mentions Mini-RF only as context. Decision 🤖
  19. The First Laser Retroreflector on the Lunar Far Side Onboard China's Chang'e-6 Lander Describes the Chang'e-6 laser retroreflector; mentions LOLA only as a possible future observer. Decision 🤖
  20. Characterization of Regolith And Trace Economic Resources (CRATER): An Orbitrap-based laser desorption mass spectrometry instrument for in situ exploration of the Moon Describes an unrelated instrument named CRATER; not LRO's CRaTER. Decision 🤖