The dual role of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) as an exploration and science mission has proven to be very successful, with important advances in both realms. Focusing on contributions across LRO's evolving objectives without attempting to be fully comprehensive. The mission has provided technical innovations and made surprising discoveries that have changed our view of the Moon. The science and exploration measurements will be a legacy of LRO that will be extremely useful to generations of lunar scientists and explorers.

The instruments on board the spacecraft return global data, such as day-night temperature maps, a global geodetic grid, high resolution color imaging and the moon's UV albedo. However, there has been particular emphasis on the polar regions of the moon where continuous access to solar illumination may be possible and the prospect of water in the permanently shadowed regions at the poles may exist. Although the original objectives of LRO were explorative in nature, the payload included instruments with considerable heritage from previous planetary science missions, enabling the transition, after one year, to the science phase under NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

LRO data sets are deposited in the Planetary Data System (PDS), a publicly accessible repository of planetary science information, within six months of primary mission completion and thereafter, the data sets have been deposited in the PDS every three months. The processed data sets will help the world develop a deeper understanding of the lunar environment, paving the way for a safe human return to the Moon and for future human exploration of our solar system.