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LPRP Overview & History

Program Overview: LPRP is to undertake robotic lunar exploration missions that will return data to advance our knowledge of the lunar environment and allow U.S. exploration architecture objectives to be accomplished earlier and with less cost through application of robotic systems.  LPRP will also reduce risk to crew and maximize crew efficiency by accomplishing tasks through precursor robotic missions, and by providing assistance to human explorers on the moon.

Program History: The lunar program initially evolved from the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), which established the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program (RLEP). The RLEP Program Management responsibility was assigned by the SMD Associate Administrator (AA) to the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) on February 11, 2004. In May of 2005, the RLEP Program was transitioned from SMD to the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate (ESMD). Program Management responsibility was re-assigned by the NASA Administrator to the Ames Research Center (ARC) on November 14, 2005. The RLEP program was renamed to the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program (LPRP), and Program Management responsibility was re-assigned to MSFC by the NASA Administrator on May 26, 2006.

Mission I: On May 20, 2004, the SMD AA and the RLEP Program Manager at GSFC assigned GSFC the project management responsibility for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) which is the first mission of the RLEP Program. The GSFC managed LRO mission is scheduled to launch in 2009.

Mission I Secondary Payload: On February 14, 2006, a secondary payload Announcement of Opportunity (AO) was released. The ESMD Mission Directorate Associate Administrator (MDAA) selected the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) project as the secondary payload and assigned project management responsibility to the ARC on April 10, 2006. The LCROSS project is planned to launch as a secondary payload in 2009 on the LRO mission.