Moon's South Pole, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) image. The LRO is a robotic space probe launched by NASA to study the Moon. This image uses the initial data acquired in September 2009 by the LRO's Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA) instrument at the start of its year-long mission to generate a high-resolution 3D map of the Moon. The colors depict the relative heights of the lunar surface with respect to the surface mean. Warm colors (brown, red, magenta, and tan) are above the mean. Cooler colors (green, cyan, blue, and violet) are below the mean.