NASA: Lunar Orbiter Reaches Moon

NASA's LRO reached the moon Tuesday morning with a 40 minute main thruster brake. We questioned why its so important to use this mission when the previous Apollo missions did not require it?

This article indicates that "the Apollo program accepted risk and was able to have safe landings. We want to return to the moon, make repeated landings in some areas and be able to go there with a higher degree of safety." Over the next year, the LRO will essentially create a new global atlas of the lunar surface.