On June 18. 2009. from Launch Complex 41
at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Florida. a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket
roared off the launch pad.
The Atlas V carried two different spacecraft bound for the same destination: the moon.
While the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. or LRO. and the Lunar Crater Observation
and Sensing Satellite. or LCROSS. shared a common destination.
they had separate objectives.
LRO's goal was to scout for safe and compelling landing sites.
locate potential resources. and study prolonged exposure to the lunar radiation
environment. LRO also returned scientific data to help us better understand the moon's
topography and composition.
And it carries a microchip with almost 1.6 million names submitted by the public.
in response to the "Send Your Name to the Moon" initiative.
Meanwhile. its partner mission. LCROSS.
with the help of Atlas V's Centaur upper stage. made an impact. in more ways than one.
LCROSS's mission was to search for water ice on the moon.
After 113 days and nearly 5.6 million miles. the Centaur impacted the moon at more than
twice the speed of a bullet.
Four minutes after Centaur's impact. LCROSS flew through the plume of lunar debris.
collecting and relaying data back to Earth before impacting
and creating a second debris plume.
Early analysis revealed there is indeed water in the permanently shadowed region of
Cabeus crater. near the moon's South Pole.