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The wait is over! Under cloudy skies LRO and LCROSS thundered into the atmosphere enroute to the moon. Watch the launch (MP4, 143 MB)  NASA’s LRO and LCROSS spacecraft on top of the Atlas V rocket launch fromComplex 41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. Image: NASA An United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket blasts off with …

Victoria Friedensen, HQ program executive for LCROSS, weighs in on why the Moon is far from a case of “been there, done that…” I think that sometimes we treat the Moon with a BTDT attitude — you know, “been there, done that?” But really, have we really done that? The Moon is our closest neighbor, but like …

Mike Wargo, the chief lunar scientist for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate, gives some insight on the history of LRO/LCROSS. You can listen here (2 MB). How did NASA’s LRO/LCROSS missions become the “first step” back to the moon? Before the LRO or LCROSS missions were even thought of, NASA already was busy thinking about …

Even though it was a scorching 90 degrees at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, NASA’s two lunar missions, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, made their roll to launch complex 41 looking sharp. Compared to the space shuttle, the roll was quick and took …

With a complicated launch manifest on the range in Florida, LRO/LCROSS has already had to wait its turn behind other launches. The latest space shuttle mission to the International Space Station delayed LRO and LCROSS launch once more with a leaking hydrogen valve. Summer weather at Cape Canaveral is fraught with thunderstorms that could challenge …

Two boxy little satellites colored gold and bronze that represent NASA’s return to the moon have reached the final stop before their big day. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are stacked and mated aboard their Atlas V rocket and now waiting in the wings for rollout to the …

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, began their journey to the moon rolled out to launch complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Center at about 1:30 a.m. EDT on May 28. The missions are scheduled to launch together aboard an Atlas V rocket on …