KSC-2009-3176

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Near Launch Complex-41 on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, a scrub jay keeps watch of activity. On the pad, the Atlas V/Centaur is undergoing a wet dress rehearsal, or countdown test. The Atlas V is being fully loaded with propellants including liquid hydrogen, liquid oxygen and RP-1 fuel. Following the rehearsal, the launch vehicle will be rolled off the pad and returned to the Vertical Integration Facility on May 16. The Atlas V/Centaur is the launch vehicle for NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS. They will be mated with the Atlas in late May. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. Launch is scheduled for no earlier than June 17. Photo credit: NASA/Dimitri Gerondidakis