KSC-2009-3780

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The Atlas V/centaur rocket fires as it lifts NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The tower at left is part of the lightning protection system on the pad. LRO and LCROSS are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. The LRO also includes seven instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface: DIVINER, LAMP, LEND, LOLA , CRATER, Mini-RF and LROC. Launch was on-time at 5:32 p.m. EDT. Photo credit: NASA/Tom Farrar, Kevin O'Connell