LRO/LCROSS Launched

"The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) is a robotic spacecraft that the United States plans to place in orbit around the Moon. LRO will be the first mission with a primary objective to implement the United States Vision for Space Exploration. To successfully attain the goals of "The Vision", including human exploration of the Moon, LRO will survey lunar resources and identify possible landing sites. The orbiting probe will be able to provide a 3-D map of the moon's surface. Piggy-backing on the launch of LRO will be the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), which is designed to watch as the launch vehicle's spent 2,300 pounds (1,043 kg) Centaur motor upper stage strikes a permanently shadowed region near the south pole of the Moon. NASA expects the impact velocity will be over 9,000 km/h (5,600 mph). The ejecta plume will be in the order of 350 tons (317 metric tons) and rise 6 miles (10 km) from the surface. It is hoped that spectral analysis of the resulting impact plume will help to confirm preliminary findings by the Clementine and Lunar Prospector missions which hinted that there may be water ice in the permanently shadowed regions. LCROSS will fly through the debris plume, and will then crash itself into a different part of the crater approximately four minutes after the Centaur impact."