LCROSS

LCROSS launched as a secondary payload with Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on June 18, 2009. After trans-lunar injection, LRO separated and performed its mission. The LCROSS Shepherding Spacecraft (SSC) remained attached to the spent Atlas upper stage, called the Centaur. Over 112 days, the Shepherding Spacecraft adjusted the Centaur's course to bring it to an impact within the Cabeus Crater near the South Pole of the moon. It impacted on October 9, 2009.
 
LCROSS used the Centaur as a 2300 kg kinetic impactor with more than 200 times the energy of the Lunar Prospector (LP) impact to excavate more than 250 metric tons of lunar regolith. The resulting ejecta cloud was observed from a number of Lunar-orbital and Earth-based assets, and the LCROSS spacecraft. After releasing the Centaur, the SSC flew toward the impact plume, sending real-time data to characterize the morphology, evolution and composition of the plume with a suite of cameras and spectrometers. The SSC then became a 700 kg impactor itself, providing a second opportunity to study the nature of the Lunar Regolith.

LUNAR CRATER OBSERVATION AND SENSING SATELLITE

PDS Image Atlas

Explore planetary data from NASA Mars and lunar landed missions

Analyst's Notebook

Text-based and an interactive map-based search interface for finding and downloading desired orbital observations

Orbital Data Explorer

MID INFRARED CAMERA 1 for LCROSS

MID INFRARED CAMERA 2 for LCROSS

NEAR INFRARED CAMERA 1 for LCROSS

NEAR INFRARED CAMERA 2 for LCROSS

NEAR INFRARED SPECTROMETER 1 for LCROSS

NEAR INFRARED SPECTROMETER 2 for LCROSS

TOTAL LUMINANCE PHOTOMETER for LCROSS

VISIBLE CAMERA for LCROSS

VISIBLE SPECTROMETER for LCROSS

Moon

Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite

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