This thing launched on June 18??
Geesh
it took a while to get it lined up just right..
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LCROSS Launch Information
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/launch/index.html
The LRO and LCROSS spacecraft were tucked inside the payload fairing at the top of the rocket to protect them from atmospheric heating as the rocket climbed through the atmosphere toward space. The fairing separated as planned and LRO pushed away from LCROSS and the Centaur stage on its way to going into orbit around the moon.
The LCROSS probe remained attached to the Centaur and will steer the empty rocket stage for about four months as mission controllers line up LCROSS and Centaur to collide with the moon in an effort to determine conclusively whether water exists on the lunar surface.
LCROSS is equipped with sensors to evaluate the plume from the Centaur stage when it hits the moon. Then LCROSS will fly through the plume before crashing into the lunar surface to kick up a second plume.
June 18th. My daughters an I were at Kennedy Space Center for the shuttle launch. The shuttle was scrubbed and we saw the LCROSS and the LRO launch on an Atlas V rocket, which was a spectacular sight. We then went back to NC only to drive back down to Kennedy for 3 more scrubs, a total of 5. The shuttle launched the day we got back home to NC the second time. Even though we missed the shuttle, I had a great time with my 7 year-old daughter (and wound up going back to school to get a Masters degree in Space Studies at age 48 to fulfill a boyhood dream).