The Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite mission was a low-cost NASA project to determine the nature of hydrogen detected at the lunar poles. It launched with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on an Atlas V rocket on June 18, 2009, as part of the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, the first American mission to the Moon in over ten years. LCROSS was designed to collect and relay data from the impact and debris plume produced when the spent Centaur upper stage and a shepherding spacecraft struck the crater Cabeus near the lunar south pole, and it succeeded in confirming water in that crater.
Facts
Mission Type
Mission Type (category)Robotic / Uncrewed Mission 1 Connections
Operated By
Source LCROSS - Wikipedia
Spacecraft Of
Source LCROSS - Wikipedia
Targets
Sources
1. LCROSS - Wikipedia
Lead paragraph
was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA
Lead paragraph, target
a permanently shadowed crater near a lunar polar region
Lead paragraph, outcome
It was successful in confirming water in the southern lunar crater Cabeus
Lead: mission type
was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA
Lead or launch section: launch date
launched together with the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) on June 18, 2009
Operated By: NASA, Lead: agency
was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA
Includes: LCROSS, Lead: mission of the spacecraft (part-of)
was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA
Spacecraft Of: LCROSS, Lead: mission of the spacecraft (mission-of)
was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA
In Group: NASA Post-Apollo Robotic Lunar Missions, Lead: kind of mission and sponsor
was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA
View the SourceMoon (Wikipedia)
Targets: The Moon, Article textQuote, Targets: The Moon, Article text
In 2009, LCROSS sent a 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) impactor into a permanently shadowed polar crater, and detected at least 100 kg (220 lb) of water in a plume of ejected material.
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