CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly 40 years after Neil
Armstrong first walked on the moon, United Launch Alliance successfully
launched NASA's latest two lunar missions aboard an Atlas V rocket from Space
Launch Complex-41 at 5:32 p.m. EDT today. The Atlas V successfully placed the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing
Satellite (LCROSS) missions on their proper trajectories to the moon. Both
missions are components of the Lunar Precursor Robotic Program at NASA's
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala.
"ULA is extremely proud to be a part of NASA's LRO mission team that will
demonstrate new technology, survey lunar resources and environments, and
support American astronauts once again landing on the moon," said Mark
Wilkins, ULA Vice President, Atlas Product Line. "Our Atlas vehicles stretch
back to the beginning of the space race and the United States' first human
space program, Mercury. We wish our NASA partners total success in the months
ahead in completing this exciting exploration mission for our nation."
The Atlas V's upper stage, known as Centaur, is playing an unusual role in the
LCROSS mission. The LCROSS mission objective is to confirm the presence or
absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater near a lunar pole.
Following a unique role reversal after launch, the expended Centaur will
become LCROSS's payload. After five days of flight, both will enter into an
elongated lunar orbit where LCROSS will eventually separate from Centaur. Then
in the October timeframe, Centaur will crash into the crater near the lunar
pole, creating a plume of debris rising above the surface. Four minutes
later, LCROSS will fly through the plume, collecting and relaying information
back to Earth before impacting the moon itself.
"In the 1960s, the Centaur was the first upper stage vehicle ever built with
the lifting power to reach the moon and was specifically developed for lunar
and planetary surveying," said Vernon Thorp, ULA NASA Program Manager.
"Centaur was used to help scout the first Apollo landing sites. Using it now
to find water allowing astronauts to work on the moon for long periods of time
in the future is adding another significant chapter to the Centaur's history
of supporting NASA's human spaceflight program."
The LRO/LCROSS mission was launched aboard an Atlas V 401 configuration and it
used a single common core booster powered by the RD-180 engine. Atlas V has 15
previous successful launches including two missions for NASA, six for the
Department of Defense and seven for commercial customers.
ULA's next launch is the NASA/NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental
Satellite-O mission, which will be launched aboard a Delta IV rocket on behalf
of Boeing Launch Services. The launch is scheduled for June 26, 6:14 p.m.
EDT, from Space Launch Complex-37 here.
For more information on the ULA joint venture, visit the ULA Web site at
www.ulalaunch.com, or call the ULA Launch Hotline at 1-877-ULA-4321
(852-4321).
SOURCE United Launch Alliance
Michael Rein, +1-321-730-5646, or Cell, +1-321-693-6250,
Michael.j.rein@ulalaunch.com, or Julie Andrews, +1-720-922-7121, or Cell,
+1-321-750-1000, julie.c.andrews@ulalaunch.com, both of United Launch
Alliance
