This collection of Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) records, accumulated by various team members, primarily
contains material related to the mission's outreach efforts. Included are digital photographs, fact sheets, booklets, technical
papers, briefings, presentations, video footage, social media campaign records, awards, posters, ephemera, artifacts, and
On June 18, 2009, NASA launched the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS, shepherding spacecraft) as a secondary
payload to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), from Cape Canaveral atop an Atlas V 401 rocket on a mission to study Earth's
moon. LCROSS was designed to confirm the presence and nature of water ice on the moon, and to study the composition of lunar
regolith by using the launch vehicle's upper stage as a kinetic impactor and its shepherding spacecraft as a data collector.
The impact would dislodge lunar material at the bottom of a permanently shadowed crater near the moon's south pole and elevate
it high into the sunlight, thus enabling the instruments aboard the spacecraft to record its characteristics. The main task
of the LRO mission, which is still active, was to map the moon and characterize future landing sites. Both missions achieved
their primary objectives. LCROSS detected water in the moon's Cabeus crater, and LRO returned nearly 200 terabytes of images
and high-resolution maps of the lunar surface, and continues to transmit altimeter measurements back to Earth.
Volume: 1,145 digital objects (approx. 40.9 gigabytes) and 7.6 cubic feet of analog material
Number of containers: 2
Copyright does not apply to United States government records. For non-government
material, researcher must contact the original creator.
Collection is open for research.