Aircraft the Centaur stage of the Atlas V rocket inside is moved out of the cargo area.

With the nose raised on the Russian AH-124-100 aircraft on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's skid strip in Florida, the Centaur stage of the Atlas V rocket inside is moved out of the cargo area. The Atlas V will launch NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS. The two spacecraft will be integrated with the Atlas V and tested for final flight worthiness. Launch is scheduled for the spring. LCROSS and LRO are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. Photo credit: NASA/Cory Huston