Smoke fills the pad and trails behind the Atlas V Centaur rocket as it roars known as LCROSS.

Smoke fills the pad and trails behind the Atlas V/Centaur rocket as it roars into space carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS. Surrounding the pad are lightning towers. LRO and LCROSS are the first missions in NASA's plan to return humans to the moon and begin establishing a lunar outpost by 2020. The LRO also includes seven instruments that will help NASA characterize the moon's surface: DIVINER, LAMP, LEND, LOLA , CRATER, Mini-RF and LROC. Launch was on-time at 5:32 p.m. EDT June 18. Photo credit: NASA/Tom Farrar