The Atlas V Centaur rocket on top leaps from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air force Station.

The Atlas V/Centaur rocket with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, on top leaps from Launch Pad 41 at Cape Canaveral Air force Station in Florida. Surrounding the pad are the towers that provide lightning protection. Launch was on-time at 5:32 p.m. EDT June 18. 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. Photo courtesy of Scott Andrews