Viewed across the Indian River Lagoon lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

Viewed across the Indian River Lagoon, the Atlas V/Centaur rocket carrying NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, or LRO, and NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, known as LCROSS, lifts off from Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. 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/Tony Gray