LCROSS

Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite

Mission Profile

LCROSS (Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite) was a NASA mission launched on 18 June 2009 aboard an Atlas V 401 as a companion to the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, designed to impact the lunar surface and study the resulting debris plume for water ice signatures. On 9 October 2009, the Centaur upper stage impacted the permanently shadowed Cabeus crater at the lunar south pole, creating a plume of material that LCROSS observed for 4 minutes before itself impacting. Spectrographic analysis of the plume confirmed the presence of water ice, hydrocarbon compounds, and other volatile species, proving definitively that water is present in significant quantities in permanently shadowed lunar polar regions. LCROSS's discovery immediately validated scientific interest in the lunar south pole and directly influenced the targeting of subsequent lunar missions including Chandrayaan-3.