spacetoday.net: LRO/LCROSS launch delayed to June

Posted: Thu, Apr 2, 2009, 9:11 AM ET (1311 GMT)
LCROSS spacecraft illustration (NASA)

Delays in the launch of a military spacecraft has pushed back the launch of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) mission until June. LRO and a companion spacecraft, Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), were scheduled to launch on an Atlas 5 on May 21. However, delays in the launch of another Atlas 5 carrying a military communications satellite mean that there is not enough processing time to prepare LRO and LCROSS for that launch window. The launch is now planned for sometime in June. The spacecraft, NASA's first missions to the Moon since the Vision for Space Exploration was announced in January 2004, are constrained to launch windows three to four days long every couple of weeks.