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NASA launches lunar satellites

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V launches at 5:32 PM after a 20 minute weather delay from Complex 41 at the at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on June 18, 2009. The rocket roared into the clouds carrying a double payload, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing (LCROSS) Satellites. LRO will map the lunar surface in high detail to prepare for future manned missions to the moon. LCROSS will impact into the moon's south pole on October 9, 2009 to conduct studies of its surface . (UPI Photo/Joe Marino - Bill Cantrell)
1 of 9 | A United Launch Alliance Atlas V launches at 5:32 PM after a 20 minute weather delay from Complex 41 at the at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida on June 18, 2009. The rocket roared into the clouds carrying a double payload, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance (LRO) and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing (LCROSS) Satellites. LRO will map the lunar surface in high detail to prepare for future manned missions to the moon. LCROSS will impact into the moon's south pole on October 9, 2009 to conduct studies of its surface . (UPI Photo/Joe Marino - Bill Cantrell) | License Photo

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., June 18 (UPI) -- The U.S. space agency Thursday launched its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite.

The two satellites were lifted into space aboard an Atlas V rocket from a Cape Canaveral Air Force Station launch pad after a short delay caused by a thunderstorm.

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The spacecraft had been scheduled to lift off together at 5:12 p.m., but the storm forced a hold in the countdown. The thunderstorm cleared the area, allowing the liftoff to occur at the last launch opportunity of the day at 5:32 p.m. EDT.

The orbiter will conduct a one-year exploration mission at a polar orbit of about 31 miles, the closest any spacecraft has orbited the moon. Its primary objective is to gather information in preparation for explorations of the moon, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said.

The sensing satellite will search for water ice on the moon by sending the spent upper-stage Centaur rocket to impact part of a polar crater. Then the satellite will fly into the dust plume created by the impact and measure its properties before also colliding with the lunar surface.

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