Northrop Grumman-Built LCROSS Set to Launch June 18
REDONDO BEACH, Calif., June 17, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Lunar
CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS), built by Northrop
Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) for NASA Ames Research Center, is
scheduled for launch on June 18 at approximately 5:12 p.m. EDT, from
Launch Pad 41 at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. LCROSS will be
launched with NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter on an Atlas V rocket.
A social media news release is available at
http://www.irconnect.com/noc/press/pages/news_releases.html?d=165383
LCROSS' mission is to impact the Moon in the search for water ice and
hydrated materials. LCROSS was built as a secondary mission to NASA's
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter for a total of $79 million and was
available for acceptance in just 29 months.
Four days following launch, LCROSS will fly by the moon and enter a
lunar gravity assist, lunar return orbit to position it for impact with
its target at the lunar south pole. It will take about 113 days
on-orbit to position LCROSS at the proper inclination to best view the
debris plume at impact on October 8.
Northrop Grumman Corporation is a leading global security company whose
120,000 employees provide innovative systems, products, and solutions
in aerospace, electronics, information systems, shipbuilding and
technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide.
Contact Information:
Sally KorisNorthrop Grumman Aerospace Systems
310.812.4721
sally.koris@ngc.com