NASA launched the first lunar mission in over a decade last week. The LRO and LCROSS shared the same rocket launch of June 18th to begin their missions of mapping and probing the moon in support of future lunar missions. Though their missions began the same way, each will end quite differently. LRO go into lunar orbit, producing high-resolution maps for use as potential landing spots. LCROSS will have a more abrupt finish: slamming kamikaze-style into a dark lunar crater in hopes of kicking up signs of water ice.
The missions are due to reach the moon tomorrow morning at 5:43 AM EDT. If you’d like to follow along, you can check out NASA’s moon mission blog.