Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Watch the Moon Fly-By LIVE!


(IMAGE: NASA)

NASA spacecraft are approaching the Moon early Tuesday after lifting off on June 18 on the Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral, FL. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Spacecraft (LCROSS) will make their first pass over the Moon Tuesday, the first time since Lunar Prospector in 1998-1999 that a U.S. probe made a fly-by of the Moon. NASA lists that LCROSS instruments on board include: two near-infrared spectrometers, a visible light spectrometer, two mid-infrared cameras, two near-infrared cameras, a visible camera and a visible radiometer. The spacecraft will orbit about 5590 miles above the Moon's surface today.

Starting at about 8:20 a.m. EDT, NASA will stream this fly-by online live from LCROSS as it takes high-resolution images of the Moon's surface. You can watch the stream live here.

For more on the LCROSS mission, click here.