Today’s Picspam is LAUNCHspam, brought to you by the successful launch yesterday of the LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter) and LCROSS (Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite):

They are both headed toward the Moon, to do Cool Things:

LCROSS
The LCROSS mission’s objective is to confirm the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at the moon’s South Pole.

LRO: Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
The LRO mission objectives are to find safe landing sites, locate potential resources, characterize the radiation environment, and demonstrate new technology.

And here they are, waiting to go (on the far left, you can see Space Shuttle Endeavour still on the pad after Wednesday’s launch scrub):

Here’s a closer view of the rocket:

And here’s another view of the launch!