Rank 52 documents LCROSS — the Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite that turned a Centaur upper stage into a lunar impactor to hunt for water ice at the Moon's south pole. Launched 18 June 2009 aboard an Atlas V alongside the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter from Cape Canaveral, the mission paired a shepherding spacecraft with the 1,900 kg Centaur stage that had boosted both payloads. On 9 October 2009 the Centaur struck Cabeus crater's permanently shadowed floor at 9,000 km/h; LCROSS and LRO observed the ejecta plume with infrared and ultraviolet spectrometers. Data confirmed water ice and hydroxyl in the plume — direct evidence supporting decades of radar and neutron spectrometer hints. The public watched live as NASA turned a rocket body into a lunar geology experiment. Wallimilist renders the shepherd spacecraft, Centaur descent, Cabeus plume flash, and vertical LCROSS typography column exactly as the master PNG dictates — 2009 lunar palette, impact date kicker, and curator copy on Artemis-era resource context.