The launch of the probe was NASA’s first step in the new U.S. lunar program. The costs of the spacecrafts’ construction and preparation were about $583 million. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and LCROSS spacecrafts were launched in June 2009 aboard an Atlas V rocket equipped with Russian-produced RD-180 engines. Pictured: Californians watch live coverage of the LCROSS booster rocket crash into the lunar surface.