NASA's LADEE Moon Mission: 5 Goals
NASA will use the unmanned LADEE explorer to study the moon's delicate atmosphere and learn about similar space bodies.
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The moon has never seen a visitor like this before. NASA launched the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) unmanned explorer from Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Friday night. The latest mission -- equipped with three cutting-edge science instruments and a technology demonstration -- will gather detailed information about the moon's delicate atmosphere. The spacecraft will also monitor conditions near the moon's surface and observe how it affects lunar dust, helping scientists solve some mysteries surrounding the Earth's natural satellite.
LADEE, pronounced "laddie," is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon for 100 days of science operations. It will take the spacecraft 30 days to travel to the moon. The spacecraft's final resting place will be on the moon, on the lunar surface after the work is done. The mission comes at a time when global interest in moon exploration is increasing, and future missions may affect the natural composition of the moon's atmosphere, according to NASA.
Unlike some past lunar missions, LADEE involves many firsts. It was the first spacecraft to launch on the U.S. Air Force Minotaur V rocket, and the first deep space mission to take off from the Wallops Flight Facility. LADEE is also the initial spacecraft for interplanetary exploration built using a Modular Common Spacecraft Bus. With the modular design, NASA is transitioning away from custom building to assembly line-like production. The new way of constructing spacecraft could drastically reduce development costs. The LADEE mission cost approximately $280 million, including spacecraft development and science instruments, launch services, mission operations, science processing and relay support.
"LADEE is designed to really lower the cost of spacecraft. The idea we came up with is to build it kind of like a desktop computer, where you can add the necessary components (as needed). We can do a number of rapidly produced space missions this way," NASA Ames Research Center director S. Pete Worden said during a pre-launch press briefing on Sept. 5. NASA Ames, located in Silicon Valley, designed, developed, built and tested the spacecraft.
LADEE's main goal will be to determine the composition and structure of the lunar atmosphere. More specifically, the 844-pound spacecraft will use its science payload to study the density and composition of the atmosphere, and to determine the size, charge and spatial distribution of lunar dust and its impact on the atmosphere, among other observations. Scientists also hope LADEE's findings will offer additional insight into other planets in the solar system.
InformationWeek Government continues to follow NASA's deep space missions. Explore our slideshow to learn more about the LADEE mission goals.
Among LADEE's science instruments is the ultraviolet and visible light spectrometer (UVS), located on the upper deck of the spacecraft. UVS is able to determine the composition of the lunar atmosphere by analyzing light signatures of various materials. While scientists are aware that the Earth's atmosphere contains oxygen, they don't know what makes up the moon's atmosphere. LADEE will help address the mystery as it sends its measurements back to Earth to be analyzed.
Lunar dust experiment (LDEX) is an instrument that will collect and analyze samples of lunar dust particles in the moon's fragile atmosphere. The measurements, according to NASA, will help scientists answer an old question: Was lunar dust responsible for the pre-sunrise horizon glow seen by Apollo astronauts? Scientists believe the dust is the result of billions of years of meteor impacts that are responsible for the moon's cratered surface. LDEX can be found on LADEE's upper deck.
The neutral mass spectrometer (NMS) instrument will measure variations in the lunar atmosphere over multiple lunar orbits with the moon in diverse space environments. NMS, which is mounted to the spacecraft body, is capable of detecting a wealth of gases -- such as argon -- that may point to geophysical processes at the moon. Together with UVS's ability to measure both the atmosphere and dust, and LDEX's ability to directly measure dust particles, NMS completes LADEE's payload of science tools.
LADEE will perform a technology demo while orbiting the moon. The spacecraft will exhibit the use of lasers, instead of radio waves, to achieve broadband speeds when communicating with Earth, as part of the Lunar Laser Communications Demonstration (LLCD). NASA is determined to enter a new era of space communications by using laser technology. LLCD consists of a space terminal that will reach lunar orbit as a payload on LADEE, and a ground segment that includes three terminals that have been positioned in locations around the world.
LADEE could also extend scientists knowledge of other terrestrial planets. This includes similar bodies in the solar system, such as Mercury, large asteroids and even moons of the outer planets. NASA believes LADEE's discoveries could aid in future explorations, since the moon's very thin atmosphere may prove to be the most common type of atmosphere in the solar system.
LADEE could also extend scientists knowledge of other terrestrial planets. This includes similar bodies in the solar system, such as Mercury, large asteroids and even moons of the outer planets. NASA believes LADEE's discoveries could aid in future explorations, since the moon's very thin atmosphere may prove to be the most common type of atmosphere in the solar system.
The moon has never seen a visitor like this before. NASA launched the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) unmanned explorer from Goddard Space Flight Center's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia on Friday night. The latest mission -- equipped with three cutting-edge science instruments and a technology demonstration -- will gather detailed information about the moon's delicate atmosphere. The spacecraft will also monitor conditions near the moon's surface and observe how it affects lunar dust, helping scientists solve some mysteries surrounding the Earth's natural satellite.
LADEE, pronounced "laddie," is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon for 100 days of science operations. It will take the spacecraft 30 days to travel to the moon. The spacecraft's final resting place will be on the moon, on the lunar surface after the work is done. The mission comes at a time when global interest in moon exploration is increasing, and future missions may affect the natural composition of the moon's atmosphere, according to NASA.
Unlike some past lunar missions, LADEE involves many firsts. It was the first spacecraft to launch on the U.S. Air Force Minotaur V rocket, and the first deep space mission to take off from the Wallops Flight Facility. LADEE is also the initial spacecraft for interplanetary exploration built using a Modular Common Spacecraft Bus. With the modular design, NASA is transitioning away from custom building to assembly line-like production. The new way of constructing spacecraft could drastically reduce development costs. The LADEE mission cost approximately $280 million, including spacecraft development and science instruments, launch services, mission operations, science processing and relay support.
"LADEE is designed to really lower the cost of spacecraft. The idea we came up with is to build it kind of like a desktop computer, where you can add the necessary components (as needed). We can do a number of rapidly produced space missions this way," NASA Ames Research Center director S. Pete Worden said during a pre-launch press briefing on Sept. 5. NASA Ames, located in Silicon Valley, designed, developed, built and tested the spacecraft.
LADEE's main goal will be to determine the composition and structure of the lunar atmosphere. More specifically, the 844-pound spacecraft will use its science payload to study the density and composition of the atmosphere, and to determine the size, charge and spatial distribution of lunar dust and its impact on the atmosphere, among other observations. Scientists also hope LADEE's findings will offer additional insight into other planets in the solar system.
InformationWeek Government continues to follow NASA's deep space missions. Explore our slideshow to learn more about the LADEE mission goals.
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