LADEE is Launched

LADEE which is short for the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer and is pronounced “laddie” has been launched successfully from Wallops Flight Facility on the Virginia shore. The latest NASA lunar project hopes to study the mysteries in moon dust and the atmosphere of the moon.

The lunar mission hopes to shed light on the moon’s rare atmosphere which remains as much as a mystery today as it was when man first landed on it so many decades ago. Richard Elphic, project scientist for LADEE at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California said that it is also packed with a number of new technological wonders being tried out for the first time.

These include a new laser communications system which promised to cut down on communication time with the space craft and also allow more data to be passed to earth. LADEE is the first to be launched off a Minotaur V Rocket. This is a launch vessel that also has a Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile borrowed from the U.S. Air Force attached to it.

The space craft was also built in a uniquely different manner as compared to its predecessors. Its different module designs can be used if tested successfully in future space missions. All in all NASA must be pleased with the successful launch of its latest science project.