NASA is preparing to
send a small spacecraft to the moon in 2011 to assess the lunar atmosphere
and the nature of dust lofted above the surface.
Called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE), the
mission will launch before the agency's moon exploration activities
accelerate during the next decade. LADEE will gather detailed information
about conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar
dust. A thorough understanding of these influences will help researchers
understand how future exploration may shape the lunar environment and how
the environment may affect future explorers.
"LADEE represents a low-cost approach to science missions, enabling
faster science return and more frequent missions," said Ames Director S.
Pete Worden. "These measurements will provide scientific insight into the
lunar environment, and give our explorers a clearer understanding of what
they'll be up against as they set up the first outpost and begin the
process of settling the solar system."
LADEE is a cooperative effort with NASA's Ames Research Center at
Moffett Field, Calif., Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., and
Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The total cost of the
spacecraft is expected to be approximately $80 million.
Ames will manage the mission, build the spacecraft and perform mission
operations. Goddard will perform environmental testing and launch vehicle
integration. The mission will be established within Marshall's newly
created Lunar Science Program Office. Marshall will draw upon experience
gained from managing a larger suite of low-cost, small satellite missions
through NASA's Discovery and New Frontiers Program.
LADEE will fly to the moon as a secondary payload on the Discovery
mission called Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), which is
designed to take ultra-precise gravity field measurements of the moon.
Current plans call for the GRAIL and LADEE spacecraft to launch together on
a Delta II rocket and separate after they are on a lunar trajectory. LADEE
will take approximately four months to travel to the moon, then undergo a
month-long checkout phase and begin 100 days of science operations.
LADEE is one of many activities to support lunar exploration planned by
NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Last year, NASA also
established a lunar science institute at Ames. Research teams will address
current topics in basic lunar science and possible astronomical, solar and
Earth science investigations that could be performed from the moon. In
addition, NASA is preparing for scientific investigations following the
planned launch later this year of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).
After a 30-year hiatus, LRO represents NASA's first step toward returning
humans to the moon.
SOURCE NASA
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