Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer
Structure of the LADEE probe
Mission goal	moon
Client	NASA
Launcher	Minotaur-V
construction
Takeoff mass	383 kg
Course of the mission
Start date	September 7, 2013, 03:27 UTC
End date	April 18, 2014, 04:30 - 05:22 UTC
7. 9. 2013 begin Oct. 2013 Reaching the moon Nov 2013 Start of observation Apr. 2014 End of observation Apr 18, 2014 Impact on the moon

LADEE (draft 2009)

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer ( LADEE ) was an unmanned lunar mission from NASA that examined the atmosphere and dust of the moon . LADEE is part of the Lunar Quest program for exploring the moon.

planning

The launch of LADEE was initially planned as a secondary payload together with the two GRAIL probes on a Delta 7925H rocket from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , but the available space was no longer sufficient later. The launch took place on September 7, 2013 at 03:27 UTC on a Minotaur-V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport .

construction

LADEE was jointly developed by the Ames Research Center (ARC) and the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC). The ARC was responsible for the spacecraft, the GSFC for the three scientific instruments:

• a mass spectrometer
• an ultraviolet spectrometer
• a dust beat counter , which at the University of Colorado was developed

With a diameter of approx. 1 m and a height of approx. 2 m, the lunar satellite weighed around 130 kg when not fueled and consisted of several modules that contained propulsion systems and instruments. The drive system for the entry into the lunar orbit was developed by Space Systems / Loral . The power supply was provided by solar cells that covered the sides of the satellite.

Objectives

The probe should perform the following tasks:

1. Determination of the global density, composition and temporal change of the extremely thin lunar atmosphere before it is changed by further human activities on the moon.
2. Whether the investigation of Apollo - astronauts observed fugitive emissions from sodium vapor arising or lunar dust.
3. Documentation of the impact rate and size of dust particles in the lunar environment in order to better plan future missions.
4. Technical demonstration of an optical laser for communication with a bandwidth of up to 600 Mbps (Lunar Laser Communications Demo, LLCD).

Mission history

The mission was scheduled to last about 160 days. Of this, 30 days were spent on the flight to the moon and the launch into the lunar orbit, another 30 days for testing the instruments and the satellite and 100 days for scientific investigations. In February 2014, the mission was extended for another 28 days, during which the probe flew at a distance of 5 kilometers or less from the lunar surface. The researchers hoped to gain new insights into the atmosphere and exosphere of the moon. The probe hit the back of the moon on April 18 between 4:30 and 5:22 a.m. LADEE had previously survived the lunar eclipse of April 15th; a phase in which the solar cells in the earth's shadow could not receive any sunlight for a longer period of time, so that the batteries were discharged more deeply and the temperature of the space probe fell more sharply than was the case during regular passes through the moon's shadow.

See also

• List of space probes
• Chronology of the moon missions
• List of man-made objects on the moon

Web links

Commons : LADEE  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• NASA: NASA Sets Sights on Lunar Dust Exploration Mission , April 9, 2008 (English)
• NASA: LADEE (English)
• Gunter's Space Page: LADEE (English)
• NASA Budget Estimate FY2011: Planetary Science (pdf; 649 kB) , pages 20–22 (English)
• Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer in the NSSDCA Master Catalog (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Lunar Quest Homepage. NASA, accessed September 9, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Previous LADEE status updates. NASA, September 21, 2013, accessed September 24, 2013 . 
3. ↑ NASA Solicitation: Instruments for LADEE Lunar Mission March 25, 2008
4. ↑ The Lunar Dust EXperiment (LDEX) ( Memento from October 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
5. ↑ ^{a b} LADEE homepage
6. ↑ NASA calls for ambitious outer solar system mission ( Memento from May 11, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) - New Scientist - February 5, 2008 - David Shiga
7. ↑ NASA's Lunar Science Program (PDF; 2.1 MB) - February 27, 2008 - Kelly Snook
8. ^ Rachel Hoover: NASA Extends Moon Exploring Satellite Mission. NASA, January 31, 2014, accessed March 18, 2014 . 
9. ↑ Ken Kremer: NASA Extends LADEE Dust Explorer for Bonus Lunar Science. In: Universe Today. February 4, 2014, accessed March 18, 2014 . 
10. ↑ ^{a b} NASA Completes LADEE Mission with Planned Impact on Moon's Surface. NASA, April 18, 2014, accessed April 18, 2014 .