NASA launches a spacecraft after the 'aurora' moles - Diario Córdoba

Forty years after the last astronauts to withdraw from the moon, NASA launched yesterday a small probe to try to discover the secrets that still exist about the almost imperceptible atmosphere of the satellite, including the strange auroras observed the crew of Apollo program between 1969 and 1972. The Minotaur V rocket launcher, a former missile converted for space exploration took off smoothly from the base of Wallops, a site located on an island off the coast of Virginia that NASA used very sporadically. The probe, called LADEE (acronym in English of Atmosphere and Environment Explorer Lunar Dust), reach lunar orbit within a month.

LADEE, which is the size of a small car and carries two spectrometers, collect detailed data on the structure and chemical composition of the lunar atmosphere, whose density equals one hundred thousandth of the Earth (the low gravity prevents retain gas molecules). In this sense, one of the tasks will be to see if there is dust in suspension near the ground and if this material is to be electrically charged by sunlight, resulting in the bright glare that Apollo astronauts “seen on the horizon just before dawn, “NASA said in a statement.

determine if dust and how much capital is also important for the future development of long-duration missions on the Moon as it may clog rovers landing gear and filtering systems.

FAINT, BUT THERE “Most of us were taught in school that the moon had no atmosphere – said in a teleconference Sarah Noble, program scientist LADEE -. now know that actually exists, although it is very tenuous “. “A light atmosphere as the Moon – said John Grunsfeld, NASA scientist administrator – may be more common in the solar system than we thought.” A better understanding of atmospheric characteristics could help scientists understand other objects in our system, such as asteroids or satellites orbiting other planets, the U.S. space agency continues.

NASA has released over the last few decades 40 missions with Destination Moon, between probes and manned spacecraft.