NASA launches a probe to study the atmosphere of the Moon - The País.com (Spain)

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Launch Probe ‘LADEE’, to the moon, a Minotaur V rocket from Wallops base (Virginia) / NASA / Carla Cioffi

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automatic probe NASA LADEE , space left yesterday bound for the moon to collect data there for 100 days of any spatial or temporal variation of its mild atmosphere and environment and transporting dust. The probe will be within a month in lunar orbit. A second objective of the researchers of the mission will extend the knowledge acquired in the natural satellite of the Earth or other moons in the solar system, Mercury and large asteroids.

After launching from the base of Wallops, Virginia (USA), conducted in the early hours of Saturday (GMT), there was an anomaly in the probe, the reaction off its wheels, tools to guide and stabilize the device.

But NASA experts downplayed the incident saying that perfectly maintained communication with the LADEE , which did not suffer any other failure and had a margin of several days to study and solve the problem. The probe set off on a Minotaur V rocket, a former ballistic missile (U.S. Air Force) converted and now operates the company Orbital.

LADEE (the acronyms of Explorer Dust Atmosphere and Environment) is a low-cost mission (212 million euros) and carries four instruments to collect data of scientific interest on the Moon, including a device for capturing and analyzing dust samples. With a mass of 383 kilos at launch, the probe measures 2.37 meters high and 1.85 in diameter.

When you reach your destination, the LADEE enter the verification phase and testing equipment in orbit high above the lunar surface, that descend about 250 meters. During the testing phase, engineers tested a new laser communications system that allows data transfer to the satellite at a rate similar to that of fiber optic systems on land.

One of the key questions you want to answer the mission scientists is whether the electrically-charged moondust by sunlight is responsible for the glow on the horizon that detected several astronauts of the Apollo missions.