Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@nasa.gov

Rachel Hoover
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-4789
rachel.hoover@nasa.gov

Keith Koehler

Wallops Flight Facility, Virginia
757-824-1579
keith.a.koehler@nasa.gov

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RELEASE 13-265
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NASA Prepares for First Virginia Coast Launch to Moon
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In an attempt to answer prevailing questions about our moon, NASA is making
final preparations to launch a probe at 11:27 p.m. EDT Friday, Sept. 6, from
NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Wallops Island, Va.

The small car-sized Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is
a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information
about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and
determine whether dust is being lofted into the lunar sky. A thorough
understanding of these characteristics of our nearest celestial neighbor will
help researchers understand other bodies in the solar system, such as large
asteroids, Mercury, and the moons of outer planets.

"The moon's tenuous atmosphere may be more common in the solar system than we
thought," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in
Washington. "Further understanding of the moon's atmosphere may also help us
better understand our diverse solar system and its evolution."

The mission has many firsts, including the first flight of the Minotaur V
rocket, testing of a high-data-rate laser communication system, and the first
launch beyond Earth orbit from the agency's Virginia Space Coast launch
facility.

LADEE also is the first spacecraft designed, developed, built, integrated and
tested at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. The probe will
launch on a U.S. Air Force Minotaur V rocket, an excess ballistic missile
converted into a space launch vehicle and operated by Orbital Sciences Corp.
of Dulles, Va.

LADEE was built using an Ames-developed Modular Common Spacecraft Bus
architecture, a general purpose spacecraft design that allows NASA to
develop, assemble and test multiple modules at the same time. The LADEE bus
structure is made of a lightweight carbon composite with a mass of 547.2
pounds -- 844.4 pounds when fully fueled.

"This mission will put the common bus design to the test," said Ames Director
S. Pete Worden. "This same common bus can be used on future missions to
explore other destinations, including voyages to orbit and land on the moon,
low-Earth orbit, and near-Earth objects."

Butler Hine, LADEE project manager at Ames, said the innovative common bus
concept brings NASA a step closer to multi-use designs and assembly line
production and away from custom design. "The LADEE mission demonstrates how
it is possible to build a first class spacecraft at a reduced cost while
using a more efficient manufacturing and assembly process," Hine said.

Approximately one month after launch, LADEE will begin its 40-day
commissioning phase, the first 30 days of which the spacecraft will be
performing activities high above the moon's surface. These activities include
testing a high-data-rate laser communication system that will enable higher
rates of satellite communications similar in capability to high-speed fiber
optic networks on Earth.

After commissioning, LADEE will begin a 100-day science phase to collect data
using three instruments to determine the composition of the thin lunar
atmosphere and remotely sense lofted dust, measure variations in the chemical
composition of the atmosphere, and collect and analyze samples of any lunar
dust particles in the atmosphere. Using this set of instruments, scientists
hope to address a long-standing question: Was lunar dust, electrically
charged by sunlight, responsible for the pre-sunrise glow above the lunar
horizon detected during several Apollo missions?

After launch, Ames will serve as a base for mission operations and real-time
control of the probe. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
will catalogue and distribute data to a science team located across the
country.

NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington funds the LADEE mission.
Ames manages the overall mission. Goddard manages the science instruments and
technology demonstration payload, the science operations center and provides
overall mission support. Wallops is responsible for launch vehicle
integration, launch services and operations. NASA's Marshall Space Flight
Center in Huntsville, Ala., manages LADEE within the Lunar Quest Program
Office.

For more information about the LADEE mission, visit:

*http://www.nasa.gov/ladee


David Cottle

UBB Owner & Administrator