NASA is sending a spacecraft to the moon to explore its atmosphere and dust, with the Minotaur set to liftoff tonight.
The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is the first spacecraft to be launched from Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, according to a Military Times article.
There have been 40 mission to the moon including the famed manned mission and all but one have launched from Cape Canaveral.
The $280 million moon orbiting mission will be the second mission to liftoff from elsewhere and the first to exclusively focus on the moons atmosphere and dust.
“Sometimes, people are a little taken aback when we start talking about the lunar atmosphere because, right, we were told in school that the moon doesn’t have an atmosphere,†said Sarah Noble, NASA program scientist.
“It does. It’s just really, really thin,†she added.
NASA is utilizing an Air Force Minotaur V rocket built by Orbital Sciences Corp. for the mission.
An experimental laser communication system will be included on the LADEE and which NASA wishes to replace traditional radio systems.
An effort to return astronauts to the moon was canceled by President Obama in 2010.
