NASA Ladee

Credits: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ladee/main/index.html#.UgUuljCQZcw

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust. A thorough understanding of these characteristics will address long-standing unknowns, and help scientists understand other planetary bodies as well.

The LADEE spacecraft's modular common spacecraft bus, or body, is an innovative way of transitioning away from custom designs and toward multi-use designs and assembly-line production, which could drastically reduce the cost of spacecraft development, just as the Ford Model T did for automobiles.



LADEE and the Moon Artist's Concept
This is an artist's depiction of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) observatory in space with the moon in the distance. Image credit: NASA Ames/Dana Berry

credits: http://www.nasa.gov

Launch date: September 2013
Launch site: Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
Launch vehicle: Minotaur V
Mission duration: Approximately 160 days (30 days to travel to the moon, 30 days for checkout and 100 days for science operations)
Mass: Approximately 844 pounds (383 kilograms)
Power: Approximately 295 Watts