New lunar probe has been launched

On September 6, 2013, a relatively new American mid-Atlantic regional spaceport was launched by the Minotaur-V launch vehicle, which sent the new NASA Ladee probe to the moon.

The name of this device is deciphered as “a probe that studies the lunar atmosphere and the dusty environment” (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer). In October, the device should reach the near -moon orbit and, after a month of verification and tuning, start scientific work.

The main task of the apparatus is to study the gas -fluid composition of the near -moon space (and at the same time studying the cause of unusual dawn observed by the crews of the Apollo on the Moon). A separate task is to register space dust strikes and determine the characteristics of its particles.

In addition, test equipment was installed on the probe to check the laser bond with the ground. The developers promise the speed of data transfer to a satellite up to 20 megabits/s, and in the opposite direction - 622 megabits/s.

The scientific mission is designed for 100 days, after which the probe, as usual with the lunar probes, will be broken on the surface of the moon. However, in this case, the matter is not in science, but in the fact that in a low orbit (about 50 km), Ladee does not have enough fuel to maintain an orbit.