By: MARCIA DUNN
NASA is poised to return to the moon.
An unmanned rocket is scheduled to blast off late Friday night from Virginia with a robotic explorer that will study the lunar atmosphere and dust. Called LADEE (LA’-dee), the moon-orbiting craft will measure the thin lunar atmosphere.
Scientists want to learn the composition of the moon’s ever-so-delicate atmosphere and how it might change over time. Another puzzle: whether dust actually levitates from the lunar surface.
Unlike the quick three-day Apollo flights to the moon, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, will take a full month to get there. An Air Force Minotaur rocket, built by Orbital Sciences Corp., is providing the ride from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility. It’s the first moonshot from Virginia.
Launch time is 11:27 p.m. EDT.
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