NASA Prepares for First Virginia Coast Launch to the Moon Tonight

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 at Wallops Island, Va. The small car-sized Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a robotic mission, managed by NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif., 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 support gantry for the U.S. Air Force-provided Minotaur V rocket that will launch LADEE was rolled back on Sept. 4.
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