Wallops To Launch LADEE Lunar Satellite On September 6th

NASA Photo

Wallops will be the site of an attempt to return a United States probe to the moon next month. September 6 is the target date for the launch of the LADEE or the Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer. 

The launch is scheduled for 11:30 p.m. Friday night September 6. NASA held a news briefing Thursday afternoon on NASA TV and online.

The LADEE will orbit the moon and try to determine if any dust is escaping into the lunar atmosphere.

"The moon's tenuous atmosphere may be more common in the solar system than we thought," said John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science in Washington. "Further understanding of the moon's atmosphere many also help us better understand our diverse solar system and its evolution."

The launch will be the very first from Wallops to go beyond the earths atmosphere.

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