LADEE's a Hit on the Moon

NASA's probe designed for studying the Moon's tenuous atmosphere of gas and dust is ending its mission.

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission has spent the last several months studying the extremely thin and tenuous lunar atmosphere. Dr. Richard Elphic, the LADEE Project Scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffat Field, California, says that LADEE has learned quite a lot about the lunar atmosphere. It's observed dust floating above the lunar surface, kicked up by the rain of micro-meteorites that strike the lunar surface. It has also sniffed trace gases - including gaseous metals from several sources. LADEE will end its mission on April 18, after doing close approaches, which will bring it within three kilometres of the lunar surface before crashing on the Moon.

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