NASA probe "sniffed" to the lunar atmosphere - Reuters

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© NASA Ames / Dana Berry

© NASA Ames / Dana Berry

MOSCOW, September 5 – RIA Novosti. Lunar Orbiter NASA LADEE passed pre-launch procedures and is ready to start – a little more than a day missile “Minotaur-5″ will carry him to the moon, where for three months, he will explore the lunar atmosphere, lunar dust, and will test for the first time at this distance laser communications link.

New discovery Moon

project LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) worth $ 280 million was one of the elements of the program by NASA Lunar Quest – the first large lunar exploration program since the “Apollo”, through which scientists’ ideas about the Earth’s satellite in recent years have changed .

Studies with probes LRO and LCROSS, as well as the Indian unit “Chandrayaan”, in particular, have shown that the moon is not the dry world, as was previously believed that the lunar poles, in the ever-shadowed craters are concentrated giant deposits of water ice and other volatiles . GRAIL probes for the first time an accurate gravity map of the moon and found that lunar rocks contain more cavities than previously thought.

probe LADEE, will continue to open new moon. “With the LRO, who still works in lunar orbit, we examined a large portion of the surface of the moon, with GRAIL probes we have begun to explore its depths, and now, with LADEE, we begin to explore the mysterious atmosphere of the moon,” – said the deputy head of NASA’s John Gransfeld (John Grunsfeld).

Lunar Probe NASA LADEE

Twilight rays and levitating dust

© NASA / Ames

constituent elements of NASA’s lunar probe LADEE

main task of the device – the study of gas-dust shell of the moon. Her blood pressure trillions of times smaller than the normal atmospheric pressure on Earth. If one cubic centimeter of the earth’s atmosphere is tens of trillions of molecules, the moon – about 10,000. Approximately the same density of Earth’s atmosphere is at the height of the ISS orbit, that is, at an altitude of about 400 kilometers. This outermost layer of the Earth’s atmosphere called the exosphere, gas molecules do not interact with each other.

Moonlight gas shell consists mainly of helium atoms captured from the solar wind, the argon atoms of sodium and other elements produced in the decay of radioactive substances in the lunar soil, and “knocked” out of it blows micrometeorites and charged particles.

The lunar atmosphere associated mysterious twilight rays that are observed even astronauts on board the “Apollo 17.” Shortly before the rising of the sun above the horizon of the moon arose bright glow from which proceeded rays. This picture is sketched in his notebook commander of “Apollo” Eugene Cernan, and then the phenomenon has put scientists in a dead end.

© Photo: NASA

“Twilight rays” over the horizon of the moon. Figure commander “Apollo 17,” Eugene Cernan

Scientists believe the rays of the rising sun could shine lunar dust that is thrown off the ground and levitates above it, due to electrostatic charge. “Charges” dust ultraviolet radiation.

using a mass spectrometer NMS, ultraviolet spectrometer and UVS instrument for studying dust LDEX probe will determine the composition and density of the lunar atmosphere, will measure how these parameters vary with time (the density of the lunar atmosphere drops about 100 times since the beginning of the lunar night). Scientists hope to determine exactly how the fall of meteorites affect the gas-dust envelope and also figure out how to behave “electrified” dust. Results of the study will help to understand whether it makes sense to open the observatory on the Moon, as well as find out what impact the lunar atmosphere could have on the future colonists.

laser show

© Photo: Robert LaFon NASA / GSFC

Ground stage for laser communications experiment with the probe LADEE

With LADEE scientists first try to establish the laser communication link between the Moon and Earth. During the first 30 days after the start of the unit LLCD send to Earth a powerful laser beam and try to take back the beam from Earth. NASA needs a rapid communication channel than radio. Laser communication provides data transfer speeds up to six times higher than the radio channel – up to 600 megabits per second. Furthermore, it requires much less power than radio.

Scientists hope to prove successful, provide high-speed laser transmitters other automatic station.

© NASA

laser communication device LLCD, mounted on board the lunar probe LADEE

In addition to this mission, the first attempt to create an optical data channel at that distance there are a lot of words “first”. This, in particular, the first to launch a spacecraft beyond low Earth orbit from the spaceport at Wallops Island – this launch pad is located in the state of Virginia, and the rise of missiles there can even be seen in Washington. In addition, this is the first launch of a new five-speed missile “Minotaur-5″ (Minotaur V), a corporation created by Orbital.