spacetoday.net: NASA extends LADEE mission

NASA extends LADEE mission

Posted: Wed, Feb 5, 2014, 6:14 AM ET (1114 GMT)
LADEE illustration (NASA)

NASA has extended the mission of a lunar orbiter by four weeks to continue studies of the Moon's tenuous atmosphere. The four-week extension of the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft will allow it to continue observations from a very low orbit for an additional lunar cycle. The spacecraft, launched in September, entered orbit around the Moon in October and started science observations in November. A precise launch and orbital insertion allowed the spacecraft to preserve propellant that enabled the mission extension, NASA said. LADEE will end its mission crashing into the lunar surface on or around April 21.