NASA Sets Sights on Lunar Dust Exploration Mission (LADEE)

April 9, 2008

Dwayne Brown
Headquarters, Washington
203-358-1726
dwayne.c.brown@xxxxxxxx

Deborah Robin Croft
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
650-604-6787
dcroft@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

RELEASE: 08-095

NASA SETS SIGHTS ON LUNAR DUST EXPLORATION MISSION

WASHINGTON -- NASA is preparing to send a small spacecraft to the
moon
in 2011 to assess the lunar atmosphere and the nature of dust lofted
above the surface.

Called the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE),
the
mission will launch before the agency's moon exploration activities
accelerate during the next decade. LADEE will gather detailed
information about conditions near the surface and environmental
influences on lunar dust. A thorough understanding of these
influences will help researchers understand how future exploration
may shape the lunar environment and how the environment may affect
future explorers.

"LADEE represents a low-cost approach to science missions, enabling
faster science return and more frequent missions," said Ames Director
S. Pete Worden. "These measurements will provide scientific insight
into the lunar environment, and give our explorers a clearer
understanding of what they'll be up against as they set up the first
outpost and begin the process of settling the solar system."

LADEE is a cooperative effort with NASA's Ames Research Center at
Moffett Field, Calif., Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.,
and Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. The total cost
of the spacecraft is expected to be approximately $80 million.

Ames will manage the mission, build the spacecraft and perform
mission
operations. Goddard will perform environmental testing and launch
vehicle integration. The mission will be established within
Marshall's newly created Lunar Science Program Office. Marshall will
draw upon experience gained from managing a larger suite of low-cost,
small satellite missions through NASA's Discovery and New Frontiers
Program.

LADEE will fly to the moon as a secondary payload on the Discovery
mission called Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL),
which is designed to take ultra-precise gravity field measurements of
the moon. Current plans call for the GRAIL and LADEE spacecraft to
launch together on a Delta II rocket and separate after they are on a
lunar trajectory. LADEE will take approximately four months to travel
to the moon, then undergo a month-long checkout phase and begin 100
days of science operations.

LADEE is one of many activities to support lunar exploration planned
by NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Last year, NASA
also established a lunar science institute at Ames. Research teams
will address current topics in basic lunar science and possible
astronomical, solar and Earth science investigations that could be
performed from the moon. In addition, NASA is preparing for
scientific investigations following the planned launch later this
year of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). After a 30-year
hiatus, LRO represents NASA's first step toward returning humans to
the moon.

For more information on NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


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