LADEE

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer
	Artist's depiction of LADEE in lunar orbit
Mission type	Lunar atmospheric research
Operator	NASA
COSPAR ID	2013-047A
SATCAT no.	39246
Website	nasa.gov/ladee
Mission duration	Primary mission: 100 days ; Extended mission: 28 days ; Total duration: 223 days
Spacecraft properties
Bus	MCSB
Manufacturer	Ames Research Center
Launch mass	383 kg (844 lb)
Dry mass	248.2 kg (547 lb)
Payload mass	49.6 kg (109 lb)
Dimensions	1.85×1.85×2.37 m (6.1×6.1×7.8 ft)
Power	295 watts
Start of mission
Launch date	September 7, 2013, 03:27 UTC
Rocket	Minotaur V
Launch site	Wallops Pad 0B
Contractor	Orbital
End of mission
Disposal	Deorbited
Decay date	April 18, 2014, ~04:30 UTC
Orbital parameters
Reference system	Selenocentric
Periselene altitude	25–50 km (16–31 mi)
Aposelene altitude	60–80 km (37–50 mi)
Inclination	157 degrees
Period	111.5 to 116.5 minutes
Epoch	Planned (science phase)
Moon orbiter
Orbital insertion	October 6, 2013, 10:57 UTC
	; Logotype of the mission

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE; /ˈlædi/)^[5] was a NASA lunar exploration and technology demonstration mission. It was launched on a Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport on September 7, 2013.^[6] During its seven-month mission, LADEE orbited the Moon's equator, using its instruments to study the lunar exosphere and dust in the Moon's vicinity. Instruments included a dust detector, neutral mass spectrometer, and ultraviolet-visible spectrometer, as well as a technology demonstration consisting of a laser communications terminal.^[7] The mission ended on April 18, 2014, when the spacecraft's controllers intentionally crashed LADEE into the far side of the Moon,^[8]^[9] which, later, was determined to be near the eastern rim of Sundman V crater.^[10]

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