Sunday, July 27, 2025, 1:44AM | 
MENU
Advertisement

Moon dust: A lunar mission attempts to learn more about light

Moon dust: A lunar mission attempts to learn more about light

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer isn't the most glamorous mission NASA has ever launched, but it represents a giant step forward for America's re-engagement with the moon.

Last Friday, the unmanned LADEE spacecraft was launched from Wallops Island, Va., atop a Minotaur V rocket. Unlike the Apollo missions of a generation ago, the LADEE will orbit the moon for 100 days studying the exosphere -- its very thin atmosphere. It will also be searching for clues to how dust moves across the lunar surface.

One of the great unresolved questions of the Apollo missions was the source of the mysterious yellow glow on the moon's horizon reported by the astronauts conducting experiments on the surface. NASA had no explanation for the mysterious yellow glow.

Advertisement

For 100 days, the $280 million LADEE mission will study how moon dust interacts with light far above the lunar surface. Understanding the subtle interaction between dust, light and atmosphere of the moon's exosphere will enhance the understanding of the similarly thin atmosphere around asteroids, icy planets and Mercury.

At the end of a mission recording all it can about dust and light, the LADEE will execute a suicide crash into the moon's surface, setting up a plume of dust into the atmosphere that will be studied by the next probe. It may be true that there's nothing new under the sun, but even dust can sometimes be fascinating.

First Published: September 10, 2013, 4:00 a.m.

Advertisement
RELATED
SHOW COMMENTS (0)  
Join the Conversation
Commenting policy | How to Report Abuse
If you would like your comment to be considered for a published letter to the editor, please send it to letters@post-gazette.com. Letters must be under 250 words and may be edited for length and clarity.
Partners
Advertisement
A huge Canadian flag carried by a crowd in Montreal in 1995, before a referendum on Quecec’s independence. Dennis Jett suggests Pennsylvania do the same in reverse.
1
opinion
Dennis Jett: Pennsylvania should become part of Canada
There is a large covered porch at the front of the house at 115 Forest Hills Road in Forest Hills.
2
life
Buying Here: Forest Hills home in its own 'mini-forest' listed for $425,000
A woman charged under the name Shannon Nicole Womack is accused of using fake names, fake references and fake credentials at staffing agencies to secure nursing jobs across Pennsylvania and beyond. Pennsylvania State Police urged health care providers across the state to check their records and study the woman’s photo to help identify other facilities she might have duped.
3
news
Pittsburgh 'fake nurse' linked to 5 more Pennsylvania facilities
Several houses are shown along N. Dallas Avenue near Penn Avenue in Point Breeze with “For Sale” signs in the front yard, Friday, March 21, 2025.
4
business
A cooling market and patient buyers are causing many Pittsburgh home sellers to cut their prices
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers throws a touchdown pass to DK Metcalf during Steelers Training Camp at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe on Friday, July 25, 2025.
5
sports
Steelers training camp observations: Aaron Rodgers, receivers bring 'wow' factor to Day 2
Advertisement
LATEST opinion
Advertisement
TOP
Email a Story