LADEE Launches on Schedule, On Its Way to the Moon

It was a picture perfect launch for NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) tonight.

Launch from Wallops Flight Facility on the coast of Virginia was on time at 11:27 pm Eastern Daylight Time.  The Minotaur V rocket performed as expected and LADEE is on its way to the Moon.  

It is using an unusual method to reach the Moon.  Instead of flying there directly like the Apollo missions, it was placed into an elliptical Earth orbit.   The apogee of the orbit (point furthest from Earth) will be raised through three “phasing loops” until it is so close to the Moon that the spacecraft will be captured by the Moon’s gravity.  A braking rocket then will fire to put LADEE into lunar orbit.  The process will take about a month.