Water Released from Moon During Meteor Showers: Animations

LADEE s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley designed, developed, built and tested the spacecraft and will manage the 100-day science mission. After launch, Ames will control the spacecraft and execute mission operations.http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/ladee/launch/#.VCl_8Oe7nNQ The Minotaur V rocket with LADEE aboard launches.

LADEE over the lunar surface with LLCD instrument LLCD Ground Station operation Wireframe view of LLCD Full view of LADEE

LLCD will be NASA s El Teide Observatory in Tenerife, Spain. The main goal of LLCD is proving fundamental concepts of laser communications and transferring data at a rate of 622 megabits per second (Mbps), which is about five times the current state-of-the-art from lunar distances. Engineers expect future space missions to benefit greatly from the use of laser communications technology. To learn more about laser communications and the LLCD mission please click here. LLCD, the Lunar Laser Communication Demonstration, will hitch a ride aboard LADEE to lunar orbit. Using a small and lightweight telescope, LLCD will transmit hundreds of millions of laser pulses each second to one of three stations on the Earth….. Watch this video on YouTube. For complete transcript, click here. On December 24, 1968, Apollo 8 captured the historic photo known as “Earthrise”. However, it would take several days for the rest of the world to see this awe-inspiring image. Together LLCD and LADEE will take the next step in expanding NASA’s space communication capabilities while renewing our sense of discovery about the Moon and the universe. A close up of LLCD, pointing at the Earth. To begin data transmission, the space and ground terminals must first locate each other. This process begins when the ground terminal scans LADEE’s path to illuminate the spacecraft. In the future NASA could download finer images, hundreds of 3-D HD video streams, and could even one day enable “telepresence” at the Moon and beyond for human explorers still on Earth. LADEE Beauty Pass

Since the 1960’s, scientists have suspected that frozen water could survive in cold, dark craters at the Moon’s poles. While previous lunar missions have detected hints of water on the Moon, new data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) pinpoints areas near the south pole where water is likely to exist. The key to this discovery is hydrogen, the main ingredient in water: LRO uses its Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector, or LEND, to measure how much hydrogen is trapped within the lunar soil. By combining years of LEND data, scientists see mounting evidence of hydrogen-rich areas near the Moon’s south pole, strongly suggesting the presence of frozen water. LRO’s Lunar Exploration Neutron Detector (LEND) has accumulated new evidence of water at the south pole of the Moon. By combining years of LEND data, scientists see a consistent pattern of hydrogen-rich soil thought to indicate the presence of frozen water.For complete transcript, click here.