Engineers encapsulate NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft into the nose cone of the Minotaur V rocket at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops, Virginia. Image via NASA Wallops/Terry Zaperach
US space agency NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is ready to lift off today and orbit the moon to gather details about the structure and composition of the lunar atmosphere.
Engineers from NASA’s Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California, have been finished testing and preparing LADEE for launch. The spacecraft has now been ensconsed into the nose cone of the Minotaur V rocket at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops, Virginia.
LADEE is scheduled to launch today from the Wallops facility at 11.27pm EST (4.27am Irish time on 7 September). Backup launch opportunities have been slated for between 7-10 September.
NASA TV will broadcast live coverage of the launch online.
