Minotaur V with LADEE
The inaugural mission of a Minotaur V rocket happened on September 6, 2013, launching NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment (LADEE) probe into a lunar transfer orbit. The LADEE mission was the 24th overall launch of the Minotaur family of vehicles, the fifth Minotaur launch from Wallops Flight Facility, and LADEE was the 45th satellite launched by a Minotaur rocket.
The LADEE Spacecraft was launched into a highly elliptical orbit of 200 km x 278,000 km around the Earth. Using the Moon's gravitational field to increase the perigee of its orbit, LADEE was eventually in a position to fire its on-board thrusters to alter its trajectory and allow it to enter orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft was designed to conduct a 100 day mission to measure lunar dust and examine the lunar atmosphere from an orbit of 50 km above the surface of the Moon. The mission also tested several new technologies, including a modular spacecraft bus that may reduce the cost of future deep space missions and demonstrate two-way high rate laser communication for the first time from the Moon. The probe orbited the Moon for 7 months and at the end of the mission was intentionally crashed into the far side of the Moon on April 18, 2014. The LADEE program was managed by NASA/Ames Research Center.
Image courtesy of Orbital Sciences Corporation
Date: August 21, 2013
Minotaur V with LADEE
The inaugural mission of a Minotaur V rocket happened on September 6, 2013, launching NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment (LADEE) probe into a lunar transfer orbit. The LADEE mission was the 24th overall launch of the Minotaur family of vehicles, the fifth Minotaur launch from Wallops Flight Facility, and LADEE was the 45th satellite launched by a Minotaur rocket.
The LADEE Spacecraft was launched into a highly elliptical orbit of 200 km x 278,000 km around the Earth. Using the Moon's gravitational field to increase the perigee of its orbit, LADEE was eventually in a position to fire its on-board thrusters to alter its trajectory and allow it to enter orbit around the Moon. The spacecraft was designed to conduct a 100 day mission to measure lunar dust and examine the lunar atmosphere from an orbit of 50 km above the surface of the Moon. The mission also tested several new technologies, including a modular spacecraft bus that may reduce the cost of future deep space missions and demonstrate two-way high rate laser communication for the first time from the Moon. The probe orbited the Moon for 7 months and at the end of the mission was intentionally crashed into the far side of the Moon on April 18, 2014. The LADEE program was managed by NASA/Ames Research Center.
Image courtesy of Orbital Sciences Corporation
Date: August 21, 2013