Next September, the US Aerospace Agency (NASA) will launch a spacecraft to the moon to study the 'atmosphere' on the earth's only satellite.
According to Los Angeles Times , the US $ 280 million ship , the Air and Moon Dust Explorer (LADEE ), will be launched into space on September 6 from the Virginia state coast. The new Minotaur 5 boosters will help the LADEE ship to orbit the moon.
'The moon also has an atmosphere - NASA expert Sarah Noble said - But the atmosphere is very thin.' Astronomers are still searching for extrasolar planets with a dense atmosphere like the earth, but most planets have a thin atmosphere.
NASA LADEE space ship - (Photo: Nasa.gov)
Therefore, NASA said the study of the moon's atmosphere could help astronomers better understand extrasolar planets, or even planets in our 'space village' , including Mercury, the moon of planets, large meteors .
NASA also wanted to understand the nature of the bright rays of the moon sky that Apollo astronauts have observed since 1966. This phenomenon can occur because moon dust particles collide with pots. The atmosphere, however, is not yet proven by the scientific community.
"The NASA research team wants to decipher the mystery that has been a headache for scientists for nearly 50 years," said Noble.
The LADEE spacecraft will study the moon atmosphere with modern dust analysis devices. The ship is also equipped with a new communication system, transferring data to the earth with infrared light instead of radio waves.
If this program succeeds as expected, NASA will apply this data transfer technology to the mission of Mars exploration in 2020. This device can even transmit three-dimensional video to the earth.
