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Concept art showing LADEE over the lunar surface. Image Credit: NASA

NASA's LRO Snaps a Picture of NASA's LADEE Spacecraft (Labeled). With precise timing, the camera aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was able to take a picture of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft as it

LRO has imaged the LADEE impact site on the eastern rim of Sundman V crater. The image was created by ratioing two images, one taken before the impact and another afterwards. The bright area highlights what has changed between the time of the two images,

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Concept art showing LADEE over the lunar surface. Image Credit: NASANASA

NASA's LRO Snaps a Picture of NASA's LADEE Spacecraft (Labeled). With precise timing, the camera aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was able to take a picture of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft as it orbited our nearest celestial neighbor. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) operations team worked with its LADEE and LRO operations counterparts to make the imaging possible. LRO imaged LADEE, about 5.6 miles beneath it, at 8:11 p.m. EST on Jan. 14, 2014. (LROC NAC image M1144387511LR. Image width is 821 meters, or about 898 yards.) Image credit: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University NASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

LRO has imaged the LADEE impact site on the eastern rim of Sundman V crater. The image was created by ratioing two images, one taken before the impact and another afterwards. The bright area highlights what has changed between the time of the two images, specifically the impact point and the ejecta. Credits: NASA/Goddard/Arizona State UniversityNASA/Goddard/Arizona State University

Mission name: LADEE

Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer

LADEE provided new data about the lunar atmosphere and air-born dust.

Launch Date September 06, 2013
Arrival Date September 08, 2013
End DateApril 16, 2014
Mission TypeOrbiter
TargetThe Moon

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Mission Overview
LADEE gathered detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere and studied how dust is being lofted into the lunar sky.

Relevance to Astrobiology
Studying characteristics of the lunar atmosphere provides clues about similar processes on other rocky bodies in the Solar System, including large asteroids, Mercury, and the moons of outer planets. Many of these celestial bodies are relevant as targets of astrobiology research.

NASA Astrobiology Involvement
The Astrobiology Program supports efforts to develop models based on data from the LADEE mission. These models are used to study the molecular composition of the lunar atmosphere.

The Astrobiologists
NAINASA Ames Research Center Team Co-I Davis is developing models to ascertain the molecular composition of the tenuous lunar atmosphere by analyzing the scattering data from satellite instrumentation.

Mission news and discoveries

An artist's concept of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft orbiting the moon and preparing to fire its maneuvering thrusters to maintain a safe orbital altitude. Image credit: NASA Ames / Dana Berry

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Back to the Future on the MoonJune 25, 2018

"Cataclysm No More": The Timing of Lunar ImpactsFebruary 08, 2018

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Major mission findings

Image of the lunar surface captured by LADEE's star tracker.

April 24, 2015Neon in Lunar Atmosphere

Data from LADEE confirmed that the Moon’s thin atmosphere contains neon, a gas commonly used in electric signs on Earth because of its intense glow. Scientists had speculated on the presence of neon in the lunar atmosphere for decades, but it was NASA’s Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft that confirmed its existence. Read more from NASA.

Artist concept of the lunar dust exosphere and LADDEE trajectory. The color represents the amount of material ejected from the surface. A haze of dust is shown around the moon.

June 17, 2015Moon Engulfed in Permanent, Lopsided, Dust Cloud

Science results from LADEE indicated that the Moon is engulfed in a permanent, but lopsided, dust cloud that increases in density during annual events like the Geminids meteor shower. The cloud was discovered using data from a detector on board LADEE called the Lunar Dust Experiment (LDEX). Click here to read a press release from NASA.

Mission Facts

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Artist impression of the LADEE spacecraft above the lunar surface.

Artist impression of LADEE above the lunar surface.

Mission EndLADEE Crashes into the Moon

10:59 p.m. PDT, April 17, 2014 – Ground controllers at NASA’s Ames Research Center have confirmed that the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft has impacted the surface of the moon, as planned.

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