NASA to Host Media Teleconference on Spacecraft's Planned Moon Impact

[NASA News Releases <hqnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

April 1, 2014 NASA to Host Media Teleconference on Spacecraft's Planned Moon Impact NASA will host a media teleconference at 2 p.m. EDT Thursday, April 3, to discuss the extended mission operations, additional science gathering, and planned impact in April of the agency's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) spacecraft into the lunar surface. Launched in September 2013, LADEE successfully completed in March its 100-day prime science phase and is operating in an extended science phase. Instruments aboard the spacecraft will continue to make science observations and acquire data at progressively lower altitudes until the planned impact. Scientists hope to address a long-standing question: Was lunar dust, electrically charged by sunlight, responsible for the pre-sunrise glow detected during several Apollo missions above the lunar horizon? LADEE also is gathering detailed information about the structure and composition of the thin lunar atmosphere. A thorough understanding of these characteristics of our nearest celestial neighbor will help researchers understand other bodies in the solar system, such as large asteroids, Mercury, and the moons of outer planets. Teleconference participants are: -- Joan Salute, LADEE program executive, NASA Headquarters in Washington -- Butler Hine, LADEE project manager, NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. -- Rick Elphic, project scientist, Ames Media who want to participate in the teleconference should contact Dwayne Brown at dwayne.c.brown@xxxxxxxx or 202-358-1726 by 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Media representatives and the public also may ask questions via Twitter using the hashtag #AskNASA. Audio of the teleconference will be streamed live at: http://www.nasa.gov/newsaudio For more information about the LADEE mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ladee -end- Dwayne Brown Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1726 dwayne.c.brown@xxxxxxxx Rachel Hoover Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 650-604-0643 rachel.hoover@xxxxxxxx NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail message with the subject line subscribe to hqnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. To unsubscribe from the list, send an e-mail message with the subject line unsubscribe to hqnews-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.     › Back To Top