On April 18, 2014, NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, also known as LADEE, ended its mission by crashing into the moon.
LADEE had spent seven months orbiting the moon and studying its exosphere. The exosphere is a thin layer of gas that's kind of like an atmosphere, but the molecules are more spread out and are definitely not breathable. LADEE conducted a lunar dust experiment in which it collected and analyzed the dust particles floating around in the exosphere. This experiment was intended to help NASA solve the mystery behind the faint glow Apollo astronauts reported seeing on the lunar horizon. LADEE discovered neon in the exosphere, but it wasn't enough to account for the glow, and the mystery remains unsolved. When LADEE ran out of fuel, NASA intentionally crashed it into into the lunar surface. It was traveling 3,600 miles per hour during the crash and created a crater almost 10 feet wide.
LADEE had spent seven months orbiting the moon and studying its exosphere. The exosphere is a thin layer of gas that's kind of like an atmosphere, but the molecules are more spread out and are definitely not breathable. LADEE conducted a lunar dust experiment in which it collected and analyzed the dust particles floating around in the exosphere. This experiment was intended to help NASA solve the mystery behind the faint glow Apollo astronauts reported seeing on the lunar horizon. LADEE discovered neon in the exosphere, but it wasn't enough to account for the glow, and the mystery remains unsolved. When LADEE ran out of fuel, NASA intentionally crashed it into into the lunar surface. It was traveling 3,600 miles per hour during the crash and created a crater almost 10 feet wide.
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TechTranscript
00:00On this day in space.
00:04On April 18, 2014, NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer,
00:08also known as LADEE, ended its mission by crashing into the moon.
00:12LADEE had spent seven months orbiting the moon and studying its exosphere.
00:16The exosphere is a thin layer of gas that's kind of like an atmosphere,
00:20but the molecules are more spread out and are definitely not breathable.
00:24LADEE conducted a lunar dust experiment in which it collected and analyzed dust particles
00:28floating around in the exosphere.
00:30This experiment was intended to help NASA solve the mystery behind the faint glow
00:34Apollo astronauts reported seeing on the lunar horizon.
00:37LADEE discovered neon in the exosphere, but it wasn't enough to account for the glow,
00:41and the mystery remains unsolved.
00:43When LADEE ran out of fuel, NASA intentionally crashed it into the lunar surface.
00:48It was traveling 3600 miles per hour during the crash and created a crater almost 10 feet wide.
00:54And that's what happened on this day in space.
00:58NASA's atomicesperus.com
01:02NASA
01:02NASA