The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, known as LADEE, is NASA's new robotic mission.It's the size of a small car, and it will collect data for 100 days as it orbits our moon.Scientists want to learn more about the moon's thin atmosphere because they think it could be common in our solar system.That knowledge could help them better understand asteroids and other planets.LADEE also will collect data about lunar dust, such as its electric charge, density and mass.The moon's dust is very rough, not powdery like terrestrial dust, said LADEE project manager Butler Hine."It works its way in equipment," Hine said. "So one of the questions about dust on the moon is an engineering question: How do you design things so that they can survive the dust environment?"And there's another question. Astronauts who landed on the moon in the 1960s reported seeing a pre-sunrise glow, and NASA wants to know if electrically charged lunar dust was responsible for it.It's been decades since a manned mission, so the timing is right, says LADEE program scientist Sarah Noble."There's actually a number of countries, a number of private companies, that are planning landings on the moon in the upcoming years,so now is a really good time to go and take a look at it while it's still in its sort of pristine natural state," she said.NASA is urging amateur astronomers worldwide to watch for lunar impacts during the LADEE mission."There are impacts hitting the moon all the time, and we want to know what impact those impacts are having on the atmosphere and dust environment," said Noble.Astronomers with iPhones can download a free application to share their observations with the space agency.
月球大气与灰尘环境资源管理器(LADEE)是美国航天局最新的无人航天器，其大小相当于一辆小汽车，将在绕月球运转的100天里收集数据。科学家希望了解更多月球的稀薄大气，因为他们认为这种大气可能在太阳系很常见。这种知识将帮助他们更好地了解小行星和其他行星。LADEE还收集有关月尘的信息，比如其电荷、密度和重量。LADEE项目负责人巴特勒・海恩说，月球的灰尘非常粗糙，不像地球上的灰尘呈粉末状。“月尘对设备有作用，所以有关月尘的一个问题涉及工程方面：如何设计出能在这样的灰尘环境下运行的设备？”还有一个问题是，据悉20世纪60年代登月的宇航员看到日出前的辉光，美国航天局希望知道是否是带电的月尘造成的。距离上次载人登月已有数十年，所以目前的时机很好，LADEE项目科学家莎拉・诺贝尔如是说。“事实上未来几年将有很多国家、很多私有公司正计划登月，所以目前是去看看的好时候，目前月球仍处于自然的原始状态。”NASA敦促全世界的业余航天员在LADEE任务期间观看月球受到的的影响。“月球一直都在受影响，我们想知道这些影响对大气和灰尘环境的影响。”携带iPhone的宇航员可以下载免费应用来与航天局分享自己的观测结果。
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