Summary NASA will launch a robotic explorer to study the lunar atmosphere and dust.
NEW YORK (AP) - NASA is poised to return to the moon. An unmanned rocket is scheduled to blast off late Friday night from the U.S. with a robotic explorer that will study the lunar atmosphere and dust. The moon-orbiting craft will measure the thin lunar atmosphere.
Scientists want to learn the composition of the moon s delicate atmosphere and how it might change over time. Another puzzle: whether dust actually levitates from the lunar surface.
Unlike the quick three-day Apollo flights to the moon, the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer, or LADEE, will take a full month to get there.
Launch time is 0327 GMT.
