Levitating Lunar Dust on the Moon?

by Leonard David, SPACE.com’s Space Insider Columnist

Date: 19 November 2012 Time: 08:29 AM ET

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An artist's illustration of NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer mission (LADEE). CREDIT: NASA View full size image

Did you hear about the new restaurant on the moon? Great food, but no atmosphere.

While that wisecrack has been floating about in space circles for decades, a NASA lunar orbiter will gather detailed information about the moon's atmosphere next year, including conditions near its surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.

NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is to depart the Earth for the moon in August 2013. LADEE is loaded with science gear, including instruments that can address a lingering question that's rooted in space history: Are electrostatically lofted lunar dust particles present within the moon's tenuous atmosphere?

More - Link >>> http://www.space.com/18538-moon-dust-ladee-lunar-mission.html

Source: Space.com .

November 19 marks the 71st anniversary (1941) of the dedication of the Astronomical Observatory at Pittsburgh's original Buhl Planetarium and Institute of Popular Science:
Link >>> http://buhlplanetarium2.tripod.com/

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