NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer spacecraft
weighed less than 845 pounds and was launched on a flight
to orbit the moon to study the dust in the moon's vicinity
and the nature of its thin atmosphere.
Launched on a Minotaur V from Wallops Flight Facility on September 7, 2013,
LADEE orbited the moon for about seven months collecting
data and testing a laser communications system.
With its mission complete,
the spacecraft was guided into a crash into the far side of the moon.
Although the mission ended there for the spacecraft,
the data obtained during the mission has been vital to researchers
who are using it to refine their understanding of the moon
and other rocky bodies in the solar system.