Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter – NASA's Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) observatory launches aboard the Minotaur V rocket from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport at NASA's Wallops Flight Facility on Friday, September 6, in Virginia. Hide Caption 1 of 8

Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter – LADEE is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon, where it will provide unprecedented information about the environment around the moon and give scientists a better understanding of other planetary bodies in our solar system and beyond. Hide Caption 2 of 8

Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter – David W. Thompson, chairman and CEO of Orbital Sciences, left, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and Mrs. Jaqueline Bolden watch the launch on September 6. Hide Caption 3 of 8

Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter NASA launches moon orbiter – A rocket carrying a NASA moon orbiter sits on the launch pad in Wallops Island, Virginia, on September 6. The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is designed to "orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust," NASA said. Hide Caption 4 of 8

Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter NASA launches moon orbiter – During final preparations for launch, engineers mount the spacecraft onto a spin table and rotate it at high speeds to make sure it's perfectly balanced for flight. Hide Caption 5 of 8

Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter NASA launches moon orbiter – The moon orbiter sits in the nose-cone at the top of the Minotaur V rocket, a ballistic missile converted into a space launch vehicle. Hide Caption 6 of 8

Photos: Photos: NASA launches moon orbiter NASA launches moon orbiter – NASA engineers at the Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia load the spacecraft into the rocket's nose-cone. LADEE is the first spacecraft designed, developed, built and tested at NASA's Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California. Hide Caption 7 of 8