NASA launches unmanned LADEE probe for Moon

NASA has launched its latest mission LADEE probe to the Moon.

The unmanned probe lifted off from the Wallops rocket facility on the US east coast on Saturday, the BBC reported.

Its 28-million-dollar mission is to investigate the very tenuous atmosphere that surrounds the lunar body.

It will also try to get some insights on the strange behaviour of moondust, which appears on occasions to levitate high above the surface.

In addition, LADEE(which stands for Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) will test a new laser communications system that NASA hopes at some point to put on future planetary missions. Lasers have the capacity to transmit data at rates that dwarf conventional radio connections.