The LADEE Mission to the Moon launched right on time at 11:27 p.m. EDT on Sept. 6 from Pad 0B at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport, at NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility, Wallops Island, Va.The mission to explore dust around the moon went off without a hitch as all five stages of the Minotaur V rocket sent it on a journey to the moon. Reports from Washington D.C and Pennsylvania indicated that the launch was very bright and easily seen with the naked eye. Staging of the rocket was seen and it was reported to appear to move very fast “like a flare”.

The predicted viewing was a far north as Maine and based on reports from Pennsylvania the launch was indeed seen from the entire east coast of the U.S. Separation from the rocket was confirmed and the spacecraft is on it’s way. LADEE is a robotic mission that will orbit the moon to gather detailed information about the lunar atmosphere, conditions near the surface and environmental influences on lunar dust.