Lunar Atmosphere Dust Environment Explorer | Butler Hine | Talks at Google

The Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) is a Lunar orbiter mission launched in September 2013 to study the pristine state of the Lunar exosphere and dust environment prior to significant human activities. LADEE operated for 8 months, and successfully investigated the composition of the lunar atmosphere and the processes that control its distribution and variability, including sources, sinks, and surface interactions. LADEE also characterized dust in the lunar environment, and revealed processes that contribute to its sources and variability. LADEE employed a science instrument payload including a neutral mass spectrometer, ultraviolet spectrometer, and dust sensor. In addition to the science payloads, LADEE carried a laser communications system technology demonstration which proved high-bandwidth long-haul capability, providing a critical building block for future space communications architectures. The LADEE spacecraft bus was the result of a focused skunk-works effort around an innovative new spacecraft design. In addition to its primary science mission, LADEE demonstrated the effectiveness of a low-cost, parallel development program, utilizing a modular bus design. LADEE also launched on the new Minotaur V launch vehicle, demonstrating its capability for deep space missions. These capabilities could enable future Lunar missions in a highly cost constrained environment. This talk will describe the LADEE objectives, mission design, technical approach, operations, and results.

Dr. Hine is currently the Project Manager for the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission, a Lunar science orbiter which launched Sept.6, 2013. LADEE is designed to measure Lunar dust and examine the Lunar atmosphere prior to significant human activity on the Moon. LADEE is also testing an optical communications payload from the Moon, which could be important technology enabling high-bandwidth communications links for future planetary missions. Prior to LADEE, Dr. Hine managed the Small Spacecraft Division at NASA Ames Research Center, which developed ways to build low-cost, high-performance spacecraft to enable future NASA missions. He has also managed various NASA programs, such as the Robotic Lunar Exploration Program, the Computing, Information, and Communications Technology Program, and the Intelligent Systems Program. His NASA career includes directing the Intelligent Mechanisms Laboratory at NASA Ames Research Center, which pioneered the use of telepresence and virtual reality to control remote science exploration systems. Outside of NASA, Dr. Hine was President and CEO of a software start-up company which developed advanced visualization tools for managing large corporate networks.

Butler Hine received his Bachelor of Science degree in Physics and Mathematics, summa cum laude, from the University of Alabama in 1981, and Masters and Doctorate degrees in Astronomy from the University of Texas in Austin in 1985 and 1988, respectively.