If you happened to be looking out your window late at night last Friday on September 7th, you may have seen the moon, stars, or even a rocket! NASA launched an unmanned rocket to the moon on that Friday night to gather information and data to study its lunar atmosphere and environment. The name of this 90-foot rocket carrying the moon orbiter is the Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer – or LADEE for short.

Visible to much of the easternU.S.coast, LADEE was launched at the Wallops Flight Facility atWallopsIslandinVirginiaat 11:27 p.m. ET. It was the first rocket shot to the moon ever fromVirginiain 54 years of lunar missions. The orbiter will gather environmental influences on lunar dust. According to NASA’s website, “a thorough understanding of these characteristics will address long-standing unknowns, and help scientists understand other planetary bodies as well.” The space agency says that the Earth’s distance from the moon is between 223,700 miles to 251,700 miles depending upon the moon’s position.

This spacecraft is expected to reach the moon on October 6th 2013. It will collect data for three months, and in total, the mission will last six months and end with a suicide plunge into the moon. NASA will stay tuned for the results of their exploring spacecraft LADEE.