NASA's LADEE spacecraft ran into equipment trouble shortly after takeoff last night, Sept. 6, according to USA Today.
NASA said that the spacecraft was fine, and it was still on track to the moon, but did acknowledge that the problem will take two or three weeks to fix.
Peter Worden, director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California, said to the press that he feels "confident" that everything will be working properly again.
LADEE'S reaction wheels were reportedly turned on to angle and stabilize the spacecraft, which was spinning "too fast" after it separated from the final rocket stage, according to Worden. The wheels were shut down because of excess current however,
Worden said the wheels might have been running "a little fast" but believes there is no rush to "get these bugs ironed out."
The unmanned LADEE spacecraft was sent into space with the task of studying lunar atmosphere and dust near the moon. It will take three laps around Earth, according to USA Today.
The spacecraft blasted off at 11:27 p.m. from NASA's Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. It was only the second moon mission not to launch from Cape Canaveral, F.L.
"Godspeed on your journey to the moon, LADEE," Launch Control said shortly after takeoff. "We are headed to the moon!"
The 844-pound rocket was visible for most of the East Coast in locations like New York, Boston, New Jersey, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania.
The $280 million mission will last six months as the spacecraft will reach the moon on Oct. 6.
"It was just a beautiful evening," said NASA's science mission chief, John Grunsfeld, a former astronaut who worked on the Hubble Space Telescope, in a press statement.
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