Emcore Corp. was awarded a contract by ASRC Research and Technology Solutions (ARTS) for the design, manufacture and delivery of 32 solar panels for NASA Ames’ Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer (LADEE) mission, the company announced. LADEE is a robotic mission designed to orbit the moon, with the objective to study and characterize the lunar atmosphere. This includes fine dust particles suspended above the lunar surface. The spacecraft is currently scheduled to be launched in early 2013 aboard a Minotaur V vehicle from the Wallops Flight Facility in Wallops Island, Va. Emcore provides compound semiconductor-based components and subsystems for the fiber optic and solar power industries. For more information, visit: www.emcore.com