The small satellite was to map lunar water, but operators lost contact with the spacecraft the day after launch and were unable to recover the mission.<\/p>\n
NASA\u2019s Lunar Trailblazer ended its mission to the Moon on July 31. Despite extensive efforts, mission operators were unable to establish two-way communications after losing contact with the spacecraft the day following its Feb. 26 launch.<\/p>\n
The mission<\/a> aimed to produce high-resolution maps of water on the Moon\u2019s surface and determine what form the water is in, how much is there, and how it changes over time. The maps would have supported future robotic and human exploration of the Moon as well as commercial interests while also contributing to the understanding of water cycles on airless bodies throughout the solar system.<\/p>\n Lunar Trailblazer<\/a> shared a ride on the second Intuitive Machines robotic lunar lander mission, IM-2, which lifted off at 7:16 p.m. EST on Feb. 26 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the agency\u2019s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The small satellite separated<\/a> as planned from the rocket about 48 minutes after launch to begin its flight to the Moon. Mission operators at Caltech\u2019s IPAC in Pasadena established communications with the small spacecraft at 8:13 p.m. EST. Contact was lost the next day<\/a>.<\/p>\n Without two-way communications, the team was unable to fully diagnose the spacecraft or perform the thruster operations needed to keep Lunar Trailblazer on its flight path<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cAt NASA, we undertake high-risk, high-reward missions like Lunar Trailblazer to find revolutionary ways of doing new science,\u201d said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. \u201cWhile it was not the outcome we had hoped for, mission experiences like Lunar Trailblazer help us to learn and reduce the risk for future, low-cost small satellites to do innovative science as we prepare for a sustained human presence on the Moon. Thank you to the Lunar Trailblazer team for their dedication in working on and learning from this mission through to the end.\u201d<\/p>\n The limited data the mission team had received from Lunar Trailblazer indicated that the spacecraft\u2019s solar arrays were not properly oriented toward the Sun, which caused its batteries to become depleted.<\/p>\n For several months, collaborating organizations around the world \u2014 many of which volunteered their assistance \u2014 listened for the spacecraft\u2019s radio signal and tracked its position. Ground radar and optical observations indicated<\/a> that Lunar Trailblazer was in a slow spin as it headed farther into deep space.<\/p>\n \u201cAs Lunar Trailblazer drifted far beyond the Moon, our models showed that the solar panels might receive more sunlight, perhaps charging the spacecraft\u2019s batteries to a point it could turn on its radio,\u201d said Andrew Klesh, Lunar Trailblazer\u2019s project systems engineer at NASA\u2019s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. \u201cThe global community\u2019s support helped us better understand the spacecraft\u2019s spin, pointing, and trajectory. In space exploration, collaboration is critical \u2014 this gave us the best chance to try to regain contact.\u201d<\/p>\n However, as time passed, Lunar Trailblazer became too distant to recover as its telecommunications signals would have been too weak for the mission to receive telemetry and to command.<\/p>\n The small satellite\u2019s High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3<\/a>) imaging spectrometer was built by JPL to detect and map the locations of water and minerals. The mission\u2019s Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM<\/a>) instrument was built by the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and funded by the UK Space Agency to gather temperature data and determine the composition of silicate rocks and soils to improve understanding of why water content varies over time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re immensely disappointed that our spacecraft didn\u2019t get to the Moon, but the two science instruments we developed, like the teams we brought together, are world class,\u201d said Bethany Ehlmann, the mission\u2019s principal investigator at Caltech. \u201cThis collective knowledge and the technology developed will cross-pollinate to other projects as the planetary science community continues work to better understand the Moon\u2019s water.\u201d<\/p>\n Some of that technology will live on in the JPL-built Ultra Compact Imaging Spectrometer for the Moon (UCIS-Moon) instrument that NASA recently selected<\/a> for a future orbital flight opportunity. The instrument, which has has an identical spectrometer design as HVM3, will provide the Moon\u2019s highest spatial resolution data of surface lunar water and minerals.<\/p>\n Lunar Trailblazer was selected by NASA\u2019s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) competition, which provides opportunities for low-cost science spacecraft to ride-share with selected primary missions. To maintain the lower overall cost, SIMPLEx missions have a higher risk posture and less-stringent requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance bolsters NASA\u2019s portfolio of targeted science missions designed to test pioneering mission approaches.<\/p>\n Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA, led Lunar Trailblazer\u2019s science investigation, and Caltech\u2019s IPAC led mission operations, which included planning, scheduling, and sequencing of all spacecraft activities. Along with managing Lunar Trailblazer, NASA JPL provided system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM3 instrument, and mission design and navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provided the spacecraft, integrated the flight system, and supported operations under contract with Caltech. The University of Oxford developed and provided the LTM instrument, funded by the UK Space Agency. Lunar Trailblazer, a project of NASA\u2019s Lunar Discovery and Exploration Program, was managed by NASA\u2019s Planetary Missions Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, for the agency\u2019s Science Mission Directorate in Washington.<\/p>\n Karen Fox \/ Molly Wasser Ian J. O\u2019Neill
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov<\/a> \/ molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov<\/a><\/p>\n