Lunar Trailblazer, a compact satellite developed by NASA and managed by Lockheed Martin and Caltech, has completed rigorous environmental tests and is undergoing final software trials.
This preparation aims to ensure the satellite can withstand the extreme conditions of space and successfully execute its mission to map water resources on the Moon. The spacecraft is set to hitch a ride to the Moon as part of a commercial lunar lander mission in late 2024, promising critical data for future lunar exploration.
Pre-Launch Testing and Development
NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft recently completed the shaking, chilling, baking, and other testing needed to ensure it can survive launch and the harsh conditions of space.
Now that environmental testing is done, the spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, is putting the orbiter and its science instruments through flight system software tests that simulate key aspects of launch, maneuvers, and the science mission while in orbit around the Moon.
At the same time, the operations team led by IPAC at Caltech in Pasadena, California, is conducting tests to simulate commanding, communication with NASA’s Deep Space Network, and navigation.
Mission Objectives and Satellite Details
Just 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed, the small satellite will help scientists determine the abundance, location, and form of water on the Moon, as well as its variation over the course of a lunar day. This data will be key to our understanding of this crucial resource on the Moon for future exploration.
The mission’s two science instruments were integrated with the spacecraft last year. The High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper was developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and the Lunar Thermal Mapper is from the University of Oxford and funded by the United Kingdom Space Agency.
Lunar Trailblazer will launch as a “rideshare,” a secondary payload on the second lunar lander mission by Intuitive Machines, called IM-2, which is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative. Launch preparations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024 with an extended mission window reaching into January 2025.
About a month prior to launch, the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft will ship from Lockheed Martin to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After final checkouts, it will be integrated into the launch vehicle.
Mission Leadership and Framework
The project is led by Principal Investigator Bethany Ehlmann of Caltech and managed by JPL, which is also providing systems engineering, navigation, and mission assurance. Caltech manages JPL for the agency.
Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA’s Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, which provides opportunities for low-cost, high-risk science missions that are responsive to requirements for flexibility. These lower-cost missions serve as an ideal platform for technical and architecture innovation, contributing to NASA’s science research and technology development objectives. SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. IPAC leads mission operations, including planning, scheduling, and sequencing all science and spacecraft activities.
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