Lunar Trailblazer

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Lunar Trailblazer
Mission typeLunar Exploration
OperatorNASA
Spacecraft properties
SpacecraftLunar Trailblazer
ManufacturerLockheed Martin
Launch mass200kg [1]
Start of mission
Launch dateFebruary 2025[1]
RocketFalcon 9 Block 5[2]
Launch siteCCSFS, LC-40
ContractorSpaceX
Moon orbiter
SIMPLEx
← Janus
EscaPADE →
 

Lunar Trailblazer is a low budget lunar orbiter that will directly detect and map water on the lunar surface to determine how its form, abundance, and location relate to geology. The mission is part of NASA's SIMPLEx program. Lunar Trailblazer will launch in 2025 as a secondary payload with IMAP.[3] The Principal Investigator (PI) of the mission is Bethany Ehlmann, a professor at Caltech[4]

Mission[]

Lunar Trailblazer was selected to be part of NASA's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program in 2019. The goal of the mission is to use a small satellite to map water on the Moon.[5]

The mission has 4 scientific objectives:[6]

  • determine the form, amount, and location of water and hydroxyl in sunlit parts of the Moon
  • study the time-variability of water and hydrated products
  • determine the form, amount, and location of water and hydroxyl in permanently shadowed parts of the Moon
  • study how changes in albedo and surface temperature affect concentration of water and ice[7]

In addition, the spacecraft will search for good locations for future lunar landings.

Launch[]

Lunar Trailblazer will launch as a secondary payload with NASA's IMAP mission in 2025. It will deploy approximately 2 hours after launch and will spend 6 months getting into orbit around the Moon.[8]

The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft will be completed in 2022 but is not scheduled to launch until 2025. Because of this, NASA is looking into other rideshare opportunities.[9][5]

Orbit[]

Lunar Trailblazer will orbit the Moon in a 100km polar orbit. It will study water on the Moon using its two scientific instruments.[4]

Spacecraft[]

The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft will be a built and tested by Lockheed Martin. It will use two Roll-Out Solar Arrays (ROSA) for power, and a chemical propulsion system. With its solar panels fully extended it will be 3.5 meters long. The spacecraft will weigh 200kg. The spacecraft has two science instruments, High Resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) and Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM). HVM3 is provided by JPL; LTM is provided by Oxford University.[10][8][11]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Getting To The Moon". Caltech Lunar Trailblazer. Archived from the original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  2. ^ "NASA Awards Launch Services Contract for IMAP Mission" (Press release). NASA. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  3. ^ "SIMPLEx Small Satellite Concept Finalists Target Moon, Mars and Beyond" (Press release). NASA. 19 June 2019. Archived from the original on 17 June 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Caltech-Led Lunar Trailblazer Mission Approved to Begin Final Design and Build – Pasadena Now". www.pasadenanow.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  5. ^ a b "NASA looking for earlier launch of lunar orbiter smallsat mission". SpaceNews. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  6. ^ "Science Objectives | Lunar Trailblazer". trailblazer.caltech.edu. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  7. ^ Leonard David (5 October 2020). "Tiny moonbound spacecraft have very big goals". Space.com. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  8. ^ a b "Getting To The Moon | Lunar Trailblazer". trailblazer.caltech.edu. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  9. ^ NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (4 December 2020). "Lunar Trailblazer: NASA Approves New Satellite to Map the Moon's Surface". SciTechDaily. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  10. ^ "NASA - NSSDCA - Spacecraft - Details". nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Lunar Trailblazer (SIMPLEx 5)". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 18 January 2022.

External links[]


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