The mission operations team for NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer at Caltech’s IPAC is continuing efforts to re-establish communications with the small satellite.
Based on telemetry before the loss of signal last week and ground-based radar data collected March 2, the team believes the spacecraft is spinning slowly in a low-power state. They will continue to monitor for signals should the spacecraft orientation change to where the solar panels receive more sunlight, increasing their output to support higher-power operations and communication.
The team has been receiving constant coverage from NASA’s Deep Space Network and working with ground-based observatories to better understand Lunar Trailblazer’s orientation.
The spacecraft issues have precluded the execution of post-launch trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs). These small thruster operations would have adjusted the spacecraft’s flight path and — together with future TCMs — put it into its planned science orbit around the Moon. The team is now working to define alternative TCM strategies that could be used after reacquiring communications and establishing normal spacecraft functionality. These alternative TCM strategies may be able to place Lunar Trailblazer in lunar orbit and allow it to complete some of its science objectives.
“The Lunar Trailblazer team has been working around the clock to re-establish communications with the spacecraft,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “NASA sends up high-risk, high-reward missions like Lunar Trailblazer to do incredible science at a lower cost, and the team truly encapsulates the NASA innovative spirit — if anyone can bring Lunar Trailblazer back, it is them.”
Lunar Trailblazer was a selection of NASA’s 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’s portfolio of targeted science missions designed to test pioneering mission approaches.
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
Ian J. O’Neill
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-354-2649
ian.j.oneill@jpl.nasa.gov