Lunar Trailblazer, a compact satellite developed by NASA and managed by Lockheed Martin and the California Institute of Technology, has completed rigorous environmental testing and is undergoing final software testing. This preparation is designed to ensure that the satellite can withstand extreme space conditions and successfully carry out its mission of mapping the moon's water resources. As part of the commercial lunar lander mission, the spacecraft will hitch a ride on the moon by the end of 2024, providing important data for future lunar exploration.

Lunar Pathfinder will peer into the Moon's permanently shadowed regions, detect water ice signatures in reflected light, and pinpoint the location of micro-chill traps smaller than a football field. Source: Lockheed Martin

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft recently completed shaking, cooling, baking and other necessary tests to ensure it can survive launch and harsh space conditions.

Now that environmental testing is complete, the spacecraft team at Lockheed Martin Space Company in Littleton, Colorado, is conducting flight system software tests on the orbiter and its science instruments, simulating key aspects of the launch, maneuvers and science mission in orbit around the moon.

Meanwhile, operations teams led by Caltech's IPAC in Pasadena, Calif., are conducting tests simulating command, communications with NASA's Deep Space Network and navigation.

NASA's Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft undergoes environmental testing in Lockheed Martin Space's clean room. These tests mark the latest milestone as the mission prepares to launch in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the mission window extended to January 2025. Image source: Lockheed Martin Aerospace Corporation

The small satellite weighs 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and is 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide. When the solar panels are fully deployed, it will help scientists determine the abundance, location and form of water on the moon, and how the water changes throughout the lunar day. This data will be key to our understanding of this important resource on the moon and future exploration.

The mission's two science instruments were integrated with the spacecraft last year. The High-Resolution Volatiles and Minerals Lunar Mapper was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, and the Lunar Thermal Imager was developed at the University of Oxford and funded by the UK Space Agency.

Lunar Trailblazer will be launched as a "share" and is an auxiliary payload for Intuitive Machine's second lunar lander mission (IM-2), which is part of NASA's CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program. Launch preparations are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024, with the mission window extending to January 2025.

About a month before launch, the Lunar Pathfinder spacecraft will be shipped from Lockheed Martin to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. After final inspection, it will be integrated into the launch vehicle.

The project is led by Bethany Ehlmann, principal investigator at Caltech, and managed by JPL, which also provides systems engineering, navigation and mission assurance. Caltech manages JPL for the institution.

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 to meet requirements for flexibility. These lower-cost missions are ideal platforms for technological and structural innovation and help achieve NASA's scientific research and technology development goals. The SIMPLEx mission survey is managed by the Planetary Mission 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.

Compiled from /ScitechDaily