• NASA launched a satellite — Lunar Trailblazer — to detect and map water on the Moon.

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter.

• The Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft was built by Lockheed Martin’s space division.

• The mission aims to locate water, particularly in permanently shadowed craters at the lunar poles.

• Lunar Trailblazer is about the size of a dishwasher.

• The primary payload was a lunar lander mission led by Intuitive Machines.

• Lockheed Martin’s space division built the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft.

• Lunar Trailblazer is a NASA’s SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) selection, which provides opportunities for low-cost science missions to rideshare with selected primary missions. To maintain a lower overall mission cost, SIMPLEx missions have a higher risk posture and lighter requirements for oversight and management.

• The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and its science investigation is led by Caltech, which manages JPL for NASA.

Objectives of the Mission:

• To map and identify water distribution on the Moon’s surface.

• Focus on permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) at the lunar poles, where significant water ice is hypothesized.

• Understanding lunar water resources can help in the establishment of long-term human bases on the Moon.

How much water is on the Moon?

While we know there is water on the Moon, we do not know how much. Some data collected by prior missions suggest that there may be up to 1.3 trillion pounds (600 million metric tonnes) of ice in the permanently shadowed regions of the lunar poles. Finding and quantifying these deposits of water is important for future exploration.

Where does lunar water come from?

Current evidence suggests that comets and asteroids may have brought some water to the Moon. Interplanetary dust particles and micrometeorites may also deliver water to the lunar surface. In addition, some water may have been sourced from the lunar interior by ancient volcanism. The Sun may also play a role. A stream of hydrogen from the Sun, called the solar wind, may combine with oxygen on the Moon to form lunar water directly on the surface.

Technical Specifications of Lunar Trailblazer

• Lunar Trailblazer has a box-shaped body with two solar arrays. 

• With these solar arrays deployed, the length of the spacecraft is about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters). 

• The solar panels will provide 280 W of power. 

• The total mass is 200 kg, with 20 kg of science instrument payload.

Scientific Instruments on Board

Lunar Trailblazer carries two key instruments to detect and study lunar water:

1) Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM)

 • Measures surface temperature across the Moon.

 • Helps understand how temperature affects water movement on the Moon.

2) High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3)

• Detects water presence by analyzing light reflections from the surface.

• Identifies the form, distribution, and abundance of lunar water.

Significance of the Mission

• Helps determine potential landing sites for future lunar missions.

• Provides scientific insights into the lunar water cycle.

• Contributes to understanding the origin of water on Earth by studying the Moon’s water history.

• Benefits future space exploration by enabling resource extraction for long-term lunar stays.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)