rewrite this title NASA’s Moon Mission Suffers Major Disappointment: Communication Lost

NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer satellite, sent into lunar orbit, lost communication one day after launch. The mission has been officially terminated due to a solar panel issue.

The Lunar Trailblazer satellite, which was intended to map water around the Moon, was rendered inoperable before it could begin its scientific mission. The agency announced on July 31 that the mission had been officially terminated.

Lunar Trailblazer was a satellite designed to enter lunar orbit, not a lander. The mission’s purpose was to map the location, quantity, and changes of water on the Moon’s surface over time with high resolution. The mission was one of several small-scale scientific missions planned by NASA as part of its commercial partnerships for the Moon.

Mission Officially Ends

Lunar Trailblazer was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on February 26 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The journey was part of Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, and Lunar Trailblazer separated from the vehicle as planned 48 minutes after launch. Initial communication was established the same day, but a two-way connection was completely lost the next day and could not be re-established.

Based on the data obtained during the brief communication period, the mission team determined that the satellite’s solar panels were not positioned toward the sun. This led to the batteries rapidly draining, causing the satellite to lose function.

Nicky Fox, Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, stated, “While this is not the outcome we hoped for, initiatives like Lunar Trailblazer help us reduce the risk of conducting innovative science with low-cost small satellites in the future as we prepare for a sustained human presence on the Moon.”

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