NASA has acknowledged that it is impossible to reestablish contact with the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft. Thus, its mission is officially over.
Lunar Trailblazer was created by NASA as part of the SIMPLEx program. Its goal is to use small and relatively inexpensive devices to study other celestial bodies. The Lunar Trailblazer weighed 200 kg and was equipped with two infrared spectrometers. The vehicle was designed to search for and map water ice deposits on the Moon, as well as to determine the mineralogical composition of its surface. These maps could aid future robotic and human exploration of the Moon, as well as help us understand water cycles on non-atmospheric bodies in the Solar System.
The spacecraft was launched on February 27 along with several other interplanetary missions. Unfortunately, all of them encountered significant problems. The Athena probe, built by Intuitive Machines, overturned during its landing on the Moon, while Astroforge’s Odin spacecraft lost contact shortly after launch and was lost in deep space.
A similar fate met the Lunar Trailblazer. After separating from the rocket, the device began transmitting telemetry, after which communication with it was unexpectedly interrupted. After a while, NASA managed to reestablish contact, but the very next day, Lunar Trailblazer fell silent again — and this time, it did not respond to commands from Earth.
Telemetry received prior to the loss of communication indicated that the spacecraft’s solar panels were incorrectly oriented relative to the Sun, which led to the discharge of its battery. Ground-based radar and optical observations showed that Lunar Trailblazer was slowly rotating as it moved away into deep space.
Models of the device’s behavior created by engineers showed that solar panels will receive more light in the future. There was a chance that they would be able to charge the device’s batteries enough to turn on the radio. Over the next few months, NASA and its collaborating organizations around the world attempted to pick up a signal from Lunar Trailblazer.
Unfortunately, listening to the broadcast did not lead to any results. Over time, the spacecraft moved so far away from Earth that even if it woke up, its signals just wouldn’t be heard. As a result, NASA had to announce the termination of the Lunar Trailblazer mission. It was officially completed on July 31.
According to JPL
