NASA Continues Work to Command Lunar Trailblazer, Assess Options

Efforts to reestablish communications with NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer have continued since mission operators at Caltech’s IPAC lost contact with the small satellite Feb. 27, one day after launch.

The team continues to send commands to the spacecraft via NASA’s Deep Space Network, while other radio ground stations are volunteering time to “listen” for a signal from Lunar Trailblazer and track the spacecraft as it moves farther from Earth. The mission is studying the collected data to better understand Lunar Trailblazer’s orientation and rotation. Engineers also are using testbeds to study the spacecraft’s behavior during boot-up and recovery options from a low power state.

While Lunar Trailblazer’s prime science mission is no longer possible, NASA is assessing whether there are mission options for the future.

Lunar Trailblazer is 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.