This story was originally published by NASA and is unaltered.

(C) NASA
This story was originally published by NASA and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .

NASA Working to Reestablish Communications With Lunar Trailblazer – Lunar Trailblazer [1]

[]

Date: 2025-02-27

Following the successful deployment of NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 26, mission operators at Caltech’s IPAC in Pasadena, California, established communications with the small satellite at 5:13 p.m. PST, as expected. The team subsequently received engineering data, or telemetry, indicating intermittent power system issues. They lost communication with the spacecraft Thursday morning at about 4:30 a.m. PST.

Several hours later, the spacecraft turned on its transmitter, and the team now is working with NASA ground stations to reestablish telemetry and commanding to better assess the power system issues and develop potential solutions.

Lunar Trailblazer was 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 technologies.

Karen Fox / Molly Wasser

Headquarters, Washington

202-358-1600

[email protected] / [email protected]

Ian J. O’Neill

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

818-354-2649

[email protected]

[END]
---
[1] Url: https://blogs.nasa.gov/trailblazer/2025/02/27/nasa-working-to-reestablish-communications-with-lunar-trailblazer/

Published and (C) by NASA
Content appears here under this condition or license: Public Domain.

via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/nasa/