NASA’s mission to explore the Moon, known as Lunar Trailblazer, is set to embark on a four to seven month journey to the lunar surface. The spacecraft will launch at any time between February 20th and March 1st, depending on the chosen launch date.
The trajectory of the mission has been carefully planned, with key dates marked for trajectory correction maneuvers and lunar flybys. These events will help shape the spacecraft’s orbit around the Moon.
Lunar Trailblazer was selected as part of NASA’s SIMPLEx program, which allows low-cost science spacecraft to ride-share with primary missions. This partnership enables NASA to test new technologies while maintaining a lower overall cost.
The mission is led by Principal Investigator Bethany Ehlmann at Caltech and will be supported by the university’s Bruce Murray Laboratory for Planetary Visualization. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory will handle system engineering, mission assurance, and navigation, with Lockheed Martin Space providing the spacecraft and University of Oxford contributing the LTM instrument.
The Lunar Discovery Exploration Program is managed by NASA’s Planetary Mission Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama, marking an important step forward for the agency’s Science Mission Directorate.
Source: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/pia26459-lunar-trailblazers-looping-lunar-voyage