Lunar Trailblazer's voyage to the Moon will take between four and seven months, depending on the day it launches. This orbital diagram shows the low-energy transfer trajectory of the NASA mission should it launch on Feb. 26, the earliest date in a four-day launch period. If it launches that date, the spacecraft is expected to arrive in lunar orbit about four months later. Shown in this diagram are key dates of trajectory correction maneuvers, when the spacecraft will use its thrusters to shape its orbit, and lunar flybys. Lunar Trailblazer was a selection of NASA's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), 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 lighter requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance allows NASA to test pioneering technologies, and the definition of success for these missions includes the lessons learned from more experimental endeavors. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26459

Sunlight gleams off NASA's Lunar Trailblazer in this artist's concept depicting the small satellite in lunar orbit. The spacecraft weighs only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measures 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide when its solar panels are fully deployed. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26429

This artist's concept depicts NASA's Lunar Trailblazer in lunar orbit about 60 miles (100 kilometers) from the surface of the Moon. The spacecraft weighs only 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measures 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide when its solar panels are fully deployed. Lunar Trailblazer is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and its science investigation and mission operations are led by Caltech with the mission operations center at IPAC. Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL also provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM3 instrument, as well as mission design and navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provides the spacecraft, integrates the flight system, and supports operations under contract with Caltech. Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, which is managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The program conducts space science investigations in the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26453

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer undergoes thermal vacuum chamber (TVAC) testing at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, in June 2023. The extremely low pressures and temperatures during these tests simulate the conditions that the spacecraft will experience during in space. Lunar Trailblazer, which has a mass of about 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and measures only 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels deployed, has now completed TVAC testing and is nearing completion before its planned launch in early 2024. The spacecraft's two science instruments will map the form, abundance, and locations of water in on the lunar surface while also revealing the thermal properties and surface composition of those regions. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25836

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer sits in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, shortly after being integrated with its second and final science instrument in June 2023. Called the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM), the instrument is visible as a black rectangular box in the upper right of the spacecraft's body. Green tape on the spacecraft will be removed before launch. Built by the University of Oxford in England and contributed by the UK Space Agency, LTM joins the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) that was integrated with the spacecraft late last year. Together, the instruments will enable scientists to determine the abundance, location, and form of the Moon's water. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25837

The High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³), seen here, is one of two instruments that will be carried aboard NASA's Lunar Trailblazer. Launching in 2023, the small spacecraft – measuring only 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed – will detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. HVM³ recently completed a significant milestone in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. The high-resolution spectrometer measures the infrared light (with wavelengths from 0.6 to 3.6 microns in size) that is absorbed by water. To make sure the instrument is properly aligned, the Trailblazer team cooled HVM3 down to temperatures it will experience in space and made tiny physical adjustments to make sure all the wavelengths of incoming light arrive at the correct locations on the instrument's detector. Figure A shows several members of the Trailblazer team surrounding the instrument – minus its radiator and electronics – mounted on HVM³'s optical bench assembly while undergoing cold alignment. The assembly was placed inside a thermal vacuum chamber and brought to a cold focal plane operating temperature of about minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 155 degrees Celsius). The team then measured light of different wavelengths across all of the detector's pixels. Based on the data recorded, the team calculated the small adjustments that needed to be made, took the instrument out of the chamber and made those changes, placed it back into the chamber, and then repeated the steps iteratively until HVM³ was in perfect alignment. With this important step complete, a radiator will next be installed to ensure the instrument maintains optimal operating temperatures while Trailblazer is in orbit around the Moon. Then, vibration tests will be carried out to make sure the spectrometer will stay in alignment after the extreme shaking of launch. Lunar Trailblazer was selected to be part of NASA's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration) program in 2019. The mission is led by Caltech in Pasadena, California, and managed by JPL. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25252

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft gets covered in anti-static wrap before being shipped from Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, to Florida, where it arrived on Jan. 29, 2025. The spacecraft was built and tested at Lockheed and will launch no earlier than Feb. 26 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency's Kennedy Space Center. Lunar Trailblazer was a selection of NASA's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), 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 lighter requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance allows NASA to test pioneering technologies, and the definition of success for these missions includes the lessons learned from more experimental endeavors. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26458

Members of NASA's Lunar Trailblazer team pose with the spacecraft at SpaceX's payload processing facility at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early February 2025. The grated radiator of the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) instrument is facing the camera. Pictured, from left: Andrew Klesh, Jeff Pyle, Ryan Kressler, Willie Parker, Jon Newman, Alex Sugarman, David Rodriquez, Chris Calamateos-Brown, and David Hobbs. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26581

The High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) sits in a clean room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California in early December 2022. The JPL-built instrument was later shipped to Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, to be integrated with NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft. HVM³ is an imaging spectrometer that will detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. A second instrument, the Lunar Thermal Mapper infrared multispectral imager, is being developed by the University of Oxford in the U.K. and is scheduled for delivery and integration in early 2023. Lunar Trailblazer was selected under NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program in 2019. The Lunar Trailblazer mission is managed by JPL and its science investigation is led by Caltech in Pasadena, California. Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL also provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM³ instrument, as well as navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provides the spacecraft and integrates the flight system, under contract with Caltech. SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The program conducts space science investigations in the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25256

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer sits on its rotation fixture after being fueled and prior to being installed to the EELV Secondary Payload Adapter (ESPA) ring at SpaceX's payload processing facility in NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida in early February 2025. The ESPA ring is an adaptor used for launching secondary payloads on launch vehicles. Figure A shows the spacecraft mounted horizontally, in its launch configuration, to the ESPA ring. The mission's two science instruments are visible. The High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) is the angular structure atop the spacecraft; the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) is the black square on the upper right of the front facing panel. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26460

An engineer works on the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) for NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, shortly after the instrument delivered in December 2022. HVM³ is an imaging spectrometer that was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. It was shipped from JPL to Lockheed Martin Space, where it was integrated with the spacecraft. HVM³ is one of two instruments that will be used by the mission to detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. Lunar Trailblazer was selected under NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program in 2019. The Lunar Trailblazer mission is managed by JPL and its science investigation is led by Caltech in Pasadena, California. Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL also provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM³ instrument, as well as navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provides the spacecraft and integrates the flight system, under contract with Caltech. SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The program conducts space science investigations in the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25255

Engineers work on the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) for NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft in a clean room at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado, shortly after the instrument was delivered there in December 2022. The large silver grate wrapped in transparent plastic in the center of the image is the radiator that will maintain the instrument's temperature when in space. HVM³ is an imaging spectrometer that was developed at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. It was shipped from JPL to Lockheed Martin Space, where it was integrated with the spacecraft. HVM³ is one of two instruments that will be used by the mission to detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. Lunar Trailblazer was selected under NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program in 2019. The Lunar Trailblazer mission is managed by JPL and its science investigation is led by Caltech in Pasadena, California. Managed for NASA by Caltech, JPL also provides system engineering, mission assurance, the HVM³ instrument, as well as navigation. Lockheed Martin Space provides the spacecraft and integrates the flight system, under contract with Caltech. SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The program conducts space science investigations in the Planetary Science Division of NASA's Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25254

Seen here before being shipped from the U.K. to the U.S., the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) is one of two instruments that will be carried by NASA's Lunar Trailblazer. Launching in 2023, the small spacecraft – measuring only about 11 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed – will also carry the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³). The two instruments will work together to help detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how and why it varies by location and time. In February 2023, LTM completed qualification for flight and calibration at the University of Oxford in England. The instrument will provide maps of lunar surface temperature from about minus 261 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 163 degrees Celsius) to 261 F (127 C) using four broad-band infrared channels covering wavelengths from 6.25 to 100 micrometers. The instrument also has 11 narrower infrared channels that are sensitive enough to detect and map small variations in the composition of silicate minerals that make up the rocks and soils of the Moon's surface. The instrument is shown here wrapped with a multilayer insulation blanket to assist with thermal control. Not covered by insulation is LTM's single "eye" – a scan mirror that can pivot down to look at the Moon's surface or outward into space for calibration purposes. The scan mirror collects a line of pixels at a time to form an image via the motion of the spacecraft. During vacuum testing the instrument viewed external targets that varied in temperature between minus 261 F (minus 163 C) and 243 F (117 C) so that it could be calibrated. The alignment, spectral, and radiometric (temperature) accuracy of LTM was checked both before and after the instrument was tested via vibration and cycling through thermal environments identical to what it will experience during launch and operation in lunar orbit. With these tests complete, the instrument was packed and shipped for integration with the Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft at Lockheed Martin Space in Colorado. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25831

Peering into the Moon's permanently shadowed regions, Lunar Trailblazer will detect signatures of water ice in reflected light, and it will pinpoint the locations of micro-cold traps less than a football field in size. The small satellite will collect measurements at multiple times of day over sunlit regions, helping scientists understand if the water signature on the illuminated surface changes as the lunar surface temperature changes by hundreds of degrees over the course of a lunar day. The goal is to produce high-resolution maps to locate water ice in support of NASA's Artemis Program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the Moon and prepare for future missions to Mars. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24161

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft sits in a clean room in August 2024 after undergoing environmental testing at Lockheed Martin Space in Littleton, Colorado. Now that those tests are done, the orbiter and its science instruments will go through flight system software tests that simulate key aspects of launch, maneuvers, and the science mission while in orbit around the Moon. This photo shows Lunar Trailblazer with a solar array deployed. The large silver grate attached to the spacecraft is the radiator for the High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM³) instrument. HVM³ is one of two instruments that will be used by the mission to detect and map water on the Moon's surface to determine its abundance, location, form, and how it changes over time. This data will be key to our understanding of this crucial resource on the Moon for future exploration. The spacecraft is just 440 pounds (200 kilograms) and 11.5 feet (3.5 meters) wide with its solar panels fully deployed. The project is led by Principal Investigator Bethany Ehlmann of Caltech and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which is also providing systems engineering, navigation, and mission assurance. Caltech manages JPL for the agency. Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program, which provides opportunities for low-cost, high-risk science missions that are responsive to requirements for flexibility. These lower-cost missions serve as an ideal platform for technical and architecture innovation, contributing to NASA's science research and technology development objectives. SIMPLEx mission investigations are managed by the Planetary Missions Program Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, as part of the Discovery Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington. IPAC leads mission operations, including planning, scheduling, and sequencing all science and spacecraft activities. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26390

NASA's Lunar Trailblazer mission approaches the Moon as it enters its science orbit in this artist's concept. The small satellite will orbit about 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the lunar surface, producing the best-yet maps of water on the Moon. Lunar Trailblazer will discover where the Moon's water is, what form it is in, and how it changes over time. Observations gathered during the spacecraft's two-year prime mission will contribute to the understanding of water cycles on airless bodies throughout the solar system while also supporting future human and robotic missions to the Moon by identifying where water is located. Lunar Trailblazer was a selection of NASA's SIMPLEx (Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration), 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 lighter requirements for oversight and management. This higher risk acceptance allows NASA to test pioneering technologies, and the definition of success for these missions includes the lessons learned from more experimental endeavors. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA26457