Caltech-led spacecraft mission studying the Moon gets NASA's final design approval

The California Institute of Technology-led small spacecraft mission to investigate water on the Moon has final design and build approval from NASA.

NASA approved the small satellite mission Lunar Trailblazer on Nov. 24 for "final design of hardware and build," the space agency said in December.

Caltech's Lunar Trailblazer mission was "selected under NASA's Small Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEx) program," the space agency said in the release.

"Lunar Trailblazer will vastly advance our understanding of water cycles on airless bodies like the Moon," Lori Glaze, director of NASA's Planetary Science Division at the agency's headquarters in Washington, said in the release. "By measuring both direct light and low levels of terrain-scattered light, Lunar Trailblazer will generate comprehensive maps of surface water ice, even in the Moon's darkest regions."

The 3.5-meter satellite will use its solar panels to orbit the Moon from 100 kilometers, Caltech said in its release about the endeavor. The satellite will use Jet Propulsion Laboratory and Oxford University advanced imaging technology to scan the lunar surface to collect water data.

"These instruments will determine the amount and form of water on the Moon, which is not liquid but instead occurs as water ice in cold regions, as free molecules, or bound within minerals," Caltech said in its release.

Lunar Trailblazer will produce basemaps locating water or ice "trapped in rock at the Moon's surface."

If everything remains on schedule, NASA anticipates the Lunar Trailblazer mission to launch in February 2025.

"Lunar Trailblazer will help support NASA's Artemis program, which includes establishing a sustainable presence on the Moon by the end of the decade and preparing for crewed missions to Mars," the space agency said in its release.

The mission's principal investigator Bethany Ehlmann, Caltech professor of planetary science, said on the website that Trailblazer will advance understanding of "the water cycle on airless bodies."

"Given the importance of water on the Moon for future robotic and human missions, the Lunar Trailblazer mission team is excited to provide the critical basemaps that will guide this future exploration," Ehlmann said in the Caltech release.