Lunar Trailblazer Spacecraft:
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral carrying NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiter.
- It is an initiative of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
- It is being sent to find and map water on the moon’s surface.
- It is about the size of a dishwasher and relies on a relatively small propulsion system.
- It weighs about 200 kg and measures about 3.5 metres wide when its solar panels are fully deployed.
- It is scheduled to perform a series of moon flybys and looping orbits over a span of several months to position itself to map the surface in detail.
- It eventually will orbit at an altitude of roughly 100 km and collect high-resolution images of targeted areas to determine the form, distribution and abundance of water and to better understand the lunar water cycle.
- It is carrying two instruments to achieve its science objectives:
- High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3): It will look at the moon’s surface for a telltale pattern of light given off by water.
- Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM) will map and measure the lunar surface temperature.
- When used in conjunction, these two instruments provide the ability to simultaneously identify the various forms of water on the moon, mineralogy, and temperature.
- It was built by Lockheed Martin’s space division.
