NASA's Lunar Flashlight mission was successfully launched on December 11, 2022, to begin its four-month trip to the Moon, where the small satellite (SmallSat) will test many new technologies in search of buried surface ice near the lunar South Pole.
However, the mission operations team has determined that three of the SmallSat's four thrusters are underperforming despite the SmallSat appearing to be in good health and interacting with NASA's Deep Space Network.
This illustration shows NASA’s Lunar Flashlight carrying out a trajectory correction maneuver with the Moon and Earth in the background. Powered by the small satellite’s four thrusters, the maneuver is needed to reach lunar orbit.
Lunar Flashlight in Danger
NASA's Lunar Flashlight project encountered problems early in its four-month voyage to the Moon. On Thursday, January 12, the space agency disclosed that three of the four thrusters transporting the SmallSat to its lunar destination are not performing efficiently.
NASA said that the mission team initially noted the reduced thrust three days after launch and that they are currently analyzing the issue and suggesting potential remedies. SciTech Daily reports that ground testing revealed the possible reason for the satellite's underperformance may have been due to the blockages in the fuel lines that reduced the propellant flow to the thrusters.
The team intends to use the thrusters for considerably longer periods of time in the near future, aiming to clear out any potential thruster fuel line blockages while performing trajectory correction operations to keep the SmallSat on track to achieve its scheduled orbit around the Moon.
The mission team is devising other plans to complete the maneuvers of the SmallSat using the propulsion system's existing reduced-thrust capabilities if the propulsion system cannot be fully repaired. Starting in early February, Lunar Flashlight will need to undertake daily trajectory correction operations in order to reach lunar orbit in around four months.
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Lunar Flashlight's Lunar Mission: To Look For Ice on the Moon
The SmallSat's primary goal is to look for water ice on the Moon, but it is also testing a novel green propellant. As per the report of Advanced Science News, The crew is working on a tight schedule since the Lunar Flashlight will need to begin executing daily trajectory correction maneuvers as early as the beginning of February in order to properly circle the Moon and undertake its inquiry.
If the SmallSat is successful in reaching lunar orbit, it will employ a novel laser reflectometer made up of four near-infrared lasers to shine a light into the perpetually darkened craters of the Moon's South Pole in an attempt to identify surface ice.
The SmallSat will be using a novel laser reflectometer made with four near-infrared lasers to shine a light into the perpetually darkened craters at the lunar South Pole by swooping low over the Moon's surface.
Lunar Flashlight will use an energy-efficient near-rectilinear halo orbit to achieve this aim with the small amount of fuel it is designed to carry, putting it within 9 miles (15 kilometers) of the lunar South Pole and 43,000 miles (70,000 kilometers) distance at its furthest point.
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