Lunar Trailblazer: A Pioneering SmallSat for Lunar Water and Lunar Geology
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Lunar Trailblazer:
A Pioneering SmallSat for Lunar Water
and Lunar Geology
Bethany L. Ehlmann (PI), Caltech
Science Team: R. Klima (Deputy PI; APL), D. Blaney (JPL), N. Bowles (U Oxford), J.
Dickson (Caltech), K. Donaldson Hanna (UCF), Christopher Edwards (NAU), R. Green
(JPL), M. House (PCC), Carle Pieters (Brown U), David Thompson (JPL)
with thanks to the entire Lunar Trailblazer team
1 September 2021 – Lunar Exploration & Analysis Group Annual Meeting
Stay tuned (lunar-l-list) for October mini-workshop for community target input
For more info.: trailblazer.caltech.edu Follow: @lunartrailblazr
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Lunar Trailblazer Mission Goal & Objectives
GOAL: Understand the form, abundance, and distribution of water Confirmed NASA SIMPLEx mission (Class D, 7120.5e)
NASA SMD mission (PSD managed, ESSIO funded)
on the Moon and the lunar water cycle Now in Phase C
1. Determine the form, abundance, and distribution of H2O and
OH across targeted areas in sunlit portions of the Moon,
including variability by latitude, soil maturity, lithology Sunlit
A pioneering smallsat for lunar
Moon water and lunar geology
2. Test for and measure the possible temporal variations and
mobility of H2O and OH
3. Determine the form and abundance of ice, bound H2O, and OH
in permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) using terrain scattered
light
Shadowed
4. Understand how localized gradients in albedo and surface Moon
temperature affect ice and OH/H2O concentration, including the
potential identification of new, small cold traps
BONUS SCIENCE:
Exploration zone reconnaissance for landed missions
Crust composition and landing site geological
Mapping crust lithologic composition
and thermophysical properties maps
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Lunar Trailblazer Data Acquisition & Dataset
existing M3 range
Observations from 100±30km orbit
LTM provides
simultaneous
temperature
Full HVM3
wavelength
range (0.6-
3.6 µm) also
maps mafic
silicates,
plagioclase,
Will be the Orbital State-of-the-Art spinel
HVM3 spectra directly detect and
determine the form and abundance
of water at 100 11 compositional channels (7-10 μm, < 0.5 μm)
• Simultaneous composition and temperature thermal correction for water abundance
• Enhanced Spatial Resolution (4-8x), Spectral Range, Spectral Resolution relative to M3
and Diviner
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Example: Trailblazer Provides Mission Success-Enabling Data for Landed Missions
• Models and measurements only coarsely agree – many discrepancies at km’s scale relevant to
landing site and traverse selection for VIPER, ISRU demonstration plant, Artemis volatiles science.
• Scale matters!
• Where is the water at ACTIONABLE scale? And how much at the surface and in upper 0.5m?
Orbital Scale – present modeled data illumination (dark=cold trap with water(?)) Scale relevant for landed mission success
LOLA sun visibility
(60m scale)
Mazarico et al., 2011
~8km traverse
0 100%
Mission
exploration area
Size of Lunar Trailblazer pixel actionable
10 km water location/amount information over
this entire swath and more (20km x 20km)
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Example: Trailblazer Provides Mission Success-Enabling Data for Landed Missions
• Models and measurements only coarsely agree – many discrepancies at km’s scale relevant to
landing site and traverse selection for VIPER, ISRU demonstration plant, Artemis volatiles science.
• Scale matters!
• Where is the water at ACTIONABLE scale? And how much at the surface and in upper 0.5m?
Orbital Scale – present data – Water-Equivalent Hydrogen (WEH) from LEND Scale relevant for landed mission success
Water-Equivalent
Hydrogen,
~10km/spot
0.3 wt% oversampled to
Example: Trailblazer Provides Mission Success-Enabling Data for Landed Missions
• Models and measurements only coarsely agree – many discrepancies at km’s scale relevant to
landing site and traverse selection for VIPER, ISRU demonstration plant, Artemis volatiles science.
• Scale matters!
• Where is the water at ACTIONABLE scale? And how much at the surface and in upper 0.5m?
Orbital Scale – present thermal data –> predicted ice stability ~200m/px Scale relevant for landed mission success
Predicted Water-Ice
Stability ~200m/px
(Depth sublimation
≤1mm/Gyr)
~8km traverse
Siegler et al., 2016
surface 2.5 m
Mission
exploration area Scale actionable: *IF* the water
ice is actually there
Size of Lunar Trailblazer pixel actionable
10 km water location/amount information over
this entire swath and more (20km x 20km)
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Example: Trailblazer Provides Mission Success-Enabling Data for Landed Missions
• Models and measurements only coarsely agree – many discrepancies at km’s scale relevant to
landing site and traverse selection for VIPER, ISRU demonstration plant, Artemis volatiles science.
• Scale matters!
• Where is the water at ACTIONABLE scale? And how much at the surface and in upper 0.5m?
Orbital Scale – present thermal data –> predicted ice stability ~200m/px Scale relevant for landed mission success
w/ M3 ~200m/px ice detections Predicted Water-Ice
Stability
(Depth sublimation
≤1mm/Gyr)
~8km traverse
Siegler et al., 2016
surface 2.5 m
Mission
~250m pixel with
exploration area Water is NOT actually detected water ice, M3
on the traverse Li et al., 2018
Size of Lunar Trailblazer pixel actionable
10 km water location/amount information over
this entire swath and more (20km x 20km)
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Example: Trailblazer Provides Mission Success-Enabling Data for Landed Missions
• Models and measurements only coarsely agree – many discrepancies at km’s scale relevant to
landing site and traverse selection for VIPER, ISRU demonstration plant, Artemis volatiles science.
• Scale matters!
• Where is the water at ACTIONABLE scale? And how much at the surface and in upper 0.5m?
Orbital Scale – present modeled data illumination + Lunar Trailblazer footprint Simulated Lunar Trailblazer derived ice+mineral
maps, superimposed on illumination
Scale relevant for landed mission success
LOLA sun visibility
(60m scale)
Mazarico et al., 2011
Model fit to data
5 wt.% 60um grain size
~8km traverse
0 1
Lunar Trailblazer provides
actionable planning
Mission information to select landing
exploration area H2O ice qtz-rich site and traverse to achieve
dunite anorthite science
Lunar Trailblazer
Data Footprint Size of Lunar Trailblazer pixel actionable
10 km water location/amount information over
this entire swath and more (20km x 20km)
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Lunar Trailblazer Smallsat Spacecraft & Instruments
Flight System Delivery: October 2022
Flight system: Launch Type: Rideshare (manifested IMAP, 2025)
Lockheed Martin Space Dispenser: ESPA Grande
Propulsion: Hydrazine (~1000 m/s delta-v)
Lunar Orbit: 100±30 km polar
emitted MIR light (LTM)
Science Orbit Duration: ≥1 year
reflected VSWIR light (HVM3)
3.5 m span deployed
2 Payload Instruments (25 kg total):
HVM3 (JPL) LTM (U. Oxford)
High-resolution Lunar Thermal Mapper
Volatiles and
Minerals Moon
Mapper
Launch Configuration 50-90 m/pixel 40-70 m/pixel
w/in ESPA Grande volume 0.6 – 3.6 μm @10nm 4 thermal channels (6-100 μm, +/- 2 K, 110-400K)
MEV 210 kg SNR > 100 11 compositional channels (7-10 μm, < 0.5 μm)
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.
Hardware is in – Building is Underway!
Flight
spectrometer
mirrors EM Detector EM Pointing mirror
EM Blackbody Array assembly before
before painting painting
EM Instrument Breadboard
Housing and optics undergoing
MLI blankets alignment
Flight grating
candidate 2 Payload Instruments (25 kg):
Flight radiator
HVM3 (JPL) LTM (U. Oxford)
Flight cryocooler High-resolution Lunar Thermal Mapper
Volatiles and
Minerals Moon
Mapper
50-90 m/pixel 40-70 m/pixel
0.6 – 3.6 μm @10nm 4 thermal channels (6-100 μm, +/- 2 K, 110-400K)
SNR > 100 11 compositional channels (7-10 μm, < 0.5 μm)
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.Lunar Trailblazer Timeline
1 Feb2023 (Trailblazer’s margined launch ready date)
CLPS lunar missions
IM-1 PM1 IM-2/ Firefly XL-1VIPER IM-3
PRIME-1 PRISM-1 PRISM-2
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 2027
Phase A/B Phase C Ph. D storage Ph. E F
7/18 6/19 12/19
proposal selection rideshare PDR KDP-C CDR SIR Flight Sys IMAP launch* Sci. Mapping
submitted assigned delivery
We are here.
6 mo. 12 mo. 18 mo. 24 mo.
Passed CDR 7/15/2021
CRUISE 12mo. SCIENCE MAPPING MARGIN
14 months until flight Launch to Science ConOps
system delivery Orbit 5-8 mo., Resiliency/A
depending on lunar dd’l Sci.
phase at IMAP launch Mapping
*NASA assigned Lunar Trailblazer to IMAP as Baseline. NASA is considering earlier options
This document has been reviewed and determined not to contain export controlled technical data.SIMPLEx Lunar Trailblazer Closes Critical Gaps for Science and Exploration
• Lunar Trailblazer’s focused science investigation collects key information on the form and
abundance of water for science and reconnaissance of landing sites for exploration, resolving
Decadal Survey-prioritized questions within a cost-capped, smallsat mission
• Post-CDR. On track for October 2022 delivery of an integrated flight system
• Launch ready 1 Feb 2023 Manifested on IMAP (2025) for Moon arrival in summer 2025.
• NASA has been considering earlier launch
• Stay tuned (lunar-l-list) for October mini-workshop for community target input (will chat link)
Artist’s conception of water ice in lunar permanently shadowed regions
Caltech/PCC/Hongyu Cui
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