A NASA spacecraft called Lunar Trailblazer launched into space on Wednesday, hitching a ride on the same rocket as Athena, a commercial lunar lander.
Together, these missions aim to improve our understanding of water on the Moon—a critical resource for future astronauts.
Lunar Trailblazer is designed to provide a global view of water on the Moon, mapping its distribution and determining its form—whether as ice, adsorbed water on minerals, or hydroxyl compounds. This information will help scientists understand how accessible lunar water might be for future human missions.
Unlike Athena, which will focus on a specific landing site near the Moon’s south pole, Lunar Trailblazer will orbit the Moon for at least two years, gathering data across the entire surface. One key question scientists hope to answer is whether water on the Moon’s sunlit regions changes throughout the day, much like frost forming and melting.
Both Lunar Trailblazer and Athena launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Less than an hour after liftoff, the two spacecraft separated—Athena heading directly toward the Moon for a planned March 6 landing, while Lunar Trailblazer took a longer, more fuel-efficient route that will take four months to reach orbit.
Athena, built by Intuitive Machines, is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. It will land near Mons Mouton, one of the closest sites to the Moon’s south pole ever targeted for a mission. The lander is carrying NASA’s Prime-1 drill, which will dig into the lunar surface and search for water ice.
For decades, scientists believed the Moon was completely dry. However, in the 1990s, spacecraft detected ice in permanently shadowed craters at the poles. Later missions, including NASA’s LCROSS impact experiment in 2009, confirmed the presence of water molecules. Surprisingly, water signatures were also found across the Moon’s sunlit regions, though their exact form remained unclear.
Water on the Moon could be a game-changer for future space exploration. If easily extractable ice exists, it could provide drinking water for astronauts and be split into hydrogen and oxygen—the key components of rocket fuel and breathable air. However, if water is mostly trapped in rocks as hydroxyl, it would require energy-intensive processing to extract.
Lunar Trailblazer is equipped with two scientific instruments:
- High-resolution imaging spectrometer: Developed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this tool will analyze light reflected from the Moon to differentiate between ice, adsorbed water, and hydroxyl.
- Thermal mapper: Built by the University of Oxford, this device will measure surface temperatures, helping scientists understand how water behaves in different conditions.
Together, these instruments will create the most detailed map of lunar water yet, helping determine whether it is a practical resource for future space missions.
Lunar Trailblazer is part of NASA’s Small, Innovative Missions for Planetary Exploration (SIMPLEX) program, which aims to develop lower-cost, higher-risk missions. The spacecraft’s development and operations cost $94 million, but by sharing a ride with Athena, NASA saved significantly on launch expenses, spending only $8 million to send it to space.
The SIMPLEX program has had mixed success—two previous missions failed after reaching space. However, Lunar Trailblazer’s mission comes at a time of renewed interest in lunar exploration, increasing opportunities to send robotic probes to the Moon.
Lunar Trailblazer and Athena are among several missions heading toward the Moon in 2025. Other recent launches include Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander and Japan-based Ispace’s Resilience lander. These efforts are part of a global push to explore the Moon’s resources, laying the groundwork for NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to establish a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.
CNN, the New York Times, and Space.com contributed to this report.
