NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer mission is set to provide unprecedented insight into the Moon’s hidden water. Built by Lockheed Martin and managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, this small satellite aims to locate, measure, and understand water on the lunar surface. Launching next year, the Trailblazer will play a pivotal role in discovering the forms and behaviours of water in areas of the Moon where it has long been theorised but rarely observed.

Mapping Lunar Ice and Water

With two scientific instruments aboard, the Lunar Trailblazer will map and identify surface water and ice on the Moon. The High-resolution Volatiles and Minerals Moon Mapper (HVM3) is a sophisticated infrared spectrometer capable of detecting water in various states. It can peer into permanently shadowed craters, using sunlight reflections from crater walls to view areas untouched by light for billions of years. The second instrument, the Lunar Thermal Mapper (LTM), developed by the University of Oxford and funded by the UK Space Agency, will assess the thermal properties and surface minerals of these regions. Together, they offer a dual perspective that promises to deepen our understanding of the Moon’s water.

Potential Impact for Future Exploration

The findings of Lunar Trailblazer will support future lunar missions by potentially locating accessible ice deposits. This knowledge is critical for future explorers, who may use lunar ice as a resource to produce oxygen or rocket fuel. Studying the ice composition could also reveal clues about the origins of lunar water, which may come from sources like comets or volcanic activity on the Moon. According to experts, lunar ice core samples could yield a historical record similar to those from glaciers on Earth, shedding light on the Moon’s water origins and history.

Preparing for Launch

The mission began as part of NASA’s SIMPLEx initiative in 2019, is now in its final preparation stages. Having successfully completed environmental and operational tests, the Lunar Trailblazer will share a launch with Intuitive Machines-2. Its lightweight design, weighing only 440 pounds and measuring 11.5 feet when fully deployed, makes it ideal for planetary exploration. With mission operations led by Caltech and backed by JPL and Lockheed Martin, the Trailblazer will soon take on a new phase in lunar science.

 

In a thrilling partnership, astronauts on board NASA‘s maiden human mission to the lunar South Pole are set to wear suits from Prada. Axiom Space, a private space company has announced a partnership with the renowned Italian luxury brand for outfits in NASA’s Artemis 3 Mission slated for September 2026.

Most of the new spacesuits will be white, designed to reflect heat like the apparatus the Apollo astronauts used during that famous moonwalk over half a century ago.They will come with subtle grey and red stripes on them, however – an aesthetic identical to that of the Italy Luna Rossa America’s Cup boat, for which Prada also sponsors.
Axiom Space president Matt Ondler spoke at the Milan press launch, pointing to cutting-edge engineering that goes into making these suits. “They are going into incredibly hazardous, extreme environments,” he said, adding that the innovative design was necessary for the mission’s objectives, such as identifying water craters at the moon‘s South Pole-one of the coldest areas in the universe.
The extreme lunar South Pole’s requirements present stern conditions; temperatures can range from 54 degrees Celsius when in the sun to minus 203 degrees Celsius in shaded regions that have never seen the sun. Suits are crafted for optimal comfort and ensure adequate protection from harmful radiation and outer pressure while astronauts can walk outside for as long as eight hours without a spacesuit.
The mission aims to be the first to land a woman on the moon, so all their space suits are unisex, flexible, and adapted for different sizes. According to Russell Ralston, the spacesuit program manager at Axiom, their garment designs integrate engineering and science with art in order to safeguard and comfort future moonwalkers.

One of the major challenges was the design of the boots, to be insulated and capable to withstand the varied moon terrain. Materials used details remain “confidential,” but Lorenzo Bertelli, marketing manager for Prada and son of the founder Miuccia Prada, says he is enthusiastic about the innovative nature of the project.

It brings forth a sort of overlap between space exploration and luxury fashion, and has a precedent that will be integrated in the future for astronaut wear.

Earth will get a second moon for about two months this year when a small asteroid begins to orbit our planet. The asteroid was discovered in August and is set to become a mini-moon, revolving around Earth in a horseshoe shape from Sept. 29 to Nov. 25.

Researchers at the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, an asteroid monitoring system funded by NASA, spotted the asteroid using an instrument in Sutherland, South Africa and labeled it 2024 PT5. 

Scientists from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid have tracked the asteroid’s orbit for 21 days and determined its future path. 2024 PT5 is from the Arjuna asteroid belt, which orbits the sun, according to their study published in Research Notes of the AAs. 

But Earth’s gravitational pull will draw 2024 PT5 towards it and, much like our moon, it will orbit our planet — but only for 56.6 days.

While other non-Earth objects, or NEOs, have entered Earth’s orbit before, some don’t complete full revolutions of Earth. Some, however, do and become so-called mini-moons.

An asteroid called 2020 CD3 was bound to Earth for several years before leaving the planet’s orbit in 2020 and another called 2022 NX1 became a mini-moon of Earth in 1981 and 2022 and will return again in 2051. 

2024 PT5, which is larger than some of the other mini-moons, will also return to Earth’s orbit — in 2055. 

Earth’s gravity will pull it into its orbit and the asteroid will have negative geocentric energy, meaning it can’t escape Earth’s gravitational pull. It will orbit around Earth in a horseshoe shape before reverting back to heliocentric energy, meaning it will rotate around the sun again, like the other planets and NEOs in our galaxy.

Even after it leaves orbit, it will stay near Earth for a few months, making its closest approach on Jan. 9, 2025. Soon after, it will leave Earth’s neighborhood until its path puts it back into our orbit in about 30 years.

The study’s lead author Carlos de la Fuente Marcos told Space.com the mini-moon will be too small to see with amateur telescopes or binoculars but professional astronomers with stronger tools will be able to spot it.

CBS News has reached out to Marcos for further information and is awaiting response.

The September Harvest Moon, a partial lunar eclipse, will make its debut in the sky Monday evening and last through Thursday morning. The full moon will peak at 10:35 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, Sept. 17, according to NASA.

The is the second of 2024’s four consecutive supermoons, following August’s blue supermoon, a rare phenomenon that dazzled stargazers around the world.

Here’s when and where to catch September’s supermoon spectacle.

When can I see the supermoon and the partial eclipse?

The supermoon will be visible for three full days from Monday to Thursday. What makes this moon special, The Old Farmer’s Almanac says, is that it appears at the same time every night just as the sun is setting.

The partial lunar eclipse will peak 10:44 p.m. EDT Tuesday, Sept. 17. At this point, only 8% of the Moon will be in full shadow, NASA says.

For those looking to get an early start, the moon will enter into Earth’s partial shadow beginning at 8:41 p.m. EDT. Spectators can look up specific moonrise times for their ZIP code using  this tool from the Farmer’s Almanac.

Why is it called the Harvest Moon?

The Harvest Moon coincides with the autumnal equinox, the first day of fall, which is Sunday, Sept. 22. As almanac lore goes, it’s called the Harvest Moon because in the days before electricity lit up our fields, the moon’s bright glow helped guide farmers as they were harvesting crops at the end of the season.

When people think of Harvest Moon, they often picture an orange globe in the sky. Music fans’ minds may also jump to Neil Young’s 1992 album “Harvest Moon.” The album’s titular song references the lunar event with the lines, “Because I’m still in love with you on this Harvest Moon.”

Does September’s full moon have any other special nicknames?

As NASA points out, the September harvest moon goes by several other monikers including the Corn Moon, the Potato Harvest Moon, and the Fruit or Barley Moon.

When will the next full moon take place?

The next supermoon, the third of four, will light up the sky on at 7:26 a.m. EDT on Thursday, Oct.17, per NASA. October’s moon is nicknamed the Hunter’s Moon.