Brief by Shorts91 Newsdesk / 11:41am on 07 Aug 2025,Thursday Science
NASA officially terminated the Lunar Trailblazer mission on July 31, 2025, after months of unsuccessful attempts to reestablish contact following a launch failure . Launched on February 26, 2025, as part of the low-cost SIMPLEx program, the 200‑kg orbiter separated successfully from its Falcon 9 launch vehicle and even sent initial signals . However, a critical misalignment of solar panels prevented battery recharging, causing the spacecraft to spin and drift into deep space out of communication range . Though the mission failed, NASA views it as a valuable learning experience for designing future small, cost-effective lunar missions. (PC: The Times of India)
