NASA, in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, has successfully demonstrated the ability to achieve and track the Earth-based navigation signals on the moon. The success was achieved through Lunar GNSS receiver experiment (Lugre), which was transported to the lunar surface by Blue Ghost Lander of the firefly aerospace on 2 March. Achievement confirms that the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) signals can be offered a possible progress for the future at the Moon distance. The ability to track these signs on the moon can increase autonomous navigation for spacecraft, which reduces dependence on the Earth-based tracking system. Lugger payload, one of the ten NASA payloads aboard on the lander, is expected to continue to collect data for the period of its 14-day mission.
Lugre confirms the GNSS signal tracking on the moon
According For NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Lugre experiment successfully received and tracked both GP and Galileo Nakshatras on EST at 2 pm on March 3. The data collected will contribute to the development of navigation technology that can support the discovery of future lunar and deep space.
Kevin Cagins, NASA’s Space Communication and Navigation (SCAN) Program, Deputy Associate Administrator, told NASA’s official news source stated that the experiment demonstrated the viability of using GNSS signals for navigation beyond Earth. He said that the same technique used in aviation and mobile devices on Earth can now be leveraged for lunar missions.
Record-breaking GNSS acquisition in space
The Lugre Palor had already set a record during the Moon’s visit. On 21 January, it attained NASA’s previous records set by Magnetosphere Multiscale Mission, GNSS signal acquisition of the highest altitude 209,900 miles from Earth. By 20 February, Lugre entered the Lunar Orbit, the height record was increased by 243,000 miles. These milestones suggest that the spacecraft operated in Cislunar space can use GNSS signals for navigation, which provide more autonomy for missions beyond the Earth’s orbit.
Developed through a partnership between NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Italian Space Agency, Qascom, and PoliteCnico Di Torino, the lugrey payload represents an important step towards the advanced space navigation system. The data collected from the ongoing mission will inform the future efforts to expand the GNSS coverage for lunar and Martian exploration.
