NASA is developing a lunar lighthouse to aid astronauts and robotic explorers navigating the Moon. Researchers have trialed a technology designed to act as a ‘lighthouse’ on the Moon, which aims to deliver real-time data on astronauts and robotic explorers.
NASA scientists tested the Lunar Node 1 (LN-1) system on Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus lander, which landed near the lunar south pole on February 22. This autonomous navigation system aims to link orbiters, landers, and astronauts, providing real-time positional data.
Benefits for exploration
The lunar lighthouse will enhance safety and enable sustainable lunar bases. It can augment navigation, communication relays, and surface nodes, offering increased robustness for various users in orbit and on the surface.
LN-1 was tested for two 15-minute transmissions from the Moon’s surface. Data collected using the Deep Space Network confirmed its efficacy, although the duration was shortened due to the lander’s tilted orientation. Daily tests were conducted during Odysseus’s journey to the Moon.
Future plans
NASA plans to establish a sustainable network of lunar lighthouses to support spacecraft and ground crews in safely exploring the Moon.
NASA said that Lunar Node-1 can also be used to augment navigation and communication relays and surface nodes as well as provide increased robustness and capability to various users in orbit and on the surface.
“We’ve lit a temporary beacon on the lunar shore,” said Evan Anzalone, LN-1 principal investigator at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Centre, in an official statement.
“Now, we seek to deliver a sustainable local network – a series of lighthouses that point the way for spacecraft and ground crews to safely, confidently spread out and explore,” he added.