When the second Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission launches to the moon in mid-February, the NASA payload will include an experiment that could change the way human explorers, rovers, and spacecraft independently track their precise positions on the moon and in the CIS. . — lunar field.

The Lunar Node-1 experiment, or LN-1, demonstrating autonomous navigation, is a radio beacon designed to support precise geolocation and navigation observations for landers, ground infrastructure, and astronauts, digitally verifying their position on the Moon relative to other spacecraft and ground stations. or rovers in motion These beacons can also be used in space to assist orbital maneuvers and guide landers to a successful landing on the lunar surface.

“Instead of waiting for a message from the home port you left days ago, imagine getting confirmation from a beacon on the shore you’re approaching,” said Evan Anzalone, LN-1 principal investigator and navigation systems engineer at Marshall Space Flight NASA. Headquartered in Huntsville, Alabama. “We aim to create a lunar beacon network that delivers powerful localized navigation tools, allowing lunar rovers and ground crews to quickly and accurately confirm their location rather than relying on Earth.”

The system is designed to operate as part of a broader navigation infrastructure based on a series of Moon-orbiting satellites procured as part of NASA’s Lunar Communications and Navigation Systems project. Together, future versions of LN-1 will use standards defined by LunaNet to provide interoperable navigation reference signals from landmarks as well as orbital assets.

Currently, navigation outside Earth relies largely on point-to-point services provided by NASA’s Deep Space Network., An international array of giant radio antennas that transmit positioning data to interplanetary spacecraft to maintain their course. These measurements are usually transmitted to Earth and processed on the ground to transmit the information back to the vehicle.

But Anzalone said LN-1 offers a timely improvement when seconds are counted during orbital maneuvers or between explorers crossing unexplored areas of the lunar surface.