API VERSION: 1.2 API SOURCE: NASA/JPL Horizons API ******************************************************************************* Revised: Jan 31, 2023 Lunar Flashlight / Spacecraft (Moon) -164 https://www.nasa.gov/feature/jpl/nasa-s-lunar-flashlight-ready-to-search-for-the-moon-s-water-ice BACKGROUND: Lunar Flashlight is a small technology demonstration 6U CubeSat that will use near-infrared lasers and an onboard spectrometer to map ice in permanently shadowed regions near the Moon's south pole. The observations will provide unambiguous information about the presence of water ice deposits inside craters that would be a valuable resource for future Artemis missions to the lunar surface. LFL launched launch Dec 11 @ 7:38 UTC from Cape Canaveral SLS-40 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 as a secondary payload with the Japanese Hakuto-R Lander and UAE's Rashid 1 rover. LFL deployment Dec 11 @ ~08:31 UTC. After launch, the spacecraft will travel past the Moon. It will then be slowly pulled back by gravity from Earth and the Sun before it settles into a wide, looping, science-gathering orbit. This near-rectilinear halo orbit will take it 70,000 kilometers from the Moon at its most distant point and, at its closest approach, the satellite will graze the surface of the Moon, 15 kilometers above the lunar South Pole. SPACECRAFT PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: * Dimensions : 10.0 x 22.73 x 36.6 cm (6U CubeSat) * Total mass : 14 kg * Communications : X-band, UHF (amateur radio accessible) SPACECRAFT TRAJECTORY: Post-launch trajectory from JPL navigation Trajectory name Start (TDB) Stop (TDB) ------------------------------------------ ----------------- ----------- trj_c_221211-221211_221225_od002_v1 2022-Dec-11 08:34 2022-Dec-11 trj_c_221211-230102_230120_od011-c040_v1 2022-Dec-11 17:50 2022-Dec-14 trj_c_221214-230129_230302_od016-c088_v1 2022-Dec-14 00:00 2023-Mar-02 ******************************************************************************* No ephemeris for target "Lunar Flashlight (spacecraft)" prior to A.D. 2022-DEC-11 08:31:28.3570 UT