NASA has finally uncovered the origins of a mysterious signal over 200,000 miles away.
We may still be far from Mars colonisation, but the US space agency has made massive strides in lunar and space exploration.
Thanks to the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) - a joint project between NASA and the Italian Space Agency - scientists tracked down GPS signals coming from the Moon.
The LuGRE experiment assesses GNSS signals as an alternative for lunar navigation. It tests whether satellites like GPS and Galileo (which we use here on Earth) could also work in outer space.
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On 2 March, a private company called Firefly Aerospace delivered the LuGRE device to the lunar surface using its Blue Ghost lander.
Remarkably, this was the first Italian-made space hardware to ever land on the Moon.
And, just a day later, on 3 March at 2 am (EST), the experiment successfully picked up navigation signals - spanning 243,000 miles from Earth.
After overcoming the expansive distance of 225,000 miles between Earth and the Moon, NASA achieved lunar GPS navigation.
These signals were picked up in what’s called 'cislunar space,' which is the area between Earth and the Moon. Tracking signals from that far out proves that future missions to the Moon or even Mars could use satellite navigation to find their way, much like we use Google Maps here on Earth.
“On Earth, we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,” said NASA’s Kevin Coggins. “Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon."
The success actually came in stages, with the LuGRE payload already picking up signals 209,900 miles away from Earth back in January.
Then, in February, it tracked GNSS signals from 243,000 miles away, setting another record.
GNSS signal acquisition on the lunar surface represents an important achievement in space navigation technology. With this data, scientists are hoping it helps to create new navigation systems that make space missions safer and more efficient.
Coggins added: "This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions.”
There are also potential talks about eventually building moon-based navigation networks that could open the door to long-term lunar bases, better robotic missions and more accurate landings.
This breakthrough gives us a clearer picture of how navigation could work beyond Earth, pushing the boundary for future missions to the Moon, Mars - and even farther out.