Latest news with #KevinCoggins
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Detected GPS Signals From 243,000 Miles Away... on the Moon
For the first time, NASA has detected a signal from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) nearly 250,000 miles from Earth. The signal was part of the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) experiment, a co-mission between NASA and the Italian Space Agency. Being able to make use of GPS signals will allow future missions to rely on automation rather than human operators. Perhaps the crown jewel of NASA's near-term roadmap for human space exploration is the Artemis mission: our return-trip to the Moon that's more than half a century in the making. However, this time (if all goes well), our visit to the lunar surface won't be a one-off mission. Instead, it will serve as a major step toward permanent habitation of Earth's only natural satellite. However, that journey toward creating a lunar civilization is littered with immensely difficult hurdles. Radiation is one big one (seeing as the Moon is awash in the stuff), as is the acquisition or creation of necessities like air, water, and food. But the bus doesn't stop at major inconveniences—there are also some minor ones that make habitation on the Moon difficult, and that includes a lack of GPS. On Earth, the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) does more than just provide hyper-accurate directions—it's the backbone of the world economy. It's also vital for accurate automation, which will be crucial on the Moon, as some form of robotics will be needed to do a lot of the heavy lifting. To that end, earlier this week, NASA (in partnership with the Italian Space Agency) cleared this technological hurdle by receiving signals from the GNSS system on the lunar surface as part of the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) experiment. This marks the first time humans have ever used GPS on the Moon. 'On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,' NASA's Kevin Coggins said in a press statement. 'Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions.' On March 2, Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander touched down on the lunar surface (which is located some 225,000 miles away from Earth) and subsequently delivered LuGRE. At 2 a.m. EST on March 3, NASA successfully tracked signals from two satellites in the GNSS constellation (GPS and Galileo) on the lunar surface. While that alone is an impressive milestone that surpasses the previous GPS distance record—held by the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission, which launched back in 2015—LuGRE also continued receiving a GNSS signal while in orbit around the Moon, pushing the ultimate distance traveled by the signal out to a staggering 243,000 miles from Earth. Usually, NASA tracks spacecraft using human operators and ground-based racing stations. But the confirmation of acquiring of GNSS signal in lunar orbit will be a huge boon for automating navigation both around the Moon and in cislunar orbit, which is the destination of choice for NASA's Gateway space station. For LuGRE—the first Italian-made space hardware to ever land on the Moon—the mission is only beginning. It will continue to operate continuously for the next two weeks, hopefully providing even more good news about GNSS's capabilities on the lunar surface. You Might Also Like The Do's and Don'ts of Using Painter's Tape The Best Portable BBQ Grills for Cooking Anywhere Can a Smart Watch Prolong Your Life?
Saba Yemen
07-03-2025
- Science
- Saba Yemen
Historic experiment to determine locations on Moon successfully conducted
Washington - Saba: NASA and the Italian Space Agency succeeded in conducting an experiment to determine locations on the moon using the orbital space navigation systems GPS and Galileo. It is worth noting that the devices of the American Blue Ghost probe, which landed last week on the surface of the moon, included the LuGRE device, as a receiver for signals received from the space navigation system, which includes the American GPS, the European Galileo, the Russian Glonass, and the Chinese BeiDou. Kevin Coggins, director of the Space Communications and Navigation Program at NASA, said today, Thursday: "LuGRE showed that we can successfully receive and track GNSS signals on the moon. This is a very important discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to use this capability for future missions." He added: "The receiver reached the moon in operating mode, and immediately after landing, the American Goddard Space Flight Center began decoding its data." It was then officially announced that LuGRE had received and tracked signals for the first time in history on the surface of the Moon, and had identified a navigation point more than 360,000 kilometers from Earth.
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Beams The First GPS Signals to The Moon
While there aren't any confused tourists finding their way from A to B on the Moon right now, accurately navigating the lunar surface is going to be crucial for astronauts on future missions. To lay the foundations for a lunar navigation system, NASA's Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) has successfully received global positioning system (GPS) signals beamed from Earth's orbit. Part of the Blue Ghost mission that landed on the Moon on March 2, LuGRE's instrument received and tracked communications from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS); a network of satellite-based location technologies that includes GPS. "On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes," says Kevin Coggins, from NASA's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. "Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions." It means spacecraft in orbit around the Moon and on its surface will be able to precisely track their positions and velocities against the current time on Earth, enabling navigation technologies to find routes between lunar locations. Lunar GPS should also help spacecraft traveling between Earth and the Moon. Currently, spacecraft positioning is calculated using a complex mix of observations and sensor readings, and it can be quite labor-intensive – so the new approach should save time for astronauts and ground control crew. LuGRE is going to continue to stay in touch with GNSS for 14 days across a distance of some 225,000 miles or around 360,000 kilometers. This should further test the viability of the hardware, and identify any potential bugs. This is also an important point in space history for the Italian Space Agency (ISA): LuGRE is the first piece of kit developed with the help of the agency to make it to the Moon. Once the technology is established, NASA and ISA want to offer it to all space exploration agencies. The LuGRE project is one of many currently underway that are part of the Artemis program, which aims to return astronauts to the Moon by 2027, and eventually establish a long-term base on the lunar surface. "This mission is more than a technological milestone," says flight dynamics engineer Joel Parker, from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. "We want to enable more and better missions to the Moon for the benefit of everyone, and we want to do it together with our international partners." Intuitive Machines Is Set For Lunar Landing – With Hopping Drone, Ice Drill, And 4G Radio Telescopes Are Revealing a Trove of Faint Circular Objects in The Sky Water May Have Come Into Existence Far Earlier Than We Ever Realized
The Independent
06-03-2025
- Science
- The Independent
Nasa uses GPS on the Moon for the first time
Nasa has successfully used GPS navigation on the lunar surface for the first time. The demonstration, which also involved the Italian Space Agency, is expected to signal a new era of exploration and discovery on the Moon. Using the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), the experiment involved successfully acquiring and tracking Earth-based signals from 362,000 kilometres (225,000 miles) away. 'On Earth we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,' said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for Nasa's Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program. 'Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions.' The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) took place using Firefly Aerospace's lunar lander Blue Ghost, which became the first commercial craft to successfully reach the Moon after landing on its surface this week. GPS operations are set to continue for the next two weeks in an effort to collect more data and further develop the Moon's first advanced navigation system. Nasa hopes to use the technology for its upcoming Artemis missions, which will attempt to return astronauts to the Moon for the first time in more than 50 years. Along with introducing GPS, Nasa is also working to create a new standard of time for the Moon to be used by astronauts, spacecraft and satellites. Coordinated Lunar Time (LTC) aims to address the disparities between Earth-based timekeeping and the Moon, where a day lasts 29.5 Earth days. Differing gravitational forces also mean that Earth-based clocks appear to lose 58.7 microseconds per Earth day. 'An atomic clock on the moon will tick at a different rate than a clock on Earth,' Kevin Coggins, Nasa's top communications and navigation official, said last year. 'It makes sense that when you go to another body, like the moon or Mars that each one gets its own heartbeat.'
Yahoo
06-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA Moon tech taps into Earth's GPS from 225,000 miles away in a historic first
A navigation barrier has been finally broken on the Moon. For the first time, Earth's Global Positioning System (GPS) has enabled navigation on the lunar surface. Without reliable navigation, exploring the Moon was like trying to find your way across a huge ocean without any sense of direction. Accurate navigation is highly important for future missions where humans will stay on the Moon longer under NASA's Artemis program. On March 3, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) showcased that future explorers can use Earth's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals on the Moon. GNSS is a satellite network that provides precise positioning, navigation, and timing information. NASA developed LuGRE tech in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency. Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander delivered it to the Moon. 'On Earth, we can use GNSS signals to navigate in everything from smartphones to airplanes,' said Kevin Coggins, deputy associate administrator for NASA's SCaN (Space Communications and Navigation) Program. 'Now, LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals on the Moon. This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation, and we hope to leverage this capability for future missions,' Coggins added. The Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully landed on the Moon, delivering NASA's LuGRE payload. Immediately after landing, NASA operators at Goddard Space Flight Center initiated LuGRE's first scientific operations on the lunar surface. On March 3rd, at 2:00 AM Eastern time, history was made. LuGRE successfully acquired and tracked signals from GPS and Galileo constellations of GNSS. The tech proved its effectiveness by achieving a navigation fix from 225,000 miles. LuGRE triangulated its position by processing real-time tracking data from the numerous medium Earth orbit satellites that constitute the GPS and Galileo systems. This development is a stepping stone, indicating that advanced navigation systems and services can be established beyond Earth. The Blue Ghost lander's 14-day mission on the Moon will allow the two space agencies to gather extensive data from the LuGRE payload. As per NASA's statement, the LuGRE payload achieved another GNSS milestone during its trip to the Moon. Interestingly, it broke the record for the highest altitude GNSS signal acquisition on January 21st, reaching 209,900 miles from Earth. This record surpassed the previous one held by NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission. On February 20, LuGRE further extended its GNSS altitude record upon reaching lunar orbit to achieve a distance of 243,000 miles from Earth. This achievement demonstrates that GNSS signals can be effectively used to navigate within cislunar space, the region between Earth and the Moon. Typically, NASA has relied on a multi-faceted approach to track spacecraft, combining data from onboard sensors with signals transmitted to and from Earth-based tracking stations. However, these methods require human support. Integrating GNSS data into navigation systems offers a potential solution for autonomous navigation. Also, it reduces the need for constant human intervention and streamlines operations. It has huge implications for NASA's Artemis program and other missions venturing to Mars. Future missions can navigate more precisely and independently by determining their location, speed, and time without constant Earth-based tracking.
