The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), integrated with Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Moon lander, successfully utilized Earth's GPS and Galileo satellite systems for navigation on the lunar surface. This demonstration, achieved from a distance of 225,000 miles, suggests that specialized lunar satellite navigation may not be necessary. NASA's Kevin Coggins highlighted the significance of LuGRE in lunar navigation, marking a breakthrough for future exploration by indicating the reliability of existing global navigation satellite systems in space missions.
"LuGRE shows us that we can successfully acquire and track GNSS signals at the Moon," enthused NASA Space Communications and Navigation program deputy associate administrator Kevin Coggins. "This is a very exciting discovery for lunar navigation..."
On Monday, LuGRE picked up signals from both America's Global Positioning System (GPS) and the EU's Galileo satnav constellations. The instrument then managed to acquire a navigational fix...
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