{"id":54504,"date":"2025-03-17T12:44:23","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T11:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asi.it\/?p=54504"},"modified":"2025-03-18T15:28:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-18T14:28:06","slug":"lugre-mission-successfully-completed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asi.it\/en\/2025\/03\/lugre-mission-successfully-completed\/","title":{"rendered":"LuGRE: mission successfully completed"},"content":{"rendered":"The mission of the receiver has concluded, marking a significant achievement following the completion of the Blue Ghost lander\u2019s mission\r\n\r\nLuGRE<\/strong> (Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment) remained operational until the very last moment, proving its resilience as one of the final instruments to be deactivated. \u00a0Even while Blue Ghost<\/strong>, the lander that transported it to the Moon, was operating on its last remaining battery power, LuGRE continued to calculate its position. This pioneering GNSS receiver is one of <\/span>the first to operate beyond low Earth orbit, designed for functionality in both lunar orbit and on the Moon’s surface. LuGRE stands as the first active Italian instrument on our satellite, a testament to strong collaborative efforts.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nDeveloped in Italy by Qascom<\/strong> on behalf of the Italian Space Agency<\/strong>, in partnership with NASA<\/strong> and the Polytechnic University of Turin<\/strong>, this project showcases excellence in international cooperation. Launched from Kennedy Space Center on January 15, LuGRE was one of ten payloads developed under NASA\u2019s Commercial Lunar Payload Services<\/strong> (CLPS) program.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nThese payloads were carried aboard Blue Ghost, a private lander engineered by Firefly Aerospace<\/strong> and propelled into space by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. LuGRE\u2019s journey spanned just over a month and a half, culminating in a successful landing in Mare Crisium on March 2 at 9:34 AM (italian time). Throughout its journey and stay on the Moon, LuGRE achieved groundbreaking milestones.<\/strong> While in transit, it acquired GPS and Galileo signals from an unprecedented distance of approximately 410,000 kilometers from Earth.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAfter the Blue Ghost landing, the receiver was activated on March 3 at 7:10 AM (italian time) and captured its first signals by 7:48 AM, successfully locking onto and tracking four satellites\u2014two from the GPS system and two from Galileo.<\/strong> This achievement represents the first time a receiver on the Moon has determined its position in real time using a terrestrial system. Over the lunar day\u2014equivalent to 14 Earth days<\/strong>\u2014LuGRE maintained consistent connections with the terrestrial GNSS system before powering down as the lunar night approached. Its successful operation has laid a robust foundation for future GNSS-based navigation and communication systems on the lunar surface, facilitating upcoming permanent missions.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nAbove: Blue Ghost lander on the Moon\u2019s surface with Earth visible on the horizon (Credits: Firefly Aerospace).<\/em>\r\n\r\n\n\t\t