NASA’s Lunar Flashlight (2022)
Problems with NASA’s Lunar Flashlight emerged shortly after its launch in December 2022. Obstructed fuel lines led to thruster troubles, which prevented the water-hunting probe from entering into its planned halo orbit around the Moon. NASA, along with engineers at Georgia Tech, devised a plan in which Lunar Flashlight’s remaining thrust capability would push the probe into a high Earth orbit from where it could scan the Moon’s southern polar region for signs of water ice once per month, instead of the planned once per week. In this sense, the Lunar Flashlight mission represents a partial failure.
