A robotic NASA spacecraft called Lunar Trailblazer, which launched Wednesday( 26 February) night from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, is aiming to provide a detailed map from orbit of the abundance, distribution and form of water across the moon.

While its launch went smoothly, things do not appear to be going well for the spacecraft, according to a NASA update.

The 11.5-foot (3.5-meter), 440-pound (200-kilogram) probe was designed to orbit low over the lunar surface to hunt for and map where water might be found in permanently shadowed regions on the moon.

Lunar Trailblazer powered up and began transmitting data after launch, but its operators began noticing power issues and subsequently lost communication with the probe some 12 hours after launch.

Mission operators at Caltech and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory were able to reestablish contact with the spacecraft hours later, but are still "working with NASA ground stations to reestablish telemetry and commanding to better assess the power system issues and develop potential solutions," NASA wrote in the update.