Photo credit: www.nasa.gov
NASA, in collaboration with Firefly Aerospace, will conduct a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT on Tuesday, March 18, from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The session will focus on the successful Blue Ghost Mission 1, which involved a lunar lander that touched down on the Moon’s surface.
Catching the news conference is possible via NASA+. There are also various platforms available for accessing NASA’s content, including social media channels.
Members of the U.S. media who wish to attend the event, either in person or virtually, must seek accreditation by 5 p.m. on Monday, March 17. They can do so by reaching out to the NASA Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 or via email at jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov. Detailed information about NASA’s media accreditation policy can be found online. For those intending to ask questions during the conference, it is advised to dial in no later than 15 minutes before the event begins.
The Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully touched down on March 2 in the Mare Crisium region of the Moon. During its operations, the lander’s payloads, designed by NASA, were activated to gather scientific data and conduct various functions as part of the NASA CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program and the Artemis initiative aimed at building a sustainable human presence on the Moon. Despite not being built to endure the harsh lunar night, the Blue Ghost operated for five hours following the lunar sunset on March 16.
The news conference will feature key participants, including:
- Joel Kearns, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters
- Jason Kim, CEO, Firefly Aerospace
- Ray Allensworth, Spacecraft Program Director, Firefly
- Adam Schlesinger, CLPS Project Manager, NASA Johnson
The Blue Ghost Mission 1 was launched at 1:11 a.m. on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the mission, the lander successfully delivered 10 NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations, which included testing lunar drilling technology, capabilities for collecting lunar regolith samples, utilizing global navigation satellite systems, and mitigating lunar dust. The insights derived from this mission will enhance our understanding of space weather and its impacts on Earth.
NASA is actively engaging with numerous American businesses on projects to deliver science and technology to the Moon’s surface as part of the CLPS initiative. This initiative allows companies to bid on contracts to provide comprehensive services for lunar missions, covering everything from payload integration to lunar landing.
Within the framework of the Artemis campaign, these commercial lunar deliveries will support scientific experiments, technology tests, and capabilities demonstrations aimed at facilitating NASA’s exploration efforts before sending astronauts under the Artemis Generation missions to the lunar surface and, ultimately, on to Mars.
For more information concerning NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/clps
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Source
www.nasa.gov