Photo credit: www.nasa.gov

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission Successfully Lands on the Moon

Firefly Aerospace has achieved a significant milestone with the successful landing of its Blue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon at 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday. The lander touched down near a volcanic feature known as Mons Latreille, located within Mare Crisium, a large basin spanning over 300 miles in the northeast sector of the Moon’s near side.

The Blue Ghost lander has achieved an upright and stable position, marking a pivotal moment for both Firefly Aerospace and NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, as well as the Artemis program. This represents Firefly’s inaugural Moon landing and its first CLPS mission uptake.

Equipped with ten NASA science and technology instruments, the lander is set to function on the lunar surface for roughly one lunar day, equivalent to about 14 Earth days. The data and results from these instruments are anticipated to advance our understanding of the Moon and support future missions.

“This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” stated NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. She emphasized that the lessons learned from this mission, including the technological and scientific demonstrations conducted by the Blue Ghost Mission 1, will enhance both our scientific discoveries and the safeguarding of our exploratory instruments in future human endeavors.

Since its launch from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, Blue Ghost has covered over 2.8 million miles, transmitted more than 27 GB of data, and facilitated numerous scientific operations. Notably, it successfully performed signal tracking from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) at an unprecedented distance of 246,000 miles, thanks to the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment payload. This finding indicates that the GNSS technologies used on Earth can also be applicable on the Moon. The mission has also conducted advanced tests on radiation-resistant computing systems through the Van Allen Belts and evaluated variations in magnetic fields with the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder payload.

Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington, reiterated the mission’s significance, stating, “The science and technology we send to the Moon now helps prepare the way for future NASA exploration and long-term human presence to inspire the world for generations to come. We’re sending these payloads by working with American companies, which supports a growing lunar economy.”

The NASA instruments also aim to test and validate various technologies during surface operations. These include drilling techniques for lunar subsurface exploration, capabilities for collecting regolith samples, GPS functionalities, and systems designed to mitigate lunar dust effects. The information gathered is projected to enhance our understanding of how cosmic phenomena, such as space weather, influence Earth.

In the concluding phases of payload operations, the team plans to capture images depicting lunar sunsets and the interactions between lunar dust and solar forces during sunset conditions, a phenomenon first documented by former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan during the Apollo 17 mission. After the sunset, the lander will continue operations for several hours into the lunar night.

Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, expressed gratitude towards NASA, stating, “On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank NASA for entrusting Firefly as their lunar delivery provider. Blue Ghost’s successful Moon landing has laid the groundwork for the future of commercial exploration across cislunar space. We’re excited to engage in more than 14 days of surface operations to unlock further scientific data that will significantly influence future lunar and Mars missions.”

Currently, a total of five vendors have been granted contracts for eleven lunar deliveries under the CLPS initiative, with over 50 scientific instruments set to be deployed across various lunar locations, including the lunar South Pole. The existing CLPS contracts are indefinite in nature, with a cumulative maximum value of $2.6 billion projected through 2028.

For more information regarding NASA’s CLPS initiative, visit:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

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Source
www.nasa.gov