Firefly Aerospace is ready for its lunar premiere, launching a Blue Ghost lunar lander on 15 January. The mission called Ghost Riders in the Sky is set to launch 10 payloads to the moon under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The lander will be lofted aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, which will carry it from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center at 1:11 a.m. ET.
Sharing its payload bay with the Resilience probe from Japanese company Ispace, Blue Ghost’s mission is part of NASA’s Artemis program to return astronauts to the lunar surface. “We’re leveraging private sector innovation to achieve public science and exploration goals,” said Joel Kearns, Associate Administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, during a recent briefing.
It marks a milestone for CLPS as it carries more NASA payloads than any previous mission. Experiments will begin even before the lander reaches the moon. While on its journey, Blue Ghost will measure solar wind particles in Earth’s magnetic field, test radiation-resistant computer hardware, and use GPS satellites to navigate around the moon.
When touching down, Blue Ghost will carefully investigate the regolith of the moon. In addition to carrying out its full set of investigations, the device will study thermal and electrical currents in the near-surface levels of the body. The test for electric cleaning of the spacecraft’s parts will be conducted. Lastly, the ship will use aboard-reflective lasers, measuring the Earth-moon precise distance, further aiding navigation toward the moon later.
Such a mission demonstrates the new role of the private industry in advancing space exploration in the future.
Firefly Innovative Technologies and Alliances
Their innovative technologies combined with partnerships mean that NASA might be able to achieve its goal of long-range lunar and space exploration.
During the preparation launch of the Blue Ghost lunar lander, collaboration between the two sectors in expanding the cosmos was significant in paving their way to leading all of humanity’s return to the moon.
