Bearing a series of NASA sciences and technologies, Blue Ghost Mission 1 of Firefly Aerospace successfully landed at 3 h 34 hne Sunday near a volcanic characteristic called Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium, a basin more than 300 miles wide located in the northeast quadrant on the side of the moon.
The Blue Ghost Lander is in a vertical and stable configuration, and the delivery of the successful moon is part of the CLPS (Commercial Lunar Upload Services) and commercial initiative) and commercial Artemic campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly and their first landing on the moon.
The 10 scientific and technological instruments of NASA aboard the landing will operate on the lunar surface for about a lunar day, or about 14 earthly days.
“This incredible achievement shows how NASA and American companies are paving the way in spatial exploration for the benefit of all,” said the interim administrator of NASA, Janet Petro. “We have already learned many lessons – and technological and scientific demonstrations aboard the Ghost 1 mission of Firefly will improve our ability not only to discover more science, but to ensure the safety of our space -rate vessel instruments for future human exploration – short and long -term.”
From launch From the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida on January 15, Blue Ghost has traveled more than 2.8 million miles, linked more than 27 GB of data and supported several scientific operations. This included monitoring the signal of the global navigation satellite system (GNSS) at a record distance of 246,000 miles with the Lunar GNSS receiver experience Pay charge – showing NASA can use the same positioning systems on Earth at the Moon. Science during the trip also included computers tolerant to radiation through the Van Allen belts with the Computer system tolerant to influence payload and measurement of magnetic field changes in space Lunar magnetotatellorical Probe payload.
“The science and technology that we send to the Moon now help prepare the way for the future exploration of NASA and the long -term human presence to inspire the world for future generations,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at the NASA headquarters in Washington. “We send these useful charges by working with American companies – which supports an increasing lunar economy.”
During surface operations, NASA instruments will test and demonstrate lunar underground drilling technology, collection capacities for regolith samples, global capacities of satellite navigation system, computers tolerant to radiation and methods of attenuation of lunar dust. The data captured will benefit humanity by providing an overview of the impact of space weather and other cosmic forces on earth.
Before the conclusion of payload operations, the teams will aim to capture the imaging of the lunar sunset and how lunar dust reacts to solar influences during the conditions of the lunar twilight, a phenomenon documented for the first time by the former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan On Apollo 17. After the lunar sunset, the landing will work for several hours in the lunar night.
“On behalf of our entire team, I would like to thank NASA for having led Firefly as a lunar delivery supplier,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Blue Ghost’s successful landing has laid the foundations for the future of commercial exploration through the Cislunar space. We are now looking forward to more than 14 days of surface operations to unlock even more scientific data that will have a substantial impact on future missions on the Moon and Mars. »»
To date, five sellers have obtained 11 lunar deliveries under CLP and send more than 50 instruments to various places on the Moon, including the Lunar South Pole. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite and indefinite delivery contracts with a maximum cumulative contract value of $ 2.6 billion until 2028.
Learn more about the NASA CLPS initiative:
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Amber Jacobson / Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
amber.c.jacobson@nasa.gov / / karen.c.fox@nasa.gov
Natalia Rudech / Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
nataila.s.riusech@nasa.gov / / nullufar.ramji@nasa.gov
Antonia Jaramillo
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-8425
antonia.jaramiloboto@nasa.gov