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Firefly Aerospace’s first lunar mission is set, as the Blue Ghost lander arrived at NASA’s Kennedy Space Centre on 16 December for launching on SpaceX’s Falcon 9. The mission is called the “Ghost Riders in the Sky” and will be launched in mid-January. It will last for six days.
The launch will also feature Japan’s Resilience Lander, a major collaboration under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The initiative uses commercial capabilities to deliver scientific payloads to the moon, supporting NASA’s Artemis plan. This mission will enhance understanding and development of lunar science and technology using robots.
The Blue Ghost mission will transport 10 NASA CubeSats to improve knowledge about the moon's surface, interaction with Earth’s magnetic fields, and lunar dust dynamics. The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR) will determine the Earth-moon distance within sub-millimetre precision and shed light on the differentiation of materials within the moon. The final key payload is the Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC), which will test how lunar dust affects various materials so that dustproof designs can be developed for future missions.
This technology preview includes an Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) that uses electric fields to push the lunar dust away, and a Radiation-Tolerant Computer System (RadPC) built to work under ionizing radiation. These technologies seek to enhance and develop sustainable means of exploring the moon.
This 60-day mission will begin with 25 days in Earth orbit before the Blue Ghost lander will make a translunar injection burn. This manoeuvre starts a four-day pursuit of the lunar orbit, followed by 16 days in that orbit to align for landing. After arriving at the moon, Blue Ghost will gather information about the lunar geology, regolith composition, and space weather phenomena.
While on the lunar surface, the lander will witness a live solar eclipse and attempt to capture a ‘horizon glow’ last captured during Apollo 17. The mission also involves getting high-definition images within half an hour after landing and using instruments like the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) and Lunar PlanetVac (LPV).
Firefly’s activities are well-coordinated with the general objectives of NASA's Artemis program to create a sustainable mankind’s presence on the Moon. With the help of the commercial outlook combined with the public goals, this mission becomes the key step towards further research and development of carrying out manned missions.
