On Sunday, there will be an attempt to land the Blue Ghost 1 mission on the Moon's surface. The lander was designed by Firefly Aerospace in cooperation with NASA. The American agency wants to facilitate the transmission of charges to a silver globe by supporting private space companies.
The Blue Ghost moon lander (which in Polish means “blue spirit”) was taken aboard the Falcon 9 rocket from SpaceX on January 15. The device was designed by the private company Firefly Aerospace, whose headquarters is located in Texas.
As the landlord designer confirmed on Sunday, the device is to try to land on the moon on Sunday around 9.45 Central European time. As a landing pad, a sea of solstice was chosen, a flat area located in the north-eastern part of the visible side of the silver globe.
One day on the surface
The machine transports 10 charges from various customers, whose task will be to study samples of lunar regolite, test the protection and dust protection systems, and analysis of cosmic weather. As planned, the mission will last a full moon day, or about two earthly weeks.
On March 14, the device will try to capture the image of a total solar eclipse, and two days later it will conduct tests of the conditions prevailing during the lunar dusk. After sunset, the lander will operate for several hours – Blue Ghost has not been designed to survive the night, during which temperatures can drop to about -128 degrees Celsius.
Demand for commercial missions
Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative was developed by NASA to easily send small loads to the moon surface. Instead of designing their own spacecraft, the agency concludes contracts with commercial suppliers who develop the dimensions of the lander, their capacity and method of sending data. This solution is less expensive and allows more frequent loading of loads.
Blue Ghost is the third moon lander elevated in cosmos as part of the program. The first mission of Peregrine Mission One did not reach the surface of the moon. In February 2024, the Silver Globe landed the Odysseus probe fired as part of the IM -1 mission – it was the first American spacecraft since 1972, which hit the moon, and the first lunar vehicle in history created by a private enterprise
New York Times, Firefly Aerospace, NASA, tvnmeteo.pl
Source of the main photo: NASA