Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lander Now Heads to the Moon! (Photo, Video)

Firefly Aerospace announced a mid-January launch window for its private Blue Ghost lunar lander. The “Ghost riders in the sky” mission is now scheduled to lift off from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday, 15 January, at 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 GMT) aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.

Blue Ghost Successfully Launched

Updated on 15th January

On Wednesday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched toward space, carrying two lunar landers destined for the moon, including Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Lunar Lander.

Soon after the launch, SpaceX confirmed Blue Ghost’s deployment.

“Blue Ghost will begin its ~45-day journey to the Moon’s Mare Crisium to conduct numerous @NASA science and technology demonstrations,” SpaceX wrote on X.

The Blue Ghost, a lunar lander standing 6.6 feet (2 meters) tall, was developed during Max Polyakov’s leadership at Firefly Aerospace. It plays a pivotal role in NASA’s Artemis program, which aims to return humans to the moon for the first time in over half a century.

Supporting NASA’s Lunar Research

The Blue Ghost lunar lander will deliver 10 NASA-sponsored science experiments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.

The payloads aboard Blue Ghost Mission 1 aim to advance lunar research and showcase groundbreaking technologies. These include:

• testing methods for collecting regolith samples;

• evaluating Global Navigation Satellite System capabilities;

• developing radiation-tolerant computing;

• exploring ways to reduce lunar dust interference.

Destination: The “Sea Of Crises”

The Blue Ghost lunar lander will spend 25 days in Earth’s orbit before executing an engine burn to set it on a trajectory toward the moon. Upon arrival, the lander will spend 16 days circling the moon preparing for an autonomous landing. Its targeted destination is Mare Crisium, also known as the “Sea of Crises” — a vast basaltic plain approximately 460 miles (740 kilometres) wide, created by an ancient asteroid impact.

Capturing Lunar Imagery In High Definition

If everything goes as planned, the Blue Ghost lunar lander will send its first high-definition images from the lunar surface within 30 minutes of landing. The lander will have 14 days to operate before the lunar night begins, cutting off its solar power. However, its batteries are expected to provide about five more hours of energy, allowing it to capture images as the sun sets on the moon.

The data collected from the mission will provide valuable insights into how space, weather, and cosmic forces affect Earth, contributing to a broader understanding of our planet and its environment.

Resilience Moon Lander: A Collaborative Effort

Accompanying Blue Ghost is the Resilience moon lander, developed by Japanese company ispace. This mission marks ispace’s second attempt at a lunar landing after the unsuccessful Hakuto-R mission in April 2023.