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Commercial spacecraft taking NASA project to the Moon

Posted on 31 Jan 2025. Edited by: Colin Granger. Read 590 times.
Commercial spacecraft taking NASA project to the MoonOn 15 January, a suite of NASA scientific investigations and technology demonstrations was sent on its way to the Moon aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Firefly is an American private aerospace firm that develops small- to medium-lift launch vehicles, lunar landers, and orbital vehicles) will provide insights into the Moon’s environment and test technologies to support future astronauts landing safely on the lunar surface under the Agency’s Artemis campaign. The landing is scheduled for Sunday, 2 March.

Pam Melroy, NASA’s deputy administrator, said: “This mission embodies the bold spirit of NASA’s Artemis campaign — a campaign that is driven by scientific exploration and discovery. Each flight we are part of is a vital step in the larger blueprint to establish a responsible, sustained human presence at the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Each scientific instrument and technology demonstration brings us closer to realising our vision.”

Once on the Moon, NASA will test and demonstrate lunar drilling technology, regolith (lunar rocks and soil) sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data captured could also benefit humans on Earth by providing ‘insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact our home planet’.

Nicola Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA headquarters in Washington, said: “NASA leads the world in space exploration, and American companies are a critical part of bringing humanity back to the Moon. We learned many lessons during the ‘Apollo Era’, which informed the technological and science demonstrations aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1. I am excited to see the incredible science and technological data Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will deliver in the days to come.

“As part of NASA’s modern lunar exploration activities, CLPS (commercial lunar payload services) deliveries to the Moon will help humanity better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for water and other resources, and support long-term, sustainable human exploration of the Moon in preparation for the first human mission to Mars. There are 10 NASA payloads on this flight.”

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander is targeted to land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300-mile-wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side. The NASA science on this flight will gather valuable scientific data and help pave the way for the first Artemis astronauts to explore the lunar surface later this decade.