Blue Ghost's Journey to The Moon | Firefly Aerospace | NASA CLPS Program

Blue Ghost's Journey to The Moon | Firefly Aerospace | NASA CLPS Program

Firefly’s first Blue Ghost mission, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, will deliver 10 scientific instruments and technology demonstrations to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Upon launching in mid-January 2025, Blue Ghost will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon, allowing ample time to conduct health checks on each subsystem and begin payload science. Blue Ghost will then land in Mare Crisium and operate payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days). Following payload operations, Blue Ghost will capture imagery of the lunar sunset and provide critical data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions. The lander will then operate for several hours into the lunar night. 

For more information on Blue Ghost mission visit: https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-1/

Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander will be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. A six-day launch window opens no earlier than mid-January 2025 for the first Firefly Aerospace launch to the lunar surface.

Firefly's Blue Ghost mission will 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 lunar near side. The mission will carry NASA investigations and first-of-their-kind technology demonstrations to further our understanding of the Moon’s environment and help prepare for future human missions to the lunar surface, as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach. 

It includes payloads testing lunar subsurface drilling, regolith sample collection, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. The data captured also benefits humanity by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth.

Under the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial delivery services to the Moon to enable industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration. As a primary customer for CLPS deliveries, NASA aims to be one of many customers on future flights.

As part of its Artemis campaign, NASA is working with multiple U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface. These companies are eligible to bid on task orders to deliver NASA payloads to the Moon. The task order includes payload integration and operations and launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028.

For more information about NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, see: https://www.nasa.gov/clps

Video Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Article Credit: Firefly Aerospace/NASA/CLPS
Duration: 1 minute, 38 seconds
Release Date: Nov. 27, 2024

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