Blue Ghost, a 6-foot-tall robotic lunar module from Firefly Aerospace packed with scientific equipment, is scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in the fourth quarter of this year.
This mission is another lunar module developed by a private company under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative. Blue Ghost has arrived at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California for environmental testing before being transported to Florida, Firefly officials said Monday morning.
“This incredible Firefly team has implemented innovative testing procedures that set a new standard in the industry,” said Jana Spruce, vice president of spacecraft at Firefly Aerospace, in a press release.
“After all the hard work, it’s bittersweet to see Blue Ghost leave our facility in Texas, but we are more than ready for this final test. We’ll have a dedicated team of Fireflies accompanying the lander every step of the way as Blue Ghost travels from Texas to California to Florida ahead of this historic trip to the Moon,” Spruce said.
Cape Canaveral: Is there a launch today? Upcoming SpaceX and NASA rocket launch schedule from Florida
What other private lunar modules were there?
As part of NASA’s CLPS initiative, Intuitive Machines’ lunar module Odysseus landed on the lunar surface in February. However, the spacecraft had a bumpy landing and tipped over, hampering its operations near the moon’s south pole.
This mission used Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University’s EagleCam, a miniature satellite camera system that was to be dropped from the lander about 100 feet above the rocky lunar surface to take “selfies” of the landing. EagleCam was not deployed, however.
Regardless, Odysseus was the first American spacecraft to land on the Moon since Apollo 17 in December 1972.
This historic landing came one month after Astrobotics Peregrine – the first commercial US lunar module to embark on a mission to the Moon – burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere over the South Pacific shortly after losing fuel.
Blue Ghost is to land near a volcanic formation on the moon
After launching from the Cape aboard a Falcon 9, Blue Ghost will spend about a month in Earth orbit and two weeks in lunar orbit before landing near the Mons Latreille volcanic structure in Mare Crisium, a basin in the northeasternmost quadrant on the Earth-facing side of the Moon.
“Mare Crisium was formed by early volcanic eruptions and was flooded with basaltic lava more than 3 billion years ago. This unique landing site will enable our payload partners to collect important data on the Moon’s regolith, geophysical properties and the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field,” says Blue Ghost’s website.
“These investigations will help prepare manned missions to the lunar surface,” the website states.
Blue Ghost will carry ten scientific instruments on board, designed to operate for one lunar day – equivalent to 14 days on Earth – and more than five hours in the icy lunar night.
During pre-launch testing, Firefly conducted nearly 100 drop tests of the landing legs on various surfaces, “including sand, lunar simulation and concrete, to ensure that Blue Ghost’s shock-absorbing footpads can withstand the unpredictable nature of the lunar surface,” Monday’s press release said.
“The team also built a 4,000-square-meter lunar landscape at its Rocket Ranch to test a heavy-lift drone’s hazard avoidance and terrain navigation system and ensure the system can identify the safest landing spot in the final moments of descent,” the press release said.
Firefly is also planning the Blue Ghost Mission 2, which will send a lander to the far side of the Moon in 2026.
For the latest news from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station and NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, visit floridatoday.com/space.
Rick Neale is a space reporter for FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at [email protected]Twitter/X: @RickNeale1
We care about space, and that’s why we work to bring you the best coverage of the industry and Florida launches. Journalism like this takes time and resources. Please support it with a subscription here.
