SpaceX and Firefly Team Up to Launch Firefly Blue Ghost with 10 NASA Payloads 6zu5c Technology News

Blue Ghost’s mission focuses on testing groundbreaking lunar technologies and science payloads for future exploration g5n5e

Written by Gadgets 360 Staff | Updated: 20 December 2024 16:00 IST

SpaceX and Firefly Team Up to Launch Firefly Blue Ghost with 10 NASA Payloads

Photo Credit: Firefly Aerospace 2u1g41

Artist rendering of Firefly's Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface

Highlights

Firefly’s Blue Ghost to test advanced lunar technologies
10 NASA payloads set for SpaceX Falcon 9 January launch
Mission to shape future lunar exploration tech and research

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Firefly Aerospace's inaugural lunar mission is prepared for takeoff, as the Blue Ghost lander is scheduled to launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 Space Center on December 16 for integration with the rocket, where preparations are ongoing to meet the six-day launch window.

NASA Payloads to Advance Lunar Science 623m

Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), which will monitor solar wind activity.

Technology Demonstrations Highlighted 4o6w1u

Several experimental technologies will also be tested during the mission, such as the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), which repels lunar dust using electric fields, and the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), which evaluates navigation systems in the lunar environment. The Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC) will demonstrate resilience against ionising radiation, critical for future long-term lunar missions.

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Mission Timeline and Key Goals 1x2p3a

The entire mission is expected to span 60 Earth days. After a 25-day Earth orbit phase, Blue Ghost will undertake a translunar injection, followed by a four-day journey to the moon. The lander will spend two weeks on the lunar surface, collecting critical scientific data. During this time, observations of a solar eclipse and a phenomenon called “horizon glow” are anticipated, as stated by Jason Kim, Firefly CEO, during a briefing.

These efforts are expected to inform future Artemis programme missions, establishing a sustained human presence on the moon, according to reports.

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