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Blue Ghost Successfully Lands on the Moon
Context : Blue Ghost
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed on the Moon on March 2, 2025, at 3:34 a.m. US Eastern Time (0834 GMT).
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- Touchdown occurred near Mons Latreille, a volcanic formation in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side.
- Firefly’s team in Texas confirmed the successful touchdown from 225,000 miles (360,000 km) away.
- The lander achieved a stable, upright landing, unlike the previous private mission that landed sideways.
Mission Details & Purpose
- Part of NASA’s collaboration with private industry under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
- Aims to cut costs and support the Artemis program, which targets crewed Moon missions.
- The lander, golden and roughly the size of a hippopotamus, was launched on January 15, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
- It shared a launch ride with a Japanese company’s lander, set to attempt landing in May 2025.
Scientific Instruments & Experiments
- Blue Ghost carries ten instruments, including:
- Lunar Soil Analyser: Studying the Moon’s surface composition.
- Radiation-Tolerant Computer: Testing electronics for deep space missions.
- Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) Experiment: Investigating whether Earth’s GPS and Europe’s Galileo system can aid lunar navigation.
- The mission is expected to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days).
Upcoming Observations & Events
- Expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.
- On March 16, it will document a lunar sunset, aiding research on dust levitation and the lunar horizon glow, first observed by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
Challenges of Private Moon Landings & NASA’s CLPS Program
- Landing Complexity: The Moon lacks an atmosphere, making parachutes ineffective. Spacecraft rely on precision thruster burns to slow descent.
- Private vs. National Space Programs: Until 2024, only five national space agencies had achieved soft lunar landings: Soviet Union, United States, China, India, and Japan.
- NASA now aims to routinely conduct private lunar landings through its $2.6 billion Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
Future Private Lunar Missions & Expanding Lunar Commerce
- Intuitive Machines’ Second Lander (March 6, 2025): Targeting the Moon’s south pole. The company’s first attempt in 2024 was successful but tipped over.
- Japan’s ispace Lander (May 2025): Taking a slower route after its first lander crashed in 2023.
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The Source’s Authority and Ownership of the Article is Claimed By THE STUDY IAS BY MANIKANT SINGH
