CAPE CANAVERAL, FL – The NASA Firefly Aerospace commercial lunar lander named Blue Ghost Mission 1 concluded its two-week Moon mission on March 16 as planned following the successful landing on the Moon with ten NASA science and technology demonstrations on March 2.
The Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed at 3:34 a.m. EST on March 2, 2025, 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
Blue Ghost 1 delivered a suite of 10 NASA science and technology instruments that operated on the lunar surface for approximately one lunar day, or about 14 Earth days.
The successful Moon delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing.
Following the mission conclusion after the sun set analysis of data returned to Earth from the NASA instruments continues, benefitting future lunar missions.
As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander delivered 10 NASA science and technology instruments to the Mare Crisium basin on the near side of the Moon. During the mission, Blue Ghost captured several images and videos, including imaging a total solar eclipse and a sunset from the surface of the Moon. The mission lasted for about 14 days, or the equivalent of one lunar day, and multiple hours into the lunar night before coming to an end.
“Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 marks the longest surface duration commercial mission on the Moon to date, collecting extraordinary science data that will benefit humanity for decades to come,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator, Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “With NASA’s CLPS initiative, American companies are now at the forefront of an emerging lunar economy that lights the way for the agency’s exploration goals on the Moon and beyond.”
Blue Ghost 1 launched on January 15, 2025 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
List of NASA experiments:
Among other achievements, many of the NASA instruments performed first-of-their-kind science and technology demonstrations, including:
- The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity is now the deepest robotic planetary subsurface thermal probe, drilling up to 3 feet and providing a first-of-its kind demonstration of robotic thermal measurements at varying depths.
- The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment acquired and tracked Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals, from satellite networks such as GPS and Galileo, for the first time enroute to and on the Moon’s surface. The LuGRE payload’s record-breaking success indicates that GNSS signals could complement other navigation methods and be used to support future Artemis missions. It also acts as a stepping stone to future navigation systems on Mars.
- The Radiation Tolerant Computer successfully operated in transit through Earth’s Van Allen belts, as well as on the lunar surface into the lunar night, verifying solutions to mitigate radiation effects on computers that could make future missions safer for equipment and more cost effective.
- The Electrodynamic Dust Shield successfully lifted and removed lunar soil, or regolith, from surfaces using electrodynamic forces, demonstrating a promising solution for dust mitigation on future lunar and interplanetary surface operations.
- The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder successfully deployed five sensors to study the Moon’s interior by measuring electric and magnetic fields. The instrument allows scientists to characterize the interior of the Moon to depths up to 700 miles, or more than half the distance to the Moon’s center.
- The Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager captured a series of X-ray images to study the interaction of the solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field, providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces surrounding Earth affect the planet.
- The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector successfully reflected and returned laser light from two Lunar Laser Ranging Observatories, returning measurements allowing scientists to precisely measure the Moon’s shape and distance from Earth, expanding our understanding of the Moon’s inner structure.
- The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies instrument captured about 9,000 images during the spacecraft’s lunar descent and touchdown on the Moon, providing insights into the effects engine plumes have on the surface. The payload also operated during the lunar sunset and into the lunar night.
- The Lunar PlanetVac was deployed on the lander’s surface access arm and successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil using pressurized nitrogen gas, demonstrating a low-cost, low-mass solution for future robotic sample collection.
- The Regolith Adherence Characterization instrument examined how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon’s environment, which can help test, improve, and protect spacecraft, spacesuits, and habitats from abrasive lunar dust or regolith.
I did several TV interviews about the Blue Ghost mission on Fox 35 Orlando
https://www.fox35orlando.com/video/1576482
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