posted 02-04-2021 06:38 PM               

NASA Selects Firefly Aerospace for Artemis Commercial Moon Delivery in 2023

NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023. The delivery, planned for Mare Crisium, a low-lying basin on the Moon's near side, will investigate a variety of lunar surface conditions and resources. Such investigations will help prepare for human missions to the lunar surface.

Above: Illustration of of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface. The lander will carry a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon in 2023 as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. (Firefly Aerospace)

The award is part of the agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, in which NASA is securing the service of commercial partners to quickly land science and technology payloads on the lunar surface. The initiative is a key part of NASA's Artemis program. Firefly Aerospace will be responsible for end-to-end delivery services, including payload integration, launch from Earth, landing on the Moon, and mission operations. This is the sixth award for lunar surface delivery under the CLPS initiative.

"We're excited another CLPS provider has won its first task order award. With this initiative, we seek to develop ways for new science and technology development utilizing a service-based model," said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This allows U.S. vendors to not only demonstrate their ability to safely deliver payloads to our celestial neighbor, but also expand this capability for others who want to take advantage of this cutting edge approach to explore the Moon."

This is the first delivery awarded to Firefly Aerospace, which will provide the lunar delivery service using its Blue Ghost lander, which the company designed and developed at its Cedar Park facility. This facility also will house the integration of NASA and any non-NASA payloads, and also will serve as the company's mission operations center for the 2023 delivery.

"The payloads we're sending as part of this delivery service span across multiple areas, from investigating the lunar soil and testing a sample capture technology, to giving us information about the Moon's thermal properties and magnetic field," said Chris Culbert, manager of the CLPS initiative at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Mare Crisium, where Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost will land, is a more than 300-mile-wide basin where instruments will gather data to provide insight into the Moon's regolith – loose, fragmented rock and soil – properties, geophysical characteristics, and the interaction of solar wind and Earth's magnetic field.

The payloads, collectively expected to total 207 pounds (94 kg) in mass, include:

• The Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC), which will determine how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon's environment during landing and lander operations. Components will be derived from the Materials International Space Station Experiment (MISSE) facility currently on the International Space Station.

• The Next Generation Lunar Retroreflectors (NGLR), which will serve as a target for lasers on Earth to precisely measure the distance between Earth and the Moon. The retroreflector that will fly on this mission also will provide data that could be used to understand various aspects of the lunar interior and address fundamental physics questions.

• The Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI), which will capture images of the interaction of Earth's magnetosphere with the flow of charged particles from the Sun, called the solar wind.

• The Reconfigurable, Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC), which aims to demonstrate a radiation-tolerant computing technology. Due to the Moon's lack of atmosphere and magnetic field, radiation from the Sun will be a challenge for electronics. This investigation also will characterize the radiation effects on the lunar surface.

• The Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS), which is designed to characterize the structure and composition of the Moon's mantle by studying electric and magnetic fields. The investigation will make use of a flight-spare magnetometer, a device that measures magnetic fields, originally made for the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft currently orbiting Mars.

• The Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), which is designed to measure heat flow from the interior of the Moon. The probe will attempt to drill 7 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) into the lunar regolith to investigate the Moon's thermal properties at different depths.

• The Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), which is designed to acquire lunar regolith from the surface and transfer it to other instruments that would analyze the material or put it in a container that another spacecraft could return to Earth.

• Stereo CAmeras for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS 1.1), which will capture video and still images of the area under the lander from when the engine plume first disturbs the lunar surface through engine shutdown. Long-focal-length cameras will determine the pre-landing surface topography. Photogrammetry will be used to reconstruct the changing surface during landing. Understanding the physics of rocket exhaust on the regolith, and the displacement of dust, gravel, and rocks is critical to understanding how to best avoid kicking up surface materials during the terminal phase of flight/landing on the Moon and other celestial bodies.

• The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), which will generate a non-uniform electric field using varying high voltage on multiple electrodes. This traveling field, in turn, carries away the particles and has potential applications in thermal radiators, spacesuit fabrics, visors, camera lenses, solar panels, and many other technologies.

• The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), which is based on GPS. LuGRE will continue to extend the reach of GPS signals and, if successful, be the first to discern GPS signals at lunar distances.

The CLPS initiative is a key part of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration efforts. The science and technology payloads sent to the Moon's surface as part of the initiative will help lay the foundation for human missions and a sustainable human presence on the lunar surface.

posted 05-20-2021 10:29 AM               

Firefly Aerospace Awards Contract to SpaceX to Launch Blue Ghost Mission to Moon in 2023

Firefly Aerospace Inc., a leading provider of economical and dependable launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, announced today (May 20) that it has awarded a contract to SpaceX to launch its Blue Ghost lunar lander in 2023. Blue Ghost will be carrying 10 payloads for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) task order 19D mission, in addition to separately contracted commercial payloads.

Shea Ferring, Firefly Senior Vice President of Spacecraft, said, "Firefly is excited to fly our Blue Ghost spacecraft on the highly reliable Falcon 9, which will deliver NASA instruments and technology demonstration payloads that support NASA science goals and NASA's Artemis program. The high performance of SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch vehicle permits a lunar transit using minimal Blue Ghost propulsion resources, thereby allowing the lander to deliver more than 150 kg of payload to the lunar surface."

Firefly was awarded the CLPS 19D task order by NASA in February 2021 and has since made rapid progress on the Blue Ghost program. The team has key long lead items on order, production underway, and is conducting regular vision navigation test flights at Firefly's one-acre Briggs, Texas lunar landscape site.

"The Blue Ghost mission will include delivery of NASA payloads that will support scientific lunar research and will contribute to developing a sustainable presence on the Moon as part of the Artemis program," said SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero. "We're honored Firefly selected Falcon 9 for launch."

Tom Markusic, Firefly CEO, said "Firefly is excited to leverage the performance and reliability of Falcon 9 to propel Blue Ghost on the first phase of its journey to the Moon."

Blue Ghost (named after the rare Phausis reticulata firefly) will land at Mare Crisium in the Moon's Crisium basin and operate on-board payloads through lunar transit, during lunar orbit, and on the lunar surface for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days) and well into the freezing dark of lunar night.

Opportunities are open for early-career and seasoned professionals alike to work on Firefly's lunar lander, launch vehicles, and various space-related projects.

posted 10-25-2021 09:57 AM               

Firefly Aerospace is One Step Closer to Landing on the Moon

Announces it has successfully completed NASA's Critical Design Review of its Blue Ghost lunar lander and is on schedule for September 2023 lunar mission

Firefly Aerospace, Inc., a leader in economical launch vehicles, spacecraft, and in-space services, today [Oct. 25] announced it reached a major milestone with the successful completion of the Critical Design Review (CDR) of their Blue Ghost lunar lander. This CDR paves the way for construction of the Blue Ghost lander, which is scheduled to touch down in the Mare Crisium lunar basin in September of 2023 carrying ten NASA payloads as part of the $93.3-million Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract secured by Firefly earlier this year. The lander will also take several commercial payloads to the lunar surface. The 2023 Blue Ghost mission will be the first of what are expected to be yearly lunar surface missions for Firefly.

"This milestone marks another step in an aggressive schedule and meeting it continues to showcase our spacecraft team's ability to consistently deliver incredible work," stated Dr. Tom Markusic, Firefly's CEO. "This mission is a forerunner of what we see as a growing cadence of recurring data and payload service missions in cis-lunar space that will kickstart a lunar economy, and we're honored to be demonstrating our ability to deliver these services for NASA and for our commercial customers."

Blue Ghost will operate a variety of payloads through lunar transit and orbit, as well as while on the lunar surface. These payloads will explore the region's regolith properties, geophysical characteristics, and interaction of the solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field. There are also several key technology demonstrations related to navigation and sample collection.

"The Firefly team is greatly humbled by the confidence external reviewers have shown in our lander and mission plan, in addition to the sign-off on this milestone completion by NASA. Our team has steadfastly driven to remain on schedule while producing the best product and plan in the face of both a global pandemic and the associated supply chain challenges," said Dr. William Coogan, Blue Ghost Chief Engineer. "Every day I have the pleasure of working with some of the most creative people in the industry, who believe in the importance of this mission and who work together to make it a reality."

Mare Crisium has been the subject of previous lunar missions including the Soviet landers Luna 15, Luna 23, and Luna 24. In 2012, the NASA GRAIL mission confirmed and mapped a mass-concentration at the center of the basin.

posted 11-25-2024 01:01 PM               

Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1

Ghost Riders in the Sky

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, 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.

Our Payloads

The payloads on Blue Ghost Mission 1 will help advance lunar research and conduct several first-of-its-kind demonstrations, including testing regolith sample collection, Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. These investigations will help pave the way for humanity's return to the Moon. The data captured will also benefit humans on Earth by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth, among other valuable research.

• Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER) - Honeybee Robotics (Blue Origin)

  LISTER will characterize heat flow from the interior of the Moon by measuring the thermal gradient and conductivity of the lunar subsurface. It will take several measurements to a 2-3 meter final depth using its pneumatic drilling technology with a custom heat flow needle instrument at its tip.

• Lunar PlanetVac (LPV) - Honeybee Robotics (Blue Origin)

  The Lunar PlanetVac will demonstrate pneumatic sample collection of lunar regolith by collecting and sorting regolith within its sample collection chamber. Upon deployment to the surface, PlanetVac will fire a blast of gas into the lunar surface. In a matter of seconds, the surface regolith would be lofted to a collection chamber for visual (camera) inspection. Additional gas jets within the sorting station will perform sieving. The sorting station includes material coupons to test regolith dust adhesion and efficiency of gas jets as a cleaning agent. In comparison to alternative sample collection methods, such as robotic arms, PlanetVac will demonstrate a fast and low cost, low mass solution.

• Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR) - University of Maryland

  NGLR will support the determination of the distance between Earth and the Moon by reflecting very short laser pulses from Earth-based Lunar Laser Ranging Observatories (LLROs) and measuring the laser pulse transit time to the Moon and back. NGLR will greatly improve the data that is still being obtained from the Apollo era retroreflectors and will support sub-millimeter range measurements. The analysis within the Lunar Laser Ranging (LLR) program will improve our understanding of the inner structure of the Moon, address modified theories of gravitation and dark matter, and further research in lunar physics and cosmology.

• Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) - Aegis Aerospace

  RAC will determine how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon's environment throughout the lunar day. RAC will measure accumulation rates of lunar regolith on the surfaces of several materials (e.g., solar cells, optical systems, coatings, and sensors) through imaging to determine their ability to repel or shed lunar dust. The data captured will allow the industry to test, improve, and protect spacecraft, spacesuits, and habitats from abrasive regolith.

• Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC) - Montana State University

  RadPC will demonstrate a computer that can recover from faults caused by ionizing radiation. Several RadPC prototypes have been tested aboard the ISS and Earth-orbiting satellites, but we'll provide the biggest trial yet by demonstrating the computer's ability to withstand space radiation as it passes through the Earth's radiation belts, while in transit to the Moon, and on the lunar surface.

• Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) - NASA Kennedy Space Center

  The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) is an active dust mitigation technology that uses electric fields to move dust from surfaces and to prevent dust accumulation on surfaces. The EDS, which can lift, transport, and remove particles from surfaces with no moving parts, will be demonstrated for the first time on the lunar surface. This technology will show the feasibility of self-cleaning glass and thermal radiator surfaces. In addition to dust removal, the EDS will apply lunar dust to these surfaces using a new reduster technology that will lift and transport dust from the lunar surface to the desired location without moving parts or gasses. The EDS will be released from a fifth leg of the lander and positioned directly onto the lunar surface to maximize dust contact.

• Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) - Boston University; NASA Goddard Space Flight Center; Johns Hopkins University

  LEXI will capture a series of X-ray images to study the interaction of solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field that drives geomagnetic disturbances and storms. This instrument will provide the first global images showing the edge of Earth's magnetic field for critical insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces surrounding our planet impact Earth.

• Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) - Southwest Research Institute

  LMS will characterize the structure and composition of the Moon's mantle by measuring electric and magnetic fields. This investigation will help determine the Moon's temperature structure and thermal evolution to understand how the Moon has cooled and chemically differentiated since it formed.

• Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) - Italian Space Agency (ASI); NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

  LuGRE will receive and track signals from the GPS and Galileo navigation satellite constellations during the Earth-to-Moon transit and throughout a full lunar day on the Moon's surface. This demonstration will help characterize and extend Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based navigation and timing to lunar orbit and the Moon's surface, providing lunar spacecraft with accurate position, velocity, and time estimations autonomously, on board, and in real time.
  
  

• Stereo CAmera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) - NASA Langley Research Center

  SCALPSS will use stereo imaging photogrammetry to capture the impact of rocket plume on lunar regolith as our lander descends on the Moon's surface. The high-resolution stereo images will aid in creating models to predict lunar regolith erosion – an important task as bigger, heavier payloads are delivered to the Moon in close proximity to each other.

Our Ride

Standing 2 m (6.6 ft) tall and 3.5 m (11.5 ft) wide, Blue Ghost is designed to stick the landing with shock absorbing feet, a low center of mass, and a wide footprint. Blue Ghost's core components, including the panels, struts, legs, harnesses, avionics, batteries, and thrusters, were built using many of the same flight-proven technologies common to all of Firefly's launch and orbital vehicles, enabling lower costs and improved reliability.

Our Descent

During the final hour of descent, Blue Ghost uses vision-based terrain relative navigation and hazard avoidance to measure the lander's position and identify craters, slopes, and rocks before selecting the final hazard-free target within the landing zone. Blue Ghost's RCS thrusters pulse as needed throughout the descent for a soft landing.

posted 01-15-2025 02:03 AM               

A trail of two moon landers: Firefly's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience lift off

Two private spacecraft are now on their way to attempting separate landings on the moon. One is expected to take 45 days to arrive in lunar orbit, while the other is expected to take four to five months — despite sharing the same ride off Earth.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched on Wednesday (Jan. 15) carrying Firefly Aerospace's first "Blue Ghost" and ispace's second Hakuto-R lunar lander, named "Resilience." Liftoff occurred at 1:11 a.m. EST (0611 GMT) from Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the same launch pad from where all of the Apollo moon landing missions began their journeys.

posted 01-15-2025 10:06 AM               

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 Successfully Launches and Begins 45-Day Transit to the Moon

Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today (Jan. 15) announced Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, successfully acquired signal, and completed on-orbit commissioning. With a target landing date of March 2, 2025, Firefly's 60-day mission is now underway, including approximately 45 days on-orbit and 14 days of lunar surface operations with 10 instruments as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, launched from Launch Complex 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, at 1:11 a.m. EST on January 15, 2025. Blue Ghost separated from the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in a highly elliptical Earth orbit at 2:17 a.m. EST and established communications with Firefly's Mission Operations Center in Cedar Park, Texas, at 2:26 a.m. EST. On-orbit spacecraft commissioning was then completed by 5:30 a.m. EST, which included verifying attitude determination and control capabilities, increasing the data transfer rate, establishing a power-positive attitude, and completing initial lander health checks.

"On behalf of Firefly, we want to thank SpaceX for a spot-on deployment in our target orbit," said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. "The mission is now in the hands of the unstoppable Firefly team. After all the testing conducted and mission simulations completed, we're now fully focused on execution as we look to complete our on-orbit operations, softly touch down on the lunar surface, and pave the way for humanity's return to the Moon."

Firefly's Blue Ghost will spend approximately 25 days in Earth orbit, four days in lunar transit, and 16 days in lunar orbit, enabling the team to conduct robust health checks on each subsystem, calibrate the propulsion system in preparation for critical maneuvers, and begin payload science operations. The NASA payloads operating during the Earth-to-Moon transit include LuGRE, which will monitor GPS signals to help extend Global Navigation Satellite System capabilities to the lunar surface, and RadPC, which will begin demonstrating the computer's ability to withstand space radiation while on-orbit.

Upon landing in Mare Crisium, Blue Ghost will operate 10 NASA payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days) and support several science and technology demonstrations, including lunar subsurface drilling, sample collection, X-ray imaging, and dust mitigation. Just before lunar night, Blue Ghost will capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse from the Moon where the Earth blocks the sun. Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset, providing data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions, before operating several hours into the lunar night.

"Towards the end of Blue Ghost Mission 1, we expect to capture a phenomenon documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17 where he observed a horizon glow as the lunar dust levitated on the surface," said Kim. "As a tribute to the last Apollo Astronaut to walk on the Moon, we're honored to have the opportunity to watch this incredible sight in high definition."

posted 01-24-2025 09:26 AM               

January 24, 2025: Second Engine Burn

Firefly captured the beauty of our home planet during another Earth orbit burn. This second engine burn (and first critical burn) adjusted Blue Ghost’s apogee (the furthest point from Earth) using just our Spectre RCS thrusters. With just over two weeks left in Earth orbit before our Trans Lunar Injection, the Firefly team will continue operating our NASA payloads onboard and capturing science data along the way.

Above: Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander captures the Blue Marble while in Earth orbit. (Firefly Aerospace)

posted 02-09-2025 08:13 PM               

February 8, 2025: Trans Lunar Injection Complete

Blue Ghost successfully performed a Trans Lunar Injection burn to escape Earth's gravitational pull and begin a 4-day transit to the Moon’s orbit.

We'll then spend approximately 16 days in lunar orbit before we begin Blue Ghost’s descent. This gives Firefly plenty of time to calibrate our navigation system and continue payload science operations for NASA.

posted 02-17-2025 08:31 AM               

Lunar Orbit Operations

The Firefly team nailed our most challenging burn to date! Starting at 7:51 p.m. CST on Feb. 13, the team completed a 4 minute, 15 second Lunar Orbit Insertion burn with Blue Ghost's RCS thrusters and main engine to enter an elliptical orbit around the Moon.

Over the next 16 days, we'll conduct additional maneuvers to circularize our orbit and get closer to the lunar surface.

During its Lunar Orbit Insertion burn, Blue Ghost captured our first close-up shots of the Moon.

posted 03-01-2025 08:55 PM               

Descent Orbit Insertion Command Sent

Firefly's flight controllers just sent the command for Descent Orbit Insertion (DOI) 9 hours ahead of time since this burn is performed on the far side of the Moon during a planned comms blackout. We expect to regain signal about 20 minutes after the burn to ensure Blue Ghost is on the right course. If not, the team can opt to orbit the Moon again and attempt another DOI.

posted 03-02-2025 01:19 AM               

Lander is a GO for Descent Orbit Insertion!

posted 03-02-2025 01:53 AM               

Descent Orbit Insertion Complete

Blue Ghost is officially on a descent trajectory towards the moon's Mare Crisium!

Our Descent Orbit Insertion was successful, and Blue Ghost will now coast with all engines off for the next ~30 minutes until we descend to about 20 km above the surface and begin our Powered Descent Initiation with a braking burn. We'll use the vision-based terrain navigation system along the way to determine Blue Ghost's position.

posted 03-02-2025 02:21 AM               

GO for Powered Descent Initiation

Firefly is GO for Powered Descent Initiation!

This critical 9-minute braking burn with all engines will reduce Blue Ghost's orbital velocity from about 1,700 to 40 meters per second. At this point forward, Blue Ghost will take the wheel until we land – we trust the lander to do what it’s designed to do!

posted 03-02-2025 02:24 AM               

Powered Descent Initiation Begins

Powered Descent Initiation has begun! During this 9-minute braking burn with all engines, Blue Ghost is fully autonomous, using D'Souza Guidance – a model similar to the guidance used during the Apollo Moon missions – to position itself above the target landing site and pitch over from a horizontal to a vertical orientation.

posted 03-02-2025 02:34 AM               

2:32 am CST: Powered Descent Initiation Complete

Blue Ghost main engine has shut off after a successful Powered Descent Initiation. Now less than 2 minutes from touchdown, our Spectre RCS thrusters will perform the final descent, pulsing as needed to reduce orbital velocity to 1 meter per second before touchdown. Blue Ghost's vision navigation system is concurrently tracking craters, slopes, and rocks to select a hazard free parking spot within our landing zone.

posted 03-02-2025 02:38 AM               

2:34 am CST: Successful Touchdown Confirmed

We have confirmation Blue Ghost stuck the landing! Firefly just became the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. This small step on the Moon represents a giant leap in commercial exploration. Congratulations to the entire Firefly team, our mission partners, and our NASA customers for this incredible feat that paves the way for future missions to the Moon and Mars.

posted 03-02-2025 02:48 AM               

Blue Ghost on the moon! Firefly safely lands, delivers NASA science

Like a lightning bug blinking as it made its way down into a marsh, the Blue Ghost fired its thrusters as it descended into the "Sea of Crises."

Moments later, Firefly Aerospace's first lunar lander successfully touched down on the moon.

The feat, at 3:24 a.m. EST (0824 GMT) on Sunday (March 2), marked just the second time in history that a privately-built and operated spacecraft safely reached the lunar surface. In addition, with 10 science instruments ready to begin two weeks of data collection, it was also the second delivery achieved under NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

posted 03-02-2025 07:03 PM               

Blue Ghost's X-band antenna has deployed! This will allow us to more rapidly downlink high-definition imagery and videos and transmit payload science data back to Earth.

posted 03-04-2025 11:59 AM               

Blue Ghost Begins Surface Operations

Shortly after landing on the Moon March 2, Firefly Aerospace and NASA teams kicked off surface operations for the science and technology instruments on the company's Blue Ghost lunar lander.

All NASA instruments onboard continue to be healthy and several payloads have already collected data, including:

• The Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) successfully lifted and removed lunar regolith, or dirt, using electrical forces on the glass and thermal radiator surfaces. The EDS re-duster also demonstrated its ability to move regolith (lunar soil and rock), aiding dust management. While data analysis continues, the dust instrument has fulfilled most of its objectives. These results confirm EDS as a promising solution for future lunar surface operations.

• Shortly after landing, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) was powered on and began conducting their first science operation and acquired and tracked Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals on the lunar surface for the first time ever — approximately 225,000 miles away from Earth.

• The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) instrument captured images during the spacecraft's lunar descent and touchdown on the lunar surface. Although the results are still being analyzed, this data provided by SCALPSS could help shed insight into the effects that engine plumes have on the surface.

• Blue Ghost's Surface Access Arm deployed the Lunar PlanetVac (LPV), which was developed to efficiently collect and transfer lunar soil from the Moon to other science instruments or sample return containers without relying on gravity. Since deployment, Lunar PlanetVac has begun sampling lunar regolith.

Above: The Lunar PlanetVac instrument was deployed to the lunar surface and is shown at the end of Blue Ghost's Surface Access Arm.

posted 03-06-2025 09:30 AM               

March 6, 2025: Eight Payload Objectives Complete

Just over four days on the Moon's surface and Blue Ghost is checking off several science milestones! Eight out of 10 NASA payloads, including LPV, EDS, NGLR, RAC, RadPC, LuGRE, LISTER, and SCALPSS, have already met their mission objectives with more to come. Lunar PlanetVac for example successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soil from the Moon using pressurized nitrogen gas.

The video below shows Lunar PlanetVac operations after the payload was deployed on Blue Ghost's surface access arm. Congrats to the Honeybee Robotics and NASA team on this incredible achievement!

posted 03-07-2025 09:38 AM               

March 7, 2025: Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder Deployment Footage

Shortly after landing, Blue Ghost deployed four tethered Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) electrodes to the surface and an 8-foot mast above our top deck. Look closely in the video below!

These instruments will allow NASA and the Southwest Research Institute to study the deep interior of the Moon – up to two-thirds the distance to the Moon's center – to learn more about the structure and composition of the Moon's mantle.

posted 03-08-2025 05:48 PM               

March 8, 2025: Planned Power Cycling for Lunar Noon

Day 7 and the Moon is heating up as we approach lunar noon – the hottest part of the lunar day that can get up 250°F (121°C). In preparation, Blue Ghost has begun planned power cycling to keep the lander as cool as possible.

With eight payloads' objectives already complete, we aim to continue operating our two remaining payloads throughout these power cycles. We'll gradually get back to full power once the surface temperatures start to cool down again.

posted 03-11-2025 02:55 PM               

March 10, 2025: LISTER Drilling Operations

Blue Ghost has performed ongoing LISTER operations over the past week. Mounted below Blue Ghost's lower deck, NASA's Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER) payload is a pneumatic, gas-powered drill developed by Texas Tech University and Honeybee Robotics that measures the temperature and flow of heat from the Moon's interior.

Video below shows the first LISTER operation on March 3.

posted 03-12-2025 04:15 PM               

March 12, 2025: Ongoing Power Cycling

Blue Ghost remains operational as we continue to wait out the remaining lunar noontime heat with power cycles. We’ve kept our uplink carrier on during this time. With temperatures on the decline, Blue Ghost is staying on longer with each cycle and we expect to start humming with full power again soon! The lander and payloads remain healthy in the meantime.

posted 03-13-2025 09:09 AM               

March 13, 2025: Operation Solar Eclipse on the Moon

On March 14, Blue Ghost will witness a rare eclipse from the Moon! This marks the first time in history a commercial company will be actively operating on the Moon and able to observe a total solar eclipse where the Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow on the lunar surface.

The eclipse will last nearly 5 hours starting at 12 am CST through 4:52 am CST at Firefly's landing site in Mare Crisium and will include approximately 2 hours and 16 minutes of totality, starting at 1:18 am CST. Although not a mission requirement, Firefly hopes to image the eclipse and potentially operate NASA instruments to measure changes in the lunar environment from our unique vantage point on the Moon.

Back on Earth, we'll all witness a different phenomenon that happens simultaneously – a lunar eclipse, also known as a Blood Moon, where Earth moves between the sun and the Moon, causing the Moon to be completely shadowed by Earth and appear red.

In contrast, Blue Ghost will witness a glowing ring of sunlight when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon's horizon. This ring may also appear red as the sunlight refracts through the Earth’s atmosphere. Firefly aims to capture this with a wide-lens camera on Blue Ghost's top deck, so the glowing ring will likely appear fairly small in the distance, similar to the size of Earth captured below by Blue Ghost upon landing on the Moon.

Capturing this footage requires Blue Ghost to rely on its batteries for power rather than its solar panels, so it will be a challenge to image during the darkness of the eclipse, but we hope to capture this incredible phenomenon and share it with the world. Stay tuned!

posted 03-14-2025 08:33 AM               

March 14, 2025: First Solar Eclipse Image

Blue Ghost caught her first look at the solar eclipse from the Moon around 12:30 am CDT. Notice the glowing ring of light emerge in the reflection of our solar panel as Earth began to block the sun.

This photo taken from the lander's top deck also shows our X-band antenna (left), the Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (center), and the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder mast (right).

We hope to downlink more imagery soon once our X-band antenna warms up from the cold temperatures faced in the darkness of totality. Stay tuned!

posted 03-14-2025 09:27 AM               

March 14, 2025: Total Solar Eclipse Diamond Ring Effect

Blue Ghost got her first diamond ring!

Captured at our landing site in the Moon's Mare Crisium around 3:30 am CDT, the photo shows the sun about to emerge from totality behind Earth. This marks the first time in history a commercial company was actively operating on the Moon and able to observe a total solar eclipse where the Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow on the lunar surface. This phenomenon occurred simultaneously as the lunar eclipse we witnessed on Earth.

We hope to have more shots to share soon!

posted 03-14-2025 02:12 PM               

March 14, 2025: Blue Ghost Captures Red Lunar Surface During Eclipse

Blue Ghost turns red!

Our lander downlinked more imagery from the Moon captured around 2:30 am CDT during the totality of the solar eclipse. These images – rapidly captured by our top deck camera with different exposure settings – were stitched together in a quick clip.

The red hue is the result of sunlight refracting through the Earth’s atmosphere as the sun is blocked by our planet, casting a shadow on the lunar surface. The glowing ring of the eclipse is again seen on Blue Ghost’s solar panel.

You can also spot Mercury (left) and Venus (right) just above the eclipse!

posted 03-16-2025 05:14 PM               

March 16, 2025: Lunar Sunset Operations

The sun is setting on Blue Ghost's historic mission on the Moon. After two weeks of operations during the lunar day, the Firefly team is preparing for final operations during sunset and into the lunar night.

Before we say goodnight, we hope to capture the sunset glow and dust levitation seen by the Apollo 17 astronauts as they were leaving the Moon. More to come soon!

posted 03-17-2025 06:58 AM               

Firefly Aerospace Successfully Completes 14 Days of Surface Operations on the Moon

All 10 NASA Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) instruments successfully operated on the lunar surface and collected their science data during Blue Ghost Mission 1

Firefly Aerospace, the leader in end-to-end responsive space services, today announced it met 100 percent of its mission objectives for Blue Ghost Mission 1 after performing the first fully successful commercial Moon landing on March 2, completing more than 14 days of surface operations (346 hours of daylight), and operating just over 5 hours into the lunar night with the final data received around 6:15 pm CDT on March 16. This achievement marks the longest commercial operations on the Moon to date.

"After a flawless Moon landing, the Firefly team immediately moved into surface operations to ensure all 10 NASA payloads could capture as much science as possible during the lunar day," said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. "We're incredibly proud of the demonstrations Blue Ghost enabled from tracking GPS signals on the Moon for the first time to robotically drilling deeper into the lunar surface than ever before. We want to extend a huge thank you to the NASA CLPS initiative and the White House administration for serving as the bedrock for this Firefly mission. It has been an honor to enable science and technology experiments that support future missions to the Moons, Mars, and beyond."

Throughout the mission, Blue Ghost transmitted more than 119 GB of data back to Earth, including 51 GB of science and technology data, significantly surpassing Firefly's mission requirements. Key payload milestones completed on the surface include the following:

• LuGRE: Integrated on Blue Ghost's antenna gimbal on the top deck, LuGRE successfully acquired and tracked Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals, from satellite networks such as GPS and Galileo, on the way to and on the Moon's surface for the first time. This achievement suggests GPS-like signals could be used to navigate future missions to the Moon and beyond.

• NGLR: Also mounted on Blue Ghost's antenna gimbal, the Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR) successfully reflected laser pulses from Earth-based Lunar Laser Ranging Observatories (LLROs), allowing scientists to precisely measure the Moon's shape and distance from Earth, expanding our understanding of the Moon's inner structure.

• LEXI: Mounted on Blue Ghost's top deck on another Firefly-developed gimbal, the Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) captured a series of X-ray images to study the interaction of solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field, providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces surrounding Earth affect the planet.

• LMS: Blue Ghost also deployed four tethered Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) electrodes on the surface, reaching a distance up to 60 feet from the lander, and deployed a six-foot mast above its top deck to enable the payload team to measure electric and magnetic fields and learn more about the Moon's composition up to 700 miles, or two-thirds the distance to the Moon's center.

• RadPC: Integrated below Blue Ghost's top deck, RadPC demonstrated a computer that can withstand space radiation while in transit to the Moon, including through the Earth's Van Allen Belts, and on the Moon's surface.

• RAC: Mounted above Blue Ghost's lower deck, the Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) instrument examined how lunar regolith sticks to a range of materials exposed to the Moon's environment, allowing the industry to better test, improve, and protect spacecraft, spacesuits, and habitats from abrasive regolith.

• SCALPSS: Mounted below Blue Ghost's lower deck, the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) instrument captured images during the spacecraft's lunar descent and touchdown on the Moon, providing insights into the effects engine plumes have on the surface for future robotics and crewed Moon landings.

• LISTER: Also mounted below Blue Ghost's lower deck, the Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER) payload drilled about three feet into the surface to measure the temperature and flow of heat from the Moon's interior. This pneumatic, gas-powered drill is now the deepest-reaching robotic planetary subsurface probe.

• Lunar PlanetVac: Deployed on Blue Ghost's surface access arm, the Lunar PlanetVac successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar regolith from the Moon using pressurized nitrogen gas, proving to be a low cost, low mass solution for future robotic sample collection.

• EDS: Also deployed on Blue Ghost's surface access arm, the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) successfully lifted and removed lunar regolith using electrodynamic forces on the glass and thermal radiator surfaces. These results confirm EDS as a promising solution for dust mitigation on future lunar and interplanetary surface operations.

Above: Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander captures image during sunset with Earth on the horizon. (Firefly Aerospace)

During surface operations, Firefly's Blue Ghost lander captured high-definition imagery of a total solar eclipse on March 14. This marks the first time in history a commercial company was actively operating on the Moon and able to observe a solar eclipse where the Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow on the lunar surface. Blue Ghost operated the LMS, RAC, and SCALPSS payloads during this unique phenomenon to measure changes in the lunar dust and radiation environment.

"This team continues to make near-impossible achievements look easy, but there is no such thing as an easy Moon landing, especially on your first attempt," said Will Coogan, Blue Ghost Chief Engineer at Firefly Aerospace. "We battle tested every system on the lander and simulated every mission scenario we could think of to get to this point. But what really sets this team apart is the passion and commitment to each other. Our team may look younger and less experienced than those of many nations and companies that attempted Moon landings before us, but the support we have for one another is what fuels the hard work and dedication to finding every solution that made this mission a success."

Firefly also captured imagery of the lunar sunset on March 16, providing NASA with data on whether lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow that was hypothesized and observed by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following the sunset, Blue Ghost operated for 5 hours into the lunar night and continued to capture imagery that measures how dust behavior changes after sunset.

Looking ahead, Firefly is ramping up for annual missions to the Moon. The team has begun qualifying and assembling flight hardware for Blue Ghost Mission 2, which will utilize Firefly's Blue Ghost lander stacked on an Elytra Dark orbital vehicle for operations in lunar orbit and on the far side of the Moon.

posted 03-18-2025 12:26 PM               

March 18, 2025: Lunar Sunset Imagery

Firefly's Blue Ghost lander captured the first HD imagery of a lunar sunset from the Moon on March 16.

These images, captured by different camera angles and stitched together in a video, show a horizon glow that comes to life just above the Moon's surface as the sun goes down. Earth and Venus (further in the distance) are also shown above the Moon.

The NASA science team is excited to analyze these images further and share more on the findings soon.