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Viewing Posts from January 2025

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    NASA Tech Instrument Captures Test Images During Blue Ghost Lunar Transit

    This image from the short focal length camera, shows a can-like structure which is Blue Ghost’s main engine. The bright objects to the engine’s right and to the left are the lander’s foot pads. The pointed object at the top left is another NASA payload, the Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER) instrument, led by Honeybee Robotics, a Blue Origin company, headquartered in Longmont, Colorado. LISTER is designed to measure the heat flow from the interior of the Moon.

    Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 reached day 15 of its 45-day transit to the Moon. The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) 1.1 instrument, designed by researchers at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, to capture images during the spacecraft’s lunar descent and touchdown, successfully received high-resolution test images from all six of …

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    Firefly Gets First Glimpse of Moon, NASA Instrument Checkouts Continue

    An image from the top deck of Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander in the darkness of space with the lit Moon in the distance.

      NASA’s science and technology instruments aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 are a step closer to the Moon. After almost two weeks in Earth orbit, Firefly announced Thursday that Blue Ghost successfully completed its second engine burn, placing the lander in the correct position to leave Earth’s orbit and continue its journey to the …

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    Blue Ghost Conducts First Burn, Science Operations, Captures Eclipse

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    Firefly’s Blue Ghost continues its journey to the Moon carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments. Four days into the mission, the lunar lander completed its first main engine burn. This milestone is the first of several maneuvers that will position the lander in a trajectory towards the Moon. After 25 days orbiting Earth, Blue …

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    Moon Bound: Blue Ghost Captures First Image, Performs Health Checks

    Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 spacecraft in the darkness of space captures a first image from the top deck of its lunar lander.

    On Jan. 15, Firefly Aerospace successfully launched 10 NASA science and technology instruments on the company’s first CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) delivery. The NASA instrument teams are performing initial health checks and collecting data ahead of the lunar landing in early March. Flight controllers for Blue Ghost Mission 1 said Wednesday that the company’s …

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    Firefly Lunar Lander On Its Way To the Moon 

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander successfully powered on as it continues its way to the Moon, carrying NASA science demonstrations as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign.    Blue Ghost is expected to land on the lunar surface on Sunday, March 2 and, throughout its mission, NASA’s scientific …

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    Firefly Aerospace Lunar Lander Separates From SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket 

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    At approximately 2:17 a.m. EST, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander separated from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Aboard are NASA scientific instruments flying to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Coming up, Blue Ghost will power on and continue its journey to the Moon. 

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    Liftoff! Firefly Lunar Lander Begins Journey to the Moon

    Image shows streak from SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after liftoff on Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2025.

    At 1:11 a.m. EST SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 rocket and Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aboard are a suite of NASA scientific instruments to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. These instruments …

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    Live Countdown Coverage Begins for First Firefly Commercial Lunar Flight 

    A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission One lander prepares for a launch to the Moon on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative.

    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands ready for a 1:11 a.m. EST liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Watch now on NASA+, NASA TV, or the agency’s website.  Aboard Falcon 9 is Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander, which is carrying 10 NASA scientific instruments to the Moon as part …

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    Artemis Teams Successfully Test Uninterruptible Power for Mobile Launcher 

    infographic lists the eight verification and validation tests to support Artemis II

    Teams with NASA’s Exploration Ground Systems (EGS) Program at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, successfully tested the new uninterruptible power supply for mobile launcher 1 while it’s in Kennedy’s Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB). This marks the next set of integrated ground systems testing the EGS teams are conducting to prepare for the Artemis …

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    Artemis I Orion Spacecraft Returns to Florida

    Artemis Logo - red rocket trail, blue arch that represents earth, ARTEMIS text, gray half sphere on a white background

    The Artemis I Orion crew module, now known as the Orion Environmental Test Article (ETA), returned to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Dec. 21, 2024, following an 11-month test campaign at the agency’s Neil Armstrong Test Facility in Sandusky, Ohio. This is not the first time the ETA has been at Kennedy. After …

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