Powered Descent Initiation has begun. During this 9-minute braking burn, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander 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. This critical...
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost is now on its way down to the surface of the Moon. The lander successfully performed a descent orbit insertion burn, which initiates the descent sequence and places the vehicle on the trajectory to its landing site on the Moon’s Mare Crisium. Following this burn, Blue Ghost began a 50-min coast...
After launching Jan. 15 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander is preparing to land on the Moon at 3:34 a.m. EST 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. Watch now on...
Flight controllers at Firefly Aerospace’s Mission Operations Center in north Austin, Texas, have sent a command to Blue Ghost to initiate descent orbit insertion, which is set to begin at 2:30 a.m. EST, Sunday. The command was sent around nine hours ahead of time since the burn is performed on the far side of the...
After a successful launch on Feb. 26, 2025, Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission is headed to the Mons Mouton region near the Moon’s South Pole the Moon. The lander is carrying NASA science instruments and technology demonstrations, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. All NASA instruments on board are currently...
At approximately 8:01 p.m. EST, Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander separated from SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket, powered on approximately 12 minutes later, and will continue its weeklong journey to the Moon. Aboard the lander is NASA science and technology as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. Also launching as...
At 7:16 p.m. EST, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched the Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander named Athena from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Aboard the mission are a suite of NASA technology and science instruments along with commercial payloads on their way to the Moon as part of the agency’s...
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket stands ready for a 7:16 p.m. EST liftoff from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Watch now on NASA+ or the agency’s website. Aboard Falcon 9 is Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander named Athena, which is carrying NASA science and technology instruments to the Moon as part of...
NASA science and technology is set to fly aboard Intuitive Machines’ lunar lander as part of the agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign. SpaceX is targeting no earlier than 7:16 p.m. EST tonight to launch the IM-2 mission from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Weather...
Technicians have moved NASA’s Artemis II Orion spacecraft out of its assembly stand in preparation for the upcoming installation of its four solar array wings and spacecraft adapter jettison fairings that encapsulate its service module. The move positions NASA another step closer to the first crewed flight test under Artemis. Operators used a 30-ton crane...
