NASA+ Coverage Begins for Firefly Aerospace’s First Lunar Flight

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 NASA+ or the agency’s website.

Aboard the mission are a suite of NASA technology and science payloads on their way to the Moon as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. These instruments aim to help the agency develop capabilities needed to explore the Moon under Artemis and in advance of human missions on the lunar surface.   

During the past 45 days, as Blue Ghost has journeyed to the Moon, all powered NASA science instruments have completed their transit checkouts, collected data, and are operating as expected. The lander is approximately 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the Moon. Flight controllers will continue to analyze the data collected and monitor the payloads to inform preparations for landing. The next milestone will be descent orbit insertion, which will put the lander on its descent trajectory to the lunar surface.

The remaining lunar descent milestones include the following. All times are approximate:

Time (EST)	Event
2:30 a.m.	Descent Orbit Insertion
3:22 a.m.	Powered Descent Initiation & D’Souza Guidance
3:32 a.m.	Terminal Guidance
3:33 a.m.	Landing Guidance
3:34 a.m.	Landing