The private spacecraft Blue Ghost, operated by Firefly Aerospace and funded by NASA’s Commercial Moon Payload Services (CLPS), is conducting operations to prepare for its landing on the moon scheduled for March 2nd. The spacecraft recently captured impressive footage of the moon’s far side while transitioning to a lower orbit. The mission aims to deliver ten scientific instruments to study lunar heat flow, surface interactions, crustal electricity, and magnetic fields, while also conducting technical tests such as regolith sampling and radiation-resistant computing.
A key highlight of the mission is planned for March 14th, when Blue Ghost will attempt to photograph a solar eclipse from the moon’s surface. Additionally, on March 16th, it will gather data on how solar influence affects lunar dust, contributing to research about the phenomenon known as lunar horizon glow, which could pose challenges for future astronauts. The spacecraft is currently on track for its landing, encountering a temporary communication blackout as it moves to the far side of the moon where it will continue to gather and transmit data.
Source link
