Firefly Aerospace is set to make history with its first lunar mission, “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” launching its Blue Ghost lander aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket in mid-January.1 This mission, a collaboration with Japan’s ispace, is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and represents a significant step forward in lunar exploration.2
The Blue Ghost lander, carrying ten NASA payloads, will focus on advancing lunar science and testing crucial technologies.3 Key instruments include:
- Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR): To precisely measure the Earth-moon distance.
- Regolith Adherence Characterisation (RAC): To study the effects of lunar dust.4
- Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI): To monitor solar wind activity.5
The mission will also demonstrate innovative technologies like:
- Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS): Repelling lunar dust with electric fields.6
- Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE): Evaluating navigation systems on the moon.
- Radiation Tolerant Computer System (RadPC): Testing resilience against radiation.7
Following a 25-day Earth orbit phase and a four-day lunar transit, Blue Ghost will spend two weeks on the moon’s surface, gathering valuable scientific data and observing phenomena like a solar eclipse and “horizon glow.”8
This mission is expected to pave the way for future Artemis program missions, contributing to the establishment of a sustained human presence on the moon.