The moon will be a place occupied this year. At this moment there are three robotic space vehicles that aim to put on the surface of the moon.
The first of those to arrive – The Blue Ghost Lunar Lander, built by Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, in Texas, will try to land on Sunday early.
When is the landing and how can I look at it?
The landing is scheduled for 3:45 oriental now on March 2nd. Firefly will begin live coverage of the landing at 2:20 on its YouTube channel.
What is the destination of Blue Ghost?
This mission is directed to Mare Crisio, a flat plain formed by the lava that filled itself and harden within a 345 mile wide crater sculpted by an ancient impact of the asteroids. Mare Crisio is located in the north -east quadrant of the nearby side of the moon.
What is Blue Ghost taking on the moon?
The Lander is transporting a variety of scientific and experimental payloads on the lunar surface, of which 10 for NASA. These include a drill to measure the heat flow from inside the moon to the surface, a shield of electrodynamic powder to clean the glass surfaces and radiator and a X -ray camera.
That load is part of the commercial lunar payload service, or CLP, which aims to put Nasa equipment on the moon at a cheaper price that NASA has built its Lunar Lander. The agency will pay Firefly $ 101.5 million if all 10 useful loads reach the lunar surface and a little less if the mission has not completely happened.
Blue Ghost is the third CLPS mission to launch to the moon. The first, in 2024, from the Astrobotic of Pittsburgh, failed after the launch. The second, from intuitive machines of Houston last year, reached the moon but inclined.
Why does landing occurs at such an initial hour?
The physics of arriving in a certain place in the solar system at a certain moment does not always correspond when people are awake to look at. The Blue Ghost Lander spatial vehicle obtains its power from the solar panels, and therefore the mission aims to land immediately after the dawn of a new lunar day. And to get to Mare Crisio on March 2, the landing time is at 3:45 am
“It’s just when this happens,” said Ray Allensworth, head of Blue Ghost’s program in Firefly.
The mission is to last about 14 days of earth until the lunar sunset.
How has the mission went so far?
Blue Ghost performed almost perfectly. For the first 25 days, he circled the Earth while the company accepted and controlled the systems of the space vehicle. He then shot his engine on a four -day trip to the moon, entering orbit on February 13th. The spatial vehicle cameras recorded close views on the crater surface of the moon.
Some small problems emerged along the way, but no serious malfunction. Mainly, the mission controllers made changes while learning how the spaceship behaved in the space environment.
“Thermal alarms could turn off,” said Mrs. Allensworth. “Things are becoming a little warmer than expected, a little colder than expected on the vehicle. You want to look at those data and see is really ok. “
What happened to the other Lunar Lander who was launched with Blue Ghost?
On the same Rocket Spacex Falcon 9 which launched Blue Ghost to Orbit was resilience, a lunar lander built by Japan ispatian. The two missions are separated, but the ISPAZIO, looking for a cheaper ride for the space, had asked Spacex for a rinshare, that is, the hitchhiking as secondary payload. This turned out to be the launch of Blue Ghost.
Although resilience has been launched simultaneously with Blue Ghost, it is using a longer and more efficient path in terms of fuel to the moon and should enter the orbit around the moon in early May.