Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost, a private lunar lander, is getting closer to its destination on February 18, as it completed an engine burn to move from a high elliptical orbit to a lower one. The three-minute and 18-second maneuver allowed the lander to capture new imagery of the far side of the Moon and relay it back to Earth.
While the move prepares Blue Ghost for its planned March 2 landing attempt, it also means there will be periods of temporary communication blackouts between the craft and its caretakers at the Texas-based Firefly. The lander’s handlers have used the 45-day itinerary to calibrate the onboard instruments, including those analyzing heat flow from the Moon’s interior, magnetic fields, and lunar soil composition.
The mission aims to test technology that could be used in NASA’s Artemis missions, which aim to put humans back on the Moon for the first time since 1972. Blue Ghost will settle into its new home in Mare Crisium, a region formed by an ancient asteroid collision. The lander features 10 instruments designed to gather data and pave the way for future human exploration.
Other private lunar landers have attempted to reach the Moon’s surface with mixed results. Japanese company ispace’s Hakuto-R M1 lander crashed in April 2023, while Astrobotic’s Peregrine suffered a catastrophic failure shortly after launching in January 2024. However, Intuitive Machine’s Odysseus successfully landed on the Moon despite suffering damage.
Blue Ghost will have competition for its landing attempt from ispace’s Resilience lander, which launched with Blue Ghost and aims to land sometime in May or June. The rescheduled launch comes as another private mission from Intuitive Machines, which could launch as soon as next week, is also on the horizon.
Source: https://gizmodo.com/blue-ghost-lowers-orbit-and-snaps-rare-views-of-the-moons-far-side-2000565602