A private lunar lander called Blue Ghost has successfully touched down on the moon’s surface, marking a historic moment for space exploration. The Firefly Aerospace lander, carrying 10 experiments for NASA, landed on the slopes of an ancient volcanic dome in the moon’s northeastern edge near the horizon.
The successful landing was confirmed by Mission Control outside Austin, Texas, and marks the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling over. This achievement is significant, as only five countries – Russia, the US, China, India, and Japan – have claimed success in lunar landings.
Blue Ghost’s four-legged design provided extra stability during its descent from lunar orbit, and it sent back pictures of the surface shortly after landing. The first shot included a selfie taken by the lander, showing off the sun’s glare, while the second image showed the Earth as a blue dot in the blackness of space.
Two other companies’ landers are expected to follow Blue Ghost on the moon later this week. Blue Ghost was launched from Florida in mid-January and carried $145 million worth of experiments for NASA. The landing was part of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery program, aiming to ignite a lunar economy of competing private businesses while scouting for astronaut missions.
Firefly Aerospace’s chief engineer Will Coogan said the team successfully navigated hazards like boulders to land safely within the 328-foot target zone in Mare Crisium. The demos are expected to run for two weeks before lunar daytime ends, and the lander will shut down accordingly.
The Blue Ghost landed with a vacuum to suck up moon dirt for analysis, a drill to measure temperature as deep as 10 feet below the surface, and a device to eliminate abrasive lunar dust. The on-board receiver also tracked signals from GPS and Galileo constellations, an encouraging step forward in navigation for future explorers.
This successful landing sets the stage for more private companies vying for a piece of the lunar business. Intuitive Machines’ lander is expected to follow Blue Ghost on Thursday, aiming to reach the moon’s south pole 100 miles away from its intended destination. Meanwhile, Japan’s ispace is still three months away from landing.
NASA aims to maintain a pace of two private lunar landers per year, recognizing that some missions will fail but also seeing opportunities for more science and exploration.
Source: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/private-lunar-lander-successfully-touches-down-on-the-moon-with-a-special-delivery-for-nasa