Blue Ghost spacecraft lands on the Moon: A historic achievement

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft has successfully landed on the lunar surface.

Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA's Science Mission Directorate, noted that Blue Ghost is one of about a dozen companies operating under NASA's CLPS program.

Kearns stated, ''It is clear that Firefly is an extremely rigorous company from a technical standpoint. That is a feature that sets them apart from others.''

Ray Allensworth, head of Firefly's Blue Ghost program, also stated that the company ran dozens of simulations and was prepared for all kinds of scenarios, adding the following:

''We wanted to focus the communication bandwidth on accurately collecting the spacecraft's altitude and velocity data. While it was technically possible to do a live broadcast, it was not the most practical option for that moment.''

Allensworth added, 'We worked on normal and non-normal scenarios. For example, we planned what we would do in the event of a meteor strike on the solar panels.'

BUZZ ALDRIN SENT A CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE

Famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin, who stepped on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, celebrated the landing of Blue Ghost.

The 95-year-old Aldrin stated that he watched the landing, which took place on Sunday, and congratulated the Firefly team. Firefly CEO Jason Kim described Aldrin's message as 'amazing'.

BLUE GHOST IMAGED THE LUNAR SURFACE

Firefly shared images taken by Blue Ghost from the lunar surface. Company official Trina Patterson said, ''In the image, you can see the Earth in the background. That beautiful blue marble, our home.''

In the photos taken by Blue Ghost, the lunar surface, the Earth on the horizon, and the lander's solar panel and antennas are clearly visible.

Blue Ghost performed a series of critical maneuvers before landing. During the Powered Descent Initiation, it used its main engines to reduce its orbital velocity from 1,700 meters per second to 40 meters per second.

The lander autonomously approached the target area and performed the final landing. During the descent, the Firefly team used a vision-based terrain navigation system to avoid craters, slopes, and rocks.

OPERATIONS IN LUNAR ORBIT

Before entering lunar orbit, Blue Ghost received the Descent Orbit Insertion (DOI) command.

This maneuver was performed during a planned communication blackout on the far side of the Moon.

The Firefly team re-acquired the signal approximately 20 minutes after the burn, confirming that Blue Ghost was on the correct trajectory.

Blue Ghost traveled millions of miles in the three days leading up to its landing on the Moon and downloaded more than 27 GB of data.

The Firefly team prepared a detailed plan regarding what to do in the pre- and post-landing processes.

This successful landing once again highlighted the role of private companies in lunar exploration and marked an important step for future space missions.

Source: Firefly Aerospace