Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander is gearing up for its landing attempt, scheduled for early March. The lander has successfully completed a three-minute engine burn to lower its orbit around the moon and is now at 75 miles above the surface. The mission, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS), will see Blue Ghost deploy 10 research and technology demonstrations to study the lunar environment.
Jam packed issues filled with the latest cutting-edge research, technology and theories delivered in an entertaining and visually stunning way, aiming to educate and inspire readers of all agesThere's a lot less sky and a lot more moon in view for Firefly Aerospace's"Ghost Riders in the Sky" mission.
around the moon last week, ending a four-day transit from Earth and starting to gear up for a lunar touchdown. In the lead-up to that landing attempt, which should take place a little less than two weeks from now, Blue Ghost recently completed a three-minute, 18-second engine burn to lower its orbit around the moon. The maneuver brought the lander to an altitude of 75 miles above the lunar surface, where it will remain until beginning its descent., which included a video of the probe's new close-up view of the lunar surface, Firefly suggested intermittent communications blackouts with Blue Ghost would occur as the lander circles around the far side of the moon. While the lander is still on the near side, Firefly's team is continuing to receive data and finalize the probe's next engine burns and landing patterns."That will get Blue Ghost even closer to the lunar surface and keep us right on track for landing on March 2," the post says.Falcon 9 rocket from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Ghost Riders in the Sky is one of the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services missions, which contracts private companies to fly NASA science experiments and equipment to the moon. Blue Ghost is carrying 10 research and technology demonstrations built to study the lunar environment as NASA ramps up its efforts to return astronauts to the moon through theWatch Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander witness an eclipse from space Blue Ghost launched on the same rocket that carried another lunar lander to orbit as well: Japanese company ispace's moon lander"Resilience." Resilience is the second moon lander from ispace; its first was. Resilience is carrying the micro-rover Tenacious, and is also hoping for a soft touchdown on the surface of the moon, albeit along a much different route than the one its Blue Ghost launch companion will take. Our #GhostRiders completed another lunar orbit maneuver with a 3 minute, 18 second burn early this morning. This maneuver moved the lander from a high elliptical orbit to a much lower elliptical orbit around the Moon. Shortly after the burn, Blue Ghost captured incredible footage… pic.twitter.com/ygyMVpaBW4Resilience's orbit and path toward landing use a measurable amount less energy than Blue Ghost's do, but at the trade-off of time. The probe still has about 3.5 months to go before making its landing attempt. Blue Ghost, on other hand, will have wrapped up its mission well before then. If everything goes according to plan, Blue Ghost will be the second private mission to ever land on the moon. Once on the lunar surface, the probe will have a full lunar day before the sun sets and it loses power. During that time, though, the 10 NASA payloads will be busy at work collecting samples, testing components and making discoveries to help researchers better design future missions to the moon and beyond.Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: Josh Dinner is Space.com's Content Manager. He is a writer and photographer with a passion for science and space exploration, and has been working the space beat since 2016. Josh has covered the evolution of NASA's commercial spaceflight partnerships, from early Dragon and Cygnus cargo missions to the ongoing development and launches of crewed missions from the Space Coast, as well as NASA science missions and more. He also enjoys building 1:144 scale models of rockets and human-flown spacecraft. Find some of Josh's launch photography on
MOON LANDING BLUE GHOST FIREFLY AEROSPACE NASA COMMERCIAL LUNAR PAYLOAD SERVICES
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Watch Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander witness an eclipse from space (video)Brett is curious about emerging aerospace technologies, alternative launch concepts, military space developments and uncrewed aircraft systems. Brett's work has appeared on Scientific American, The War Zone, Popular Science, the History Channel, Science Discovery and more.
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Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Moon Lander Snaps Haunting Earth ImagesFirefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost moon lander captured stunning images of Earth while preparing for its journey to the lunar surface. The lander is currently orbiting Earth and will spend about two more weeks there before performing a burn to begin its four-day trip to the moon. Once in lunar orbit, Blue Ghost will conduct various experiments, including studying lunar regolith, the moon's radiation environment, and the interaction between solar wind and Earth's magnetosphere.
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Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Captures Stunning Earth View During Lunar MissionFirefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost spacecraft has captured a breathtaking image of Earth from a distance of 4,000 miles during its journey to the moon. The mission, scheduled to become the second commercial soft lunar landing, is progressing well and is expected to reach the moon in approximately two weeks.
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Firefly's Blue Ghost Lander Embarks on Moon Mission, Captures Stunning ImagesFirefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lander is on a mission to the Moon, capturing spectacular images along the way. The lander has already achieved several milestones, including its first engine burn and the observation of Earth eclipsing the Sun from space. Packed with scientific instruments, Blue Ghost aims to study the lunar surface and gather data for future human missions.
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Firefly's Blue Ghost Moon Lander Captures First PhotosFirefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander has taken its first pictures of the moon from Earth orbit. The spacecraft, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, captured images of the moon as a small dot in space and a selfie with the moon in the background. Blue Ghost is scheduled to launch toward the moon in about 10 days.
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Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Moon Lander Catches Tiny Lunar EclipseBlue Ghost, a small lander from Firefly Aerospace, is on its way to the moon and has captured a rare sight: a tiny lunar eclipse. While in Earth orbit, the lander witnessed Earth eclipsing the Moon before carrying out a translunar injection burn. This mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services and aims to advance our understanding of the lunar environment with 10 onboard research payloads.
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