On Sunday, a spacecraft named Blue Ghost beautifully stuck a lunar landing. It was the second private spacecraft to soft-land on the lunar surface. From Firefly Aerospace:
Blue Ghost Mission 1 delivered 10 science and technology instruments to the lunar surface as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Upon launching on January 15, Blue Ghost spent approximately 45 days traveling to the Moon, allowing ample time to conduct health checks on each subsystem and begin payload science. Blue Ghost then successfully landed in Mare Crisium on March 2 and is now operating payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days). On March 14, Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon's horizon. Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset on March 16, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several hours into the lunar night.
Previously:
• Hilton hotels designing suites for NASA-funded private space station
• Can a Bitcoin-mining space heater offset crypto energy costs?
