Firefly Aerospace

more picture
GlB6G9BXkAA1j7W
 
FighterJock said:
Excellent news, well done to all involved. How long will the lander be operational on the lunar surface?
Click to expand...
Will have to look up to confirm what was heard after midnight our time, but I'm pretty sure they said their planned mission was 1 lunar day, aka 2 Earth weeks.

EDIT: Yeah, here, this supports what I remember,

https://fireflyspace.com/missions/blue-ghost-mission-1/

Mission Updates​

Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, named Ghost Riders in the Sky, launched on January 15 and completed its 45-day Earth to Moon transit before softly touching down on the Moon on March 2. Firefly is now the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing! As Blue Ghost performs 14 days of surface operations, follow along with Firefly’s mission updates along the way.
Click to expand...
 
Scott Manley has recently put out a video about three privately funded Moon-landers including the Blue Ghost:


Last month Firefly and iSpace launched their own independent lunar landers to on the same SpaceX rocket. In a few days we expect Intuitive Machines to launch on another Falcon 9. This means we're going to have 3 privately built lunar landers en route to the moon, before Firefly's Blue Ghost hopes to attempt a landing this weekend.
Click to expand...
So why are there so many private companies building lunar landers? What are their plans and what differentiates their designs?
Click to expand...
 
The Space Bucket has put out a video about the touchdown of the Blue Ghost Moon-lander:


A few days ago Firefly Aerospace successfully landed on the Moon with its privately built Blue Ghost lunar lander. While initially we only got a few images of the lander after it had touched down on the Moon, Firefly just released a new video.
Click to expand...
Here, we can see not only the landing but also some of the final maneuvers that were made leading up to the touchdown. It also gives us a good idea of the speed and state of the landing as teams work to complete more science over the next two weeks.https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...w&q=https://thespacebucket.com/&v=IMd2A1Wljfc
Click to expand...
Credit:
Firefly Aerospace - / @fireflyspace https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31UF9oKANw77yxBLxN852A
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:29 - Landing Video
4:03 - Two Weeks
Click to expand...
 
Scott Manley has uploaded another video about the Blue Ghost lander and how its' video gave clues as to where it landed on the Moon:


Ok the video is great, go and watch it first.
Click to expand...
But as soon as I saw it I was examining every detail to figure out the landing site, since the previously released images didn't have enough context given the limited resolution of images we already had.
Click to expand...
And so my answer is 18.5635N 61.8099E - watch the video to find out how I figured this out.
Click to expand...
 
The Space Bucket has an update video about the Blue Ghost Moon-lander:


It's been about 10 days since Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander touched down on the Moon's surface and since then it's been very busy. In that time, the lander has primarily been conducting different payload science, and videoing it when possible.
Click to expand...
In addition, images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter show the lander's exact location and how close it truly is to a crater.
Click to expand...
Credit:
Firefly Aerospace - / @fireflyspace https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31UF9oKANw77yxBLxN852A
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:26 - Surface Operations
3:35 - Extreme Heat
Click to expand...
 
The Space Bucket has just uploaded a new video concerning the Blue Ghost lander taking images of the solar-eclipse that has just happened:


Early this morning, Firefly Aerospace shared some of the first images they captured of a solar eclipse that happened overnight. This marked the first time in history a commercial company was actively operating on the Moon and able to observe a total solar eclipse where the Earth blocks the sun and casts a shadow on the lunar surface.
Click to expand...
In addition to these images, we also got new video of the landing using some of NASA's onboard cameras.
Click to expand...
Credit:
Firefly Aerospace - / @fireflyspace
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31UF9oKANw77yxBLxN852A
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Solar Eclipse
3:11 - New Landing Video
Click to expand...
 
NMaude said:
The Blue Ghost has performed very, VERY well so let's hope it survives the Moon's night and wakes up next sunrise on the Moon.
Click to expand...

I don't believe they intend for that to happen. They have announced End of Mission, which means they are turning it off. Apparently the final command to the probe was to put it into "monument mode", powering everything down after a final message.

https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/17/science/blue-ghost-moon-lander-mission-ends/index.html
Edit to add a better article:

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...as-able-to-nail-its-very-first-lunar-landing/
 
Last edited:
So the Blue Ghost is officially out of power, from the Space Bucket:


As it was getting darker and Blue Ghost began to run out of power, the lander captured some final video and images of a lunar sunset from the Moon. With this, NASA scientists are now investigating the data to try and learn more about a certain lunar phenomenon.
Click to expand...
After two weeks on the lunar surface, Firefly and NASA confirmed that the lander completed 100% of its planned payload science. At this point, the mission is concluded and teams aren't expecting to hear from the lander again. https://www.youtube.com/redirect?ev...Q&q=https://thespacebucket.com/&v=zMniZKhYVmQ
Click to expand...
Credit:
Firefly Aerospace - / @fireflyspace https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC31UF9oKANw77yxBLxN852A
Click to expand...
Chapters:
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Final Surface Operations
3:22 - Payload Science Overview
Click to expand...

It will be interesting in two-weeks time with the next sunrise on the Moon if they do get a signal from the lander.
 
That's just the new detonation engine outperforming....that's the ticket...Morgan Fairchild.

You know, that image will be used by first stages to make the baby upper stages go to bed early...keep your nozzle under the shroud or the great galactic ghoul will bite it off.
 
I imagine their insurance costs must be going up. What with two successes, two failures and two partial failures now.
 
NASA Selects Firefly for New Artemis Science, Tech Delivery to Moon

NASA has awarded Firefly Aerospace of Cedar Park, Texas, $176.7 million to deliver two rovers and three scientific instruments to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to explore more of the Moon than ever before.

This delivery is the first time NASA will use multiple rovers and a variety of stationary instruments, in a collaborative effort with the CSA (Canadian Space Agency) and the University of Bern, to help us understand the chemical composition of the lunar South Pole region and discover the potential for using resources available in permanently shadowed regions of the Moon.
Click to expand...

Click on the link above for the entire press release
 

Similar threads

Back
Top Bottom