Firefly ’s Blue Ghost lander commence its journey to the Moon a picayune over a calendar week ago , and the delegacy has already beamed back stellar snapshots from space . In addition to check off a tilt of critical milestones , Blue Ghost also captured a classical photo of Earth and catch a brief moment of darkness as Earth dominate the Sun .
Blue Ghostlaunched on Wednesday , January 15 , on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 Eruca vesicaria sativa , headed from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida toward the Moon . The delegacy , advert “ Ghost Riders in the Sky , ” will pass 45 days traveling through place before seek a soft touchdown on the lunar control surface .
Shortly after liftoff , Blue Ghost catch its first effigy from space . The icon shows the top deck of the lander , with the 10 - band aerial and NASA ’s LEXI payload visible under a bright flash from the Sun ’s light .
Blue Ghost captured the blue marble while in Earth orbit.Firefly Aerospace
Six of Blue Ghost ’s payloads are already post initial data back to Earth , while one cargo , LuGRE , began its science operations , according to aFirefly Aerospacestatement . “ Developed by the Italian Space Agency , LuGRE is trail signals from GPS and Galileo satellites during our Earth to Moon transit to test signal attainment and usage along the path , ” the fellowship wrote .
On January 18 , the team at Firefly carried out Blue Ghost ’s first engine burning , firing up the lander ’s thrusters and main engine in distance for the first time . The locomotive suntan add the spacecraft closer to Earth in preparation for its upcoming maneuvers .
As it orb Earth , Blue Ghost captured a arresting occultation from outer space . But rather than seeing the Moon deposit itself between us and the Sun , the lander consider Earth briefly barricade the Sun ’s igniter .
Blue Ghost’s first on-orbit image. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Blue Ghost is set to orbit Earth for 25 years before performing an railway locomotive burn to place it on a trajectory toward the Moon . Blue Ghost will expend four days en road to the Moon , and another 16 orbiting Earth ’s satellite before attempting to shoot down on its dusty surface .
The spacecraft capture spectacularly telling views of our major planet while perform a second engine burn . The lander has about two weeks exit in Earth ’s orbit , and it ’s look at full vantage of that time
Once it reaches the Moon , Blue Ghost is place Mare Crisium , the site of an ancient asteroid impingement internet site once filled with basaltic lava . The basalts in Mare Crisium are between 2.5 and 3.3 billion class old , according toNASA . The lander is packed with 10 scientific instrument to hit the books the lunar control surface and gather data point to support next human missions to the Moon as part of NASA ’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services ( CLPS ) initiative .
Blue Ghost’s first engine burn with invisible plumes in the vacuum of space. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
The Moon is about to be a busy place , with more of these commercial misstep planned this year , including ispace ’s Resilience lander , which launched to the Moon alongside Blue Ghost but is lay to hit the lunar surface in a few calendar month time .
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