NASA Prepares for Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Launch to Moon from Kennedy Space Center
By NASA information center // November 26, 2024
nasa & space news
BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – The Blue Ghost flight to the Moon, carrying 10 NASA science and technology instruments, will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Brevard County.
A six-day launch window opens no earlier than mid-January 2025 for the first Firefly Aerospace launch to the lunar surface.
The company named the mission Ghost Riders in the Sky.
It will land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300 miles wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the lunar near side.
The mission will carry NASA investigations and first-of-their-kind technology demonstrations to further our understanding of the Moon’s environment and help prepare for future human missions to the lunar surface as part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach.
This includes payloads testing lunar subsurface drilling, regolith sample collection, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. The data captured also benefits humanity by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth.
Under the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial delivery services to the Moon to enable industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration.
As a primary customer for CLPS deliveries, NASA aims to be one of many customers on future flights.
NASA is working with multiple U.S. companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface as part of its Artemis campaign. These companies can bid on task orders to deliver NASA payloads to the Moon.
The task order includes payload integration and operations launching from Earth and landing on the surface of the Moon. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028.
Related Story:College Can’t Wait! Enroll TODAY for Spring 2025 Courses at Eastern Florida State College!
CLICK HERE FOR BREVARD COUNTY NEWS
