Blue Ghost Advances Lunar Mission Milestones

Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 22, 2025
Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander continues its ambitious mission to the Moon, transporting 10 NASA science and technology payloads. Now four days into the mission, the spacecraft has successfully completed its first main engine burn. This critical maneuver sets the stage for Blue Ghost to follow a precise trajectory toward the Moon. The mission plan involves a 25-day Earth orbit phase, after which the spacecraft will embark on a four-day journey to lunar orbit. Once there, it will orbit the Moon for 16 days before commencing its descent to the lunar surface, all as part of NASA's Artemis campaign.

One of the mission's key technology demonstrations, the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), jointly developed by NASA and the Italian Space Agency, has already achieved a significant milestone. LuGRE successfully acquired Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) signals and calculated a navigation fix at a distance of nearly 52 Earth radii-more than 205,674 miles (331,000 kilometers) from Earth. This marks an unprecedented achievement, showcasing the feasibility of using Earth-based GNSS constellations for navigation over 90% of the distance to the Moon. By leveraging multiple GNSS constellations, such as GPS and Galileo, LuGRE has set a new Earth-Moon signal distance record.

As the mission progresses, LuGRE will continue to expand our understanding of navigation in deep space by tracking GNSS signals during its lunar transit, while in lunar orbit, and for up to two weeks on the Moon's surface. These ongoing experiments are expected to provide valuable insights into the potential of GNSS technology for future space missions.

During the Earth transit phase, the Firefly mission team has maintained the spacecraft's health and ensured smooth operations. Recent visuals captured by the spacecraft include stunning footage of Earth eclipsing the Sun, offering a unique perspective from space.