Blue Ghost Mission 1, a key element of this effort, launched at 1:11 a.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The mission, spearheaded by Firefly Aerospace, is targeting a lunar landing on March 2.
- Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS): This system utilizes electric fields to lift, transport, and remove hazardous lunar dust from surfaces, preventing accumulation that could impair operations.
- Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS): Using high-resolution stereo imaging, SCALPSS will document the interactions between rocket plumes and lunar regolith as the lander descends, providing critical data to model regolith erosion. This is vital for planning future missions that will involve larger payloads landing in close proximity.
The mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, with the spacecraft's landing site designated as Mare Crisium, a vast basaltic plain formed by ancient asteroid impacts. Following the landing, a suite of experiments will collect data on geophysical properties, navigation, radiation-resistant computing, and lunar regolith behavior.
"The CLPS initiative provides unprecedented access to the lunar surface, allowing us to demonstrate technologies in the exact conditions they were designed for. Missions like Blue Ghost Mission 1 are a true game changer for NASA technology advancement and demonstration."
A Technical Integration Lead for NASA's Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative (LSII) emphasized: "Getting this new data on lunar regolith will be pivotal for our understanding of the lunar surface. We've long known that lunar dust is a huge challenge. The Lunar Surface Innovation Initiative has enabled us to initiate lunar dust mitigation efforts across the agency, working with industry and international partners. The lunar science, exploration, and technology communities are eager to have new quantitative data, and to prove laboratory experiments and develop technology solutions."
LSII's efforts also extend to collaborating with the Lunar Surface Innovation Consortium to address broader challenges, such as in-situ resource utilization, surface power, and surviving the lunar night.
"Learning is interwoven and beneficial to future missions whether hundreds of thousands of miles from Earth, on the Moon, or millions, on Mars," the Technical Integration Lead added.
Related Links
Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS0
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
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