Latest news with #BlueGhostOne
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sneak peek: Firefly Aerospace reveals first video from lunar landing
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The first POV video of a lunar landing in decades has been revealed. On Sunday, Cedar Park-based Firefly Aerospace landed on the moon, making it the first commercial lander to successfully make the trip without incident. Blue Ghost One touched down on the lunar surface around 2:30 a.m. CST on March 2. The video, released March 3, shows the last minutes of Blue Ghost's journey as it settles on the surface. The video ends with the lunar lander looking back toward Earth. Blue Ghost One is the first of three lunar landings planned for the company. The next will launch in 2026. That lander will touch down on the far side of the moon. Blue Ghost One carries several experiments as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These include a drill collecting lunar samples and a machine for preventing dust build-up called an electrodynamic dust shield. These experiments will help pave the way for future space travel by NASA. Additionally, the spacecraft will capture the first images of lunar sunset. The lunar sunset has only been seen once before — during the Apollo era. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Austin-area-based Firefly Aerospace successfully lands on moon
CEDAR PARK, Texas (KXAN) — Hundreds of people, including employees of Firefly Aerospace, NASA and VIPs, cheered at the Blue Ghost One lunar landing party on Sunday morning. Mission accomplished! After a 45-day journey, a lunar lander built in Central Texas became the first commercially built spacecraft to successfully land on the moon. The lander made contact with the lunar surface around 2:30 am Sunday. Shortly after, the first photo taken by the lunar lander was sent by the space craft. Blue Ghost One carries several experiments as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. These include a drill collecting lunar samples and a machine for preventing dust build up called an electrodynamic dust shield. These experiments will help pave the way for future space travel by NASA. Additionally, the spacecraft will capture the first images of lunar sunset. The lunar sunset has only been seen once before — during the Apollo era. The evening kicked off with a reading from astronaut and poet Dr. Sian Proctor. NASA's acting administrator, Janet Petro, was in attendance. According to NASA, all of the experiments on board the spacecraft made it to the moon in healthy condition. Previous attempts by private companies at a landing have reached the surface but faced difficulties. Last year, Intuitive Machines sent their own lander to the moon. It toppled over shortly after landing and had to end service early. Last week, that company launched another mission to the moon. That lander is scheduled to land on March 6. Backstory: Historic lunar landing by Firefly Aerospace Japanese company ispace launched a lunar lander alongside Blue Ghost One. That lander is taking a longer flight to the moon and won't reach the lunar surface until May. Blue Ghost One will operate for one lunar day, approximately two weeks. After that period, temperatures on the moon will plummet and the lander will shut down. Firefly Aerospace is based in Cedar Park. It has two additional lunar landers scheduled as part of CLPS. The next is scheduled to launch in 2026. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
28-02-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Historic lunar landing by Austin-area based Firefly Aerospace is this weekend
Cedar Park, TX (KXAN) — In the early morning hours of Sunday, March 2, a lunar lander built just north of Austin, Texas will touchdown on the lunar surface. It will be the first lunar lander built in the area to land on the moon and one of only a few private companies to do so. Firefly Aerospace built Blue Ghost One as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The mission will carry several experiments to the moon, each of which will assist future manned missions and are expected to help pave the way for people living on the moon. Blue Ghost One launched from Cape Canaveral, FL on January 15th. The week's long journey allowed several experiments to be conducted, while ensuring the lander reached the moon on March 2. 'We've been in low lunar orbit for a few days now. As we get closer to that March 2 landing date, we're at a very low, almost circular orbit around the moon,' said Ray Allensworth, Spacecraft Program Director with Firefly Aerospace. Central Texas aerospace company expands to prepare for new space age Once ready, the lander will flip over and begin its descent to the surface. The trip will take about 12 minutes. Video and photos taken of the lunar surface by the spacecraft will assist in this descent. 'Google Earth, you have the wonderful privilege of getting to zoom down into the tiniest details and see cars and license plates and people walking around the streets. We don't have that level of detailed information about the moon,' said Kevin Scholtes, Future Systems Architect with Firefly Aerospace. 'As the lander is coming in, we're getting much, much higher resolution information, and that's greatly improving our ability to land, helping us identify hazards, helping us figure out where the softest, safest spot is to touch down,' Scholtes said. These new photos and video will greatly improve the chances for success of the autonomous landing of Blue Ghost One. Allensworth expects the control room to get tense in the moments leading up to landing. 'It gets really, really quiet in the Mission Operations Center. Everyone's looking at data very, very focused. You could just hear a pin drop.' Once the lander reaches the ground, the crew will take readings to ensure the health of the lander. If things look good, 'then I think we'll all just kind of erupt into joy, high fives, hugs, all of that,' Allensworth said. Then the experiments begin. Several NASA projects are on board Blue Ghost One. This includes systems that will check GPS capabilities, a device for measuring the distance from the Earth to the Moon, an x-ray telescope and a drill. Cedar Park-based aerospace company awarded $21M contract 'Getting to poke holes in the lunar surface and see what the interior is hard to pass up,' said Scholtes. After two weeks, night will descend on the moon. Temperature will plummet and Blue Ghost One will freeze. 'It will be there forever. It's this monument now that will live on the lunar surface. I think it means a lot to us, kind of, it's like a piece of your soul,' Allensworth said. Two more Blue Ghost missions are planned for the next few years. KXAN will be hand for the landing this weekend. Stay tuned for updates. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
