Latest news with #GhostRidersintheSky
San Francisco Chronicle
24-05-2025
- General
- San Francisco Chronicle
Fatal crash damages historic California national park building linked to famous song
A truck driver died after crashing into the historic building where the Johnny Cash hit 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' was composed. A semitruck hit the former ranger station at Emigrant Junction in Death Valley National Park on Tuesday, a news release from the National Park Service said this week. The collision on California Highway 190 is believed to have occurred due to a brake malfunction, with no other vehicles involved. The Civilian Conservation Corps built the ranger station in the 1930s. Singer-songwriter Stan Jones wrote 'Ghost Riders' in the late 1940s during his time as a ranger, and Cash's 1979 version became the best known recording of the song. Hundreds of other performers have also recorded the song, including Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee and the Outlaws. The truck struck the building's porch, destroying two stone columns and damaging the roof and windows. The building is not currently in use but has been maintained due to its historical value. The truck was destroyed in the collision and spilled dry sodium and diesel onto the road. Park service staff responded to the scene, along with the California Highway Patrol, Caltrans and the Inyo County Coroner. The section of Highway 190 between Stovepipe Wells and Towne Pass remained closed for 22 hours after a hazardous materials crew cleaned the area. Brake overheating can be a problem for semitrucks and other heavy vehicles that run through the stretch of Highway 190, where long, steep grades are common on both sides of Towne Pass. A contractor truck burned after descending from Towne Pass on April 9, and several commercial trucks caught fire in the area in 2024, the park service said.
Miami Herald
22-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
Crash into historic Death Valley building kills truck driver in CA, park says
A semitruck driver died after the rig crashed into a historic building inside Death Valley National Park in California, the National Park Service said. The truck slammed into the Emigrant Ranger Station in Death Valley National Park just after 2 p.m. on Tuesday, May 20, the service said in a news release. 'A brake malfunction' likely caused the crash, the service said. The truck collided with the station's 'porch, destroying two stone columns, damaging the roof, and breaking windows,' the park service said. Emigrant Ranger Station, a stone structure 'built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps,' was where 'Stan Jones wrote the song 'Ghost Riders in the Sky'' in 1947 while he was working as a park ranger, the park said. No other vehicles were involved in the crash, the park service said. Park staff said they responded to manage the scene, where the road was covered in 'a dry form of sodium sulfate mined in the Searles Valley' and diesel fuel from the truck. The destroyed truck was also blocking the road, the park service said, adding that a stretch of California Highway 190 between Stovepipe Wells and Towne Pass was closed for nearly a day. Overnight, a hazmat team arrived to handle the spill cleanup, and the highway was fully reopened at about 11:30 a.m. on May 21, the park said. 'CA-190 has long, steep grades on both sides of Towne Pass, which can lead to brakes overheating in heavy vehicles,' the park service said. A truck burnt on its Towne Pass descent on April 9, while an additional six vehicles caught fire below the pass last year, the park service said. Death Valley National Park straddles the California–Nevada border.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Driver killed, truck hits historic building in Death Valley National Park
LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A truck driver died Tuesday when a tractor-trailer rig ran off the road and into a building in Death Valley National Park, officials said on Wednesday. The single-vehicle crash scattered debris and left diesel fuel on CA-190 between Stovepipe Wells and Towne Pass, closing the main road through the park for about 22 hours. The road reopened at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday. The crash was likely caused by a brake malfunction, officials said. CA-190 has long, steep grades on both sides of Towne Pass, and truck fires have been a problem recently. An electrical contractor truck burned after descending Towne Pass on April 9. Six commercial trucks and one fifth-wheel RV caught on fire below Towne Pass in 2024. LAST YEAR: Truck fire marks 8th of 2024 on steep Death Valley road The truck collided with the historic stone Emigrant Ranger Station, built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps. It hit the building's porch, destroying two stone columns, damaging the roof and breaking windows, park officials said. Stan Jones wrote the song 'Ghost Riders in the Sky' while living in the building and working as a park ranger in 1947, officials said. The building hasn't been used for several decades. A hazmat team worked overnight to clean up the spill. The truck was carrying a load from a mine in the Searles Valley Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Farewell, Blue Ghost! Private moon lander goes dark to end record-breaking commercial lunar mission
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The historic mission of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander is over. The solar-powered Blue Ghost went dark on Sunday evening (March 16) after the sun set on its lunar locale, bringing an end to a highly successful two weeks of surface operations on the moon. "We battle-tested every system on the lander and simulated every mission scenario we could think of to get to this point," Blue Ghost Chief Engineer Will Coogan said in a Firefly statement today (March 17) that announced the end of the mission. "But what really sets this team apart is the passion and commitment to each other," he added. "Our team may look younger and less experienced than those of many nations and companies that attempted moon landings before us, but the support we have for one another is what fuels the hard work and dedication to finding every solution that made this mission a success." Blue Ghost's mission, which Firefly called "Ghost Riders in the Sky," was the company's first-ever lunar effort. The flight was supported by NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which puts agency science gear on robotic landers to gather a wealth of cost-effective data ahead of the arrival of Artemis astronauts on the moon a few years from now. Blue Ghost carried 10 NASA payloads, which it successfully delivered to a basaltic plain on the lunar near side called Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises") on March 2. The successful touchdown was just the second ever by a private lunar lander, after that of Intuitive Machines' Odysseus vehicle in February 2024. Odysseus operated for seven Earth days on the lunar surface before going dark. The mission plan called for Blue Ghost, and those science instruments, to operate for a lunar day — about two Earth weeks. And that indeed happened, Firefly said today, declaring "Ghost Riders in the Sky" 100% successful. "After a flawless moon landing, the Firefly team immediately moved into surface operations to ensure all 10 NASA payloads could capture as much science as possible during the lunar day," Firefly CEO Jason Kim said in the same statement. "We're incredibly proud of the demonstrations Blue Ghost enabled, from tracking GPS signals on the moon for the first time to robotically drilling deeper into the lunar surface than ever before," Kim said. "We want to extend a huge thank you to the NASA CLPS initiative and the White House administration for serving as the bedrock for this Firefly mission. It has been an honor to enable science and technology experiments that support future missions to the moon, Mars and beyond." Related: Touch down on the moon with private Blue Ghost lander in this amazing video Blue Ghost was even able to observe the "Blood Worm Moon" total lunar eclipse of March 13-14. But, thanks to its unique vantage point, the lander saw this dramatic event as a solar eclipse, snapping a gorgeous "diamond ring" photo that Firefly shared with the world. The lander beamed home a total of 119 gigabytes (GB) of data, including 51 GB of science information, before going dark as expected on Sunday at around 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT), according to Firefly. Blue Ghost's final hours were productive. It "captured imagery of the lunar sunset on March 16, providing NASA with data on whether lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow that was hypothesized and observed by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17," Firefly wrote in the statement. "Following the sunset, Blue Ghost operated for 5 hours into the lunar night and continued to capture imagery that measures how dust behavior changes after sunset." RELATED STORIES: — 'We're on the moon!' Private Blue Ghost moon lander aces historic lunar landing for NASA — Watch sparks fly as Blue Ghost lander drills into the moon (video) — Wow! Private lunar lander watches 'diamond ring' eclipse from the surface of the moon (photo) "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was part of a wave of private moon exploration. For instance, Blue Ghost launched on Jan. 15 along with another private lunar lander, Tokyo-based ispace's Resilience, which is expected to make its own touchdown attempt on June 5. And Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander, called Athena, lifted off on Feb. 26 and landed near the moon's south pole on March 6. However, Athena, which was also flying a CLPS mission, tipped onto its side just after touchdown and was declared dead on March 7. That exploration surge will continue in the coming years, if all goes to plan. Firefly is already looking forward to its second moon mission, a CLPS effort that's expected to launch in 2026. That flight will send Blue Ghost to the lunar far side and also place Firefly's "Elytra Dark" spacecraft in orbit around the moon.
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Farewell, Blue Ghost! Private moon lander goes dark to end record-breaking commercial lunar mission
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The historic mission of Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander is over. The solar-powered Blue Ghost went dark on Sunday evening (March 16) after the sun set on its lunar locale, bringing an end to a highly successful two weeks of surface operations on the moon. "We battle-tested every system on the lander and simulated every mission scenario we could think of to get to this point," Blue Ghost Chief Engineer Will Coogan said in a Firefly statement today (March 17) that announced the end of the mission. "But what really sets this team apart is the passion and commitment to each other," he added. "Our team may look younger and less experienced than those of many nations and companies that attempted moon landings before us, but the support we have for one another is what fuels the hard work and dedication to finding every solution that made this mission a success." Blue Ghost's mission, which Firefly called "Ghost Riders in the Sky," was the company's first-ever lunar effort. The flight was supported by NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, which puts agency science gear on robotic landers to gather a wealth of cost-effective data ahead of the arrival of Artemis astronauts on the moon a few years from now. Blue Ghost carried 10 NASA payloads, which it successfully delivered to a basaltic plain on the lunar near side called Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises") on March 2. The successful touchdown was just the second ever by a private lunar lander, after that of Intuitive Machines' Odysseus vehicle in February 2024. Odysseus operated for seven Earth days on the lunar surface before going dark. The mission plan called for Blue Ghost, and those science instruments, to operate for a lunar day — about two Earth weeks. And that indeed happened, Firefly said today, declaring "Ghost Riders in the Sky" 100% successful. "After a flawless moon landing, the Firefly team immediately moved into surface operations to ensure all 10 NASA payloads could capture as much science as possible during the lunar day," Firefly CEO Jason Kim said in the same statement. "We're incredibly proud of the demonstrations Blue Ghost enabled, from tracking GPS signals on the moon for the first time to robotically drilling deeper into the lunar surface than ever before," Kim said. "We want to extend a huge thank you to the NASA CLPS initiative and the White House administration for serving as the bedrock for this Firefly mission. It has been an honor to enable science and technology experiments that support future missions to the moon, Mars and beyond." Related: Touch down on the moon with private Blue Ghost lander in this amazing video Blue Ghost was even able to observe the "Blood Worm Moon" total lunar eclipse of March 13-14. But, thanks to its unique vantage point, the lander saw this dramatic event as a solar eclipse, snapping a gorgeous "diamond ring" photo that Firefly shared with the world. The lander beamed home a total of 119 gigabytes (GB) of data, including 51 GB of science information, before going dark as expected on Sunday at around 7:15 p.m. EDT (2315 GMT), according to Firefly. Blue Ghost's final hours were productive. It "captured imagery of the lunar sunset on March 16, providing NASA with data on whether lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow that was hypothesized and observed by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17," Firefly wrote in the statement. "Following the sunset, Blue Ghost operated for 5 hours into the lunar night and continued to capture imagery that measures how dust behavior changes after sunset." RELATED STORIES: — 'We're on the moon!' Private Blue Ghost moon lander aces historic lunar landing for NASA — Watch sparks fly as Blue Ghost lander drills into the moon (video) — Wow! Private lunar lander watches 'diamond ring' eclipse from the surface of the moon (photo) "Ghost Riders in the Sky" was part of a wave of private moon exploration. For instance, Blue Ghost launched on Jan. 15 along with another private lunar lander, Tokyo-based ispace's Resilience, which is expected to make its own touchdown attempt on June 5. And Intuitive Machines' second lunar lander, called Athena, lifted off on Feb. 26 and landed near the moon's south pole on March 6. However, Athena, which was also flying a CLPS mission, tipped onto its side just after touchdown and was declared dead on March 7. That exploration surge will continue in the coming years, if all goes to plan. Firefly is already looking forward to its second moon mission, a CLPS effort that's expected to launch in 2026. That flight will send Blue Ghost to the lunar far side and also place Firefly's "Elytra Dark" spacecraft in orbit around the moon.
