Latest news with #WillCoogan
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.
CNN
14-03-2025
- Science
- CNN
Blue Ghost lander captured a solar eclipse while on the moon. See the stunning imagery here
While parts of the Earth experienced a total lunar eclipse early Friday, a spacecraft on the moon captured the spectacle from a different perspective — a solar eclipse that appeared as a fiery ring in space. The Blue Ghost lunar lander, which has been on the moon since the spacecraft's successful touchdown on March 2, captured images of the sun, Earth and moon lined up at around 4:30 a.m. ET, the private Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace announced Friday. The lander captured what is known as the 'diamond ring' effect, which is when light from the sun peeks through right before totality — in this case when the Earth fully blocked the sun — and after. Firefly Aerospace also shared footage made up of several images stitched together that the lander had rapidly captured during the solar eclipse. These images show the spacecraft taking on a deep red hue as the sunlight is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a shadow cast on the lunar surface. 'Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander had the rare opportunity to operate on the Moon and capture the first (high-definition) imagery of a total solar eclipse on March 14,' Will Coogan, Blue Ghost's chief engineer, said in a email. 'This is the first time in history a commercial company has ever been operational during an eclipse on the Moon, and we're incredibly proud of the imagery we've downlinked so far.' The images came in after the lander's X-band antenna — the device used to beam data and images back from the vehicle — warmed up after facing cold temperatures during the darkness caused by totality, Firefly Aerospace posted on X. 'Operating for nearly 5 hours of darkness during a total eclipse is as challenging as operating during the lunar night — temperatures on the Moon can quickly drop below -100°C (minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit) and there's no sunlight to provide power, so the lander was solely running on battery power,' Coogan said in an email. 'But this team continues to raise the bar and make achievements that are incredibly difficult look easy.' A spacecraft has captured an eclipse while on the moon's surface only one other time. In 1967, NASA's Surveyor 3 lander, which had been sent to gather data in preparation for the Apollo missions, captured a series of images that documented the first view of an eclipse from another celestial body. Related gallery In pictures: March blood moon lights up the sky The Blue Ghost lander has been documenting its journey through space since it left Earth on January 15, sharing breathtaking imagery of the moon and Earth. Next up, Firefly looks to capture the lunar sunset on Sunday. During lunar sunsets, a mysterious phenomenon occurs when the moon's horizon glows, which is believed to be caused by sunlight scattering through floating electrostatic particles, according to NASA. Firefly CEO Jason Kim has told CNN that he is looking forward to verifying this event. 'There's a phenomenon called the lunar horizon glow that only the Apollo 15 and 17 astronauts have seen with their eyes,' Kim said. 'We're going to be able to capture that in 4K-by-4K high-definition video and share that with the rest of the world.' Besides sharing the imagery, Blue Ghost has 10 NASA science and technology instruments aboard as part of the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative. CLPS is part of NASA's broader Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The instruments are currently working to collect data primarily on the moon's subsurface, such as lunar dust and regolith, the loose rocks and mineral fragments that cover the lunar surface. Shortly after the sunset, the lander will continue to operate for several hours during the lunar nighttime before the period of darkness and cold temperatures are expected to cause the spacecraft to cease operations.
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Blue Ghost lander captured a solar eclipse while on the moon. See the stunning imagery here
Sign up for CNN's Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more. While parts of the Earth experienced a total lunar eclipse early Friday, a spacecraft on the moon captured the spectacle from a different perspective — a solar eclipse that appeared as a fiery ring in space. The Blue Ghost lunar lander, which has been on the moon since the spacecraft's successful touchdown on March 2, captured images of the sun, Earth and moon lined up at around 4:30 a.m. ET, the private Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace announced Friday. The lander captured what is known as the 'diamond ring' effect, which is when light from the sun peeks through right before totality — in this case when the Earth fully blocked the sun — and after. Firefly Aerospace also shared footage made up of several images stitched together that the lander had rapidly captured during the solar eclipse. These images show the spacecraft taking on a deep red hue as the sunlight is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a shadow cast on the lunar surface. 'Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander had the rare opportunity to operate on the Moon and capture the first (high-definition) imagery of a total solar eclipse on March 14,' Will Coogan, Blue Ghost's chief engineer, said in a email. 'This is the first time in history a commercial company has ever been operational during an eclipse on the Moon, and we're incredibly proud of the imagery we've downlinked so far.' The images came in after the lander's X-band antenna — the device used to beam data and images back from the vehicle — warmed up after facing cold temperatures during the darkness caused by totality, Firefly Aerospace posted on X. 'Operating for nearly 5 hours of darkness during a total eclipse is as challenging as operating during the lunar night — temperatures on the Moon can quickly drop below -100°C (minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit) and there's no sunlight to provide power, so the lander was solely running on battery power,' Coogan said in an email. 'But this team continues to raise the bar and make achievements that are incredibly difficult look easy.' A spacecraft has captured an eclipse while on the moon's surface only one other time. In 1967, NASA's Surveyor 3 lander, which had been sent to gather data in preparation for the Apollo missions, captured a series of images that documented the first view of an eclipse from another celestial body. The Blue Ghost lander has been documenting its journey through space since it left Earth on January 15, sharing breathtaking imagery of the moon and Earth. Next up, Firefly looks to capture the lunar sunset on Sunday. During lunar sunsets, a mysterious phenomenon occurs when the moon's horizon glows, which is believed to be caused by sunlight scattering through floating electrostatic particles, according to NASA. Firefly CEO Jason Kim has told CNN that he is looking forward to verifying this event. 'There's a phenomenon called the lunar horizon glow that only the Apollo 15 and 17 astronauts have seen with their eyes,' Kim said. 'We're going to be able to capture that in 4K-by-4K high-definition video and share that with the rest of the world.' Besides sharing the imagery, Blue Ghost has 10 NASA science and technology instruments aboard as part of the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative. CLPS is part of NASA's broader Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The instruments are currently working to collect data primarily on the moon's subsurface, such as lunar dust and regolith, the loose rocks and mineral fragments that cover the lunar surface. Shortly after the sunset, the lander will continue to operate for several hours during the lunar nighttime before the period of darkness and cold temperatures are expected to cause the spacecraft to cease operations.
CNN
14-03-2025
- Science
- CNN
Blue Ghost lander captured a solar eclipse while on the moon. See the stunning imagery here
While parts of the Earth experienced a total lunar eclipse early Friday, a spacecraft on the moon captured the spectacle from a different perspective — a solar eclipse that appeared as a fiery ring in space. The Blue Ghost lunar lander, which has been on the moon since the spacecraft's successful touchdown on March 2, captured images of the sun, Earth and moon lined up at around 4:30 a.m. ET, the private Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace announced Friday. The lander captured what is known as the 'diamond ring' effect, which is when light from the sun peeks through right before totality — in this case when the Earth fully blocked the sun — and after. Firefly Aerospace also shared footage made up of several images stitched together that the lander had rapidly captured during the solar eclipse. These images show the spacecraft taking on a deep red hue as the sunlight is refracted through the Earth's atmosphere, resulting in a shadow cast on the lunar surface. 'Firefly's Blue Ghost lunar lander had the rare opportunity to operate on the Moon and capture the first (high-definition) imagery of a total solar eclipse on March 14,' Will Coogan, Blue Ghost's chief engineer, said in a email. 'This is the first time in history a commercial company has ever been operational during an eclipse on the Moon, and we're incredibly proud of the imagery we've downlinked so far.' The images came in after the lander's X-band antenna — the device used to beam data and images back from the vehicle — warmed up after facing cold temperatures during the darkness caused by totality, Firefly Aerospace posted on X. 'Operating for nearly 5 hours of darkness during a total eclipse is as challenging as operating during the lunar night — temperatures on the Moon can quickly drop below -100°C (minus 148 degrees Fahrenheit) and there's no sunlight to provide power, so the lander was solely running on battery power,' Coogan said in an email. 'But this team continues to raise the bar and make achievements that are incredibly difficult look easy.' A spacecraft has captured an eclipse while on the moon's surface only one other time. In 1967, NASA's Surveyor 3 lander, which had been sent to gather data in preparation for the Apollo missions, captured a series of images that documented the first view of an eclipse from another celestial body. Related gallery In pictures: March blood moon lights up the sky The Blue Ghost lander has been documenting its journey through space since it left Earth on January 15, sharing breathtaking imagery of the moon and Earth. Next up, Firefly looks to capture the lunar sunset on Sunday. During lunar sunsets, a mysterious phenomenon occurs when the moon's horizon glows, which is believed to be caused by sunlight scattering through floating electrostatic particles, according to NASA. Firefly CEO Jason Kim has told CNN that he is looking forward to verifying this event. 'There's a phenomenon called the lunar horizon glow that only the Apollo 15 and 17 astronauts have seen with their eyes,' Kim said. 'We're going to be able to capture that in 4K-by-4K high-definition video and share that with the rest of the world.' Besides sharing the imagery, Blue Ghost has 10 NASA science and technology instruments aboard as part of the space agency's Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative. CLPS is part of NASA's broader Artemis program, which aims to land astronauts on the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. The instruments are currently working to collect data primarily on the moon's subsurface, such as lunar dust and regolith, the loose rocks and mineral fragments that cover the lunar surface. Shortly after the sunset, the lander will continue to operate for several hours during the lunar nighttime before the period of darkness and cold temperatures are expected to cause the spacecraft to cease operations.
