A private lunar lunar carrying an exercise, a vacuum cleaner and other experiences for NASA approached the moon on Sunday, a success for the last in a series of companies that seek to launch business on the celestial neighbor of the Earth before the missions of astronaut.
The Blue Ghost Lander of Firefly Aerospace has descended from the lunar orbit on the automatic pilot, targeting the slopes of an old volcanic dome in an impact basin on the northeast edge of the moon on the nearby side.
Confirmation of the successful touchdown came from the control of the company’s mission outside Austin, Texas, after the action at around 360,000 kilometers.
“You have all stuck the landing. We are on the moon,” said Coogan, Firefly chief engineer.
A right and stable landing makes Firefly – a startup founded a decade ago – the first private outfit to put a spacecraft on the moon without crashing or falling. Even countries have failed, with only five successful complaints: Russia, the United States, China, India and Japan.
Half an hour after landing, Blue Ghost began to return photos of the surface, the first a selfie somewhat obscured by the glare of the sun. The second plan included the native planet, a sparkling blue point in the darkness of space.
The landing of two other companies are hot on the heels of Blue Ghost, the next one who should join him on the moon later this week.
Blue Ghost – named after a rare American species of fireflies – had its size and shape. The landing on all fours squat is two meters high and 3.5 meters wide, offering additional stability, depending on the company.
Firefly Aerospace based in the United States plans to carry out several lunar experiences for NASA, while Ispace, based in Tokyo, is on a distinct mission for Japan.
Launched in mid-January from Florida, the Lander transported 10 experiences on the Moon for NASA. The space agency has paid US $ 101 million ($ 146 million CDN) for delivery, plus US $ 44 million (64 million CDN dollars) for science and technology on board. This is the third mission as part of the NASA lunar delivery sales program, intended to ignite a lunar economy of competing private companies while recovering before the astronauts arise this decade later.
Exact unknown position
Ray Allensworth of Firefly said that the Lander had jumped dangers, including rocks to land safely. Allesworth said the team had continued to analyze the data to determine the exact position of the landing, but all the indications suggest that it landed in the target zone of 100 meters in Mare Crisium.
The demos should have two weeks of operation, before the end of the lunar day and the landing stops.
He transported a vacuum to suck up the dirt of the moon for analysis and a drill to measure the temperature as deep as three meters below the surface. Also on board: a device to eliminate abrasive lunar dust – a scourge for NASA Apollo Moonwalkers, which made them crack on their space combinations and equipment.
On the way to the moon, Blue Ghost radiated exquisite photos of the original planet. The landingman continued to stun once orbit around the moon, with detailed plans from the surface of the moon of the moon. At the same time, an on -board receiver followed and acquired signals from American GPS and the European constellations of Galileo, a step forward encouraging in navigation for future explorers.
The landing has prepared the land for a new crush on line visitors for a lunar company.
Another Lander – a large and lean, four meters high built and exploited by intuitive machines based in Houston – is expected to land on the moon on Thursday. It aims at the bottom of the moon, just 160 kilometers from the South Pole. It is closer to the post that the company last year with its first Lander, which broke a leg and made a touch.
Despite the fall, Lander of intuitive machines put the United States back on the Moon for the first time since NASA astronauts closed the Apollo program in 1972.
A third the Japanese company Ispace is still three months from landing. He shared a rocket with Blue Ghost of Cape Canaveral on January 15, taking a longer and more Win route. Like intuitive machines, ISPACE is also trying to land on the moon for the second time. His first Lander crashed in 2023.
The moon is strewn with wreck not only of the ISPACE, but also dozens of other unsuccessful attempts during the decades.
NASA wants to keep a rhythm of two private lunar moles per year, realizing that certain missions will fail, said the best scientific officer of the spatial agency Nicky Fox.
“It will really open a whole new way for adapting more science to space and the moon,” said Fox.
Unlike the successful landings of Apollo Moon of NASA which had billions of dollars behind them and AS astronauts at the helm, private companies operate with a limited budget with robotic craftsmen who must land by themselves, said the CEO of Firefly, Jason Kim.
Kim said everything was going on like watchmaking work.
“We had moon dust on our boots,” said Kim.
