Lift up! NASA sends science and technology to the moon with Firefly and SpaceX flights

A series of NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations are en route to our nearest celestial neighbor aboard a commercial spacecraft, where they will provide insights into the Moon’s environment and test technologies to help future astronauts land safely on the lunar surface as part of the to support the agency’s Artemis campaign.

Blue Ghost Mission 1 carried science and technology on Firefly Aerospace’s first CLPS, or Commercial Lunar Payload Services, flight for NASA, lifting off at 1:11 a.m. EST aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company is aiming for a moon landing on Sunday, March 2nd.

“This mission embodies the bold spirit of NASA’s Artemis Campaign – a campaign driven by scientific exploration and discovery,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy. “Every flight we participate in is a critical step in the larger plan to build a responsible, sustainable human presence on the Moon, Mars and beyond. Every demonstration of scientific instruments and technologies brings us closer to realizing our vision. Congratulations to the NASA, Firefly and SpaceX teams on this successful launch.”

Once on the Moon, NASA will test and demonstrate lunar drilling technology, regolith (lunar rock and soil) sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system capabilities, radiation-tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data collected could also benefit people on Earth by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces affect our home planet.

“NASA is a global leader in space exploration, and American companies play a critical role in bringing humanity back to the moon,” said Nicola Fox, deputy administrator of the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We learned many lessons during the Apollo era that were incorporated into the technological and scientific demonstrations aboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 – to ensure the safety and health of our future scientific instruments, spacecraft and, most importantly, our astronauts on the lunar surface “I look forward to the incredible scientific and technological data that Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will deliver in the coming days.”

As part of NASA’s modern lunar exploration activities, CLPS deliveries to the Moon will help humanity better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for water and other resources, and support long-term, sustainable human exploration of the Moon in preparation for the first human mission to Mars.

There are 10 NASA payloads flying on this flight:

• Lunar instrumentation for rapid thermal subsurface exploration (LISTER) will characterize the heat flow from the lunar interior by measuring the thermal gradient and conductivity of the lunar subsurface. Multiple measurements will be taken to a final depth of approximately 10 feet using pneumatic drilling technology with a custom-made heat flow needle instrument at the tip. Lead organization: Texas Tech University
• Lunar PlanetVac (LPV) is designed to collect regolith samples from the lunar surface by using a blast of compressed gas to propel the regolith into a sample chamber, where it is collected and analyzed by various instruments. Additional instruments will then transmit the results back to Earth. Lead organization: Honeybee Robotics
• Next Generation Lunar Retroreflector (NGLR) serves as a target for lasers on Earth to accurately measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon. The retroreflector that will fly on this mission could also collect data to understand various aspects of the lunar interior and answer fundamental physics questions. Lead organization: University of Maryland
• Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) will determine how lunar regolith adheres to a range of materials exposed to the Moon’s environment during the lunar day. The RAC instrument will measure the accumulation rates of lunar regolith on the surfaces of various materials, including solar cells, optical systems, coatings and sensors, through imaging to determine their ability to repel or shed lunar dust. The data collected will enable industry to test, improve and protect spacecraft, spacesuits and habitats from abrasive regolith. Lead organization: Aegis Aerospace
• Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC) will demonstrate a computer that can correct errors caused by ionizing radiation. Several RadPC prototypes have been tested aboard the International Space Station and Earth-orbiting satellites, but are now intended to demonstrate the computer’s ability to withstand space radiation as it travels through Earth’s radiation belts, during transport to the Moon and on the Moon’s surface. Lead organization: Montana State University
• Electrodynamic dust protection (EDS) is an active dust mitigation technology that uses electric fields to move and prevent dangerous lunar dust accumulations on surfaces. EDS technology is used to lift, transport and remove particles from surfaces without moving parts. Multiple tests will demonstrate the feasibility of self-cleaning glasses and thermal emitter surfaces on the Moon. In the event that the surfaces do not receive dust during landing, EDS is able to dedust itself again using the same technology. Lead organization: NASA’s Kennedy Space Center
• Heliospheric X-ray imager for the lunar environment (LEXI) will take a series of X-ray images to study the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field, which causes geomagnetic disturbances and storms. Deployed and operated on the lunar surface, this instrument will provide the first global images showing the edge of Earth’s magnetic field, providing crucial insight into the effects of space weather and other cosmic forces around our planet. Leading organizations: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Boston University and Johns Hopkins University
• Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS) will characterize the structure and composition of the lunar mantle by measuring electric and magnetic fields. This study will help determine the Moon’s temperature structure and thermal evolution to understand how the Moon has cooled and chemically differentiated since its formation. Lead organization: Southwest Research Institute
• Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) will demonstrate the ability to acquire and track signals from global navigation satellite system constellations, particularly GPS and Galileo, during transit to the Moon, during lunar orbit, and on the lunar surface. If successful, LuGRE will be the first enabler for future lunar spacecraft to use existing Earth-based navigation constellations to autonomously and accurately estimate their position, speed and time. Lead organizations: NASA Goddard, Italian Space Agency
• Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) will use stereo imaging photogrammetry to capture the impact of the rocket plume on the lunar regolith as the lander lands on the lunar surface. The high-resolution stereo images will help create models to predict lunar regolith erosion, an important task as larger and heavier payloads are brought to the Moon in close proximity to one another. This instrument also flew on Intuitive Machine’s first CLPS delivery. Lead organization: NASA Langley Research Center

“With the launch of ten NASA scientific and engineering instruments to the Moon, this is the largest CLPS delivery to date, and we are proud of the teams that have gotten us to this point,” said Chris Culbert, program manager for the Commercial Lunar Payload Services Initiative at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “We will follow this latest CLPS delivery in 2025 and others in later years. American innovation and interest in the Moon continues to grow, and NASA has already awarded 11 CLPS deliveries and plans to continue selecting two additional flights per year.”

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander is scheduled to land near a volcanic rock called Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium, a basin more than 300 miles wide in the northeast quadrant of the moon’s near side. NASA scientists on this flight will collect valuable scientific data to study Earth’s nearest neighbor and help pave the way for the first Artemis astronauts to explore the lunar surface later this decade.

Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

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Amber Jacobson/Karen Fox
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
[email protected] / [email protected]

Natalia Riusech / Nilufar Ramji
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
[email protected] / [email protected]

Antonia Jaramillo
Kennedy Space Center, Florida
321-501-8425
[email protected]