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Lunar South Pole captured by Firefly Aerospace
In lunar orbit, Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander captured a striking image of the Moon’s southern pole. Image credit: Firefly Aerospace

Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based company, has successfully positioned its robotic lander into lunar orbit as it prepares for a landing in the coming weeks.

On Thursday, Firefly announced that its Blue Ghost lander performed a crucial maneuver, firing its primary engine and thrusters for four minutes and 15 seconds to achieve Lunar Orbit Insertion, resulting in an elliptical orbit around the Moon.

This achievement follows closely on the heels of the spacecraft’s launch aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on pad 39A nearly a month prior. This mission marks the third deployment under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program, aimed at delivering scientific and technological demonstrations to the Moon at a reduced cost.

Before the launch, Brigette Oakes, Firefly’s Vice President of Engineering, expressed her excitement about this pivotal moment for the team. She shared, “The energy within the team is at an incredible level right now, and it’s exhilarating to witness.” Oakes added that her connection to the Apollo missions makes this journey all the more meaningful.

The Blue Ghost lander is carrying 10 NASA payloads designed for various scientific objectives. Notable among them is the Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), which will drill 2 to 3 meters into the lunar surface to investigate heat dynamics. Additionally, the Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) 1.1 will employ cameras to monitor landing plumes, aiding in the creation of a three-dimensional model of the surface.

Joel Kearns, Deputy Associate Administrator for Exploration in NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, commented on the selection process, stating, “NASA collaborates to determine the most suitable instruments for lunar missions, leading to the selection of these 10 innovative payloads for this Firefly mission.”

Firefly Aerospace has secured the contract to deliver the highest number of NASA instruments on a single CLPS lander to date.

With its successful entry into lunar orbit, the Blue Ghost lander will undertake 16 days of additional system checks and maneuvers to circularize its orbit. The targeted landing is set for Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille at 3:45 a.m. EDT (0745 UTC).

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