Space enthusiasts can now mark your calendars for the first robotic commercial moon landing of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander. Blue Ghost will be carrying a suite of 10 NASA scientific investigations and technology demonstrations for examining the Moon’s environment and testing astronaut landing technologies. The landing will occur approximately on 3:45 a.m. EST, March 2.
On Jan. 15, on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, Blue Ghost was initially launched.
The event, jointly hosted by NASA and Firefly, is scheduled to be broadcast starting at 2:30 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2 and will air on NASA+. The coverage will be shown on various social media outlets including streaming on Firefly’s YouTube channel.
A news conference to discuss the mission and scientific implications for moon based endeavors will be conducted after the lunar landing.
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The mission is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign:
Through the Artemis campaign, commercial robotic deliveries will perform science experiments, test technologies, and demonstrate capabilities on and around the Moon to help NASA explore in advance of Artemis Generation astronaut missions to the lunar surface, and ultimately crewed missions to Mars.
Through the CLPS initiative, NASA works with various American companies to deliver science and technology to the lunar surface. The agency, in February 2021, conferred Firefly for 10 NASA science investigations and technology demonstrations to the Moon using its American made lunar lander for approximately $93.3 million (modified to $101.5 million).
Watch Lunar Landing on Social Media
Inform family and friends that you are following the mission on X, Facebook, and Instagram by using the hashtag #Artemis. You can also stay connected by following and tagging these accounts:
X: @NASA, @NASA_Johnson, @NASAArtemis, @NASAMoon
Facebook: NASA, NASAJohnsonSpaceCenter, NASAArtemis
Instagram: @NASA, @NASAJohnson, @NASAArtemis
