Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Artwork credit: Firefly Aerospace/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander is on cruise control as it prepares to enter orbit around the Moon.

A recent engine burn to send the probe off to the Moon was performed with such accuracy, Firefly mission controllers are skipping the next one.

“With Earth in the rearview mirror, we’re on cruise control until we reach the Moon’s orbit and perform a Lunar Orbit Insertion in just a couple days,” a Firefly posting explains.

Since launching on January 15, Blue Ghost has performed dozens of health tests, and all 10 NASA payloads onboard remain healthy and ready for surface operations on the Moon.

The moonbound Firefly mission supports NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative.

Blue Ghost onboard camera captures Earth reflecting off the solar panel with the Moon on the horizon above Earth. Firefly’s X-band antenna and NASA’s LEXI payload are also shown on the top deck of the lander.
Image credit: Firefly Aerospace

What’s ahead?

Within the next two days, Blue Ghost will perform a Lunar Orbit Insertion, a 4-minute burn to enter the Moon’s orbit.

Following that vital step, the spacecraft will then spend 16 days in lunar orbit before descent.

“This gives us plenty of time to calibrate our navigation system and continue payload science operations for NASA,” the Cedar Park, Texas-based group adds.

Touchdown timing

As for lunar descent, Blue Ghost’s final autonomous descent will take approximately an hour, starting with a Descent Orbit Insertion burn that will place Blue Ghost on its descent trajectory on March 2.

The projected lunar landing site is Mare Crisium near Mons Latreille.

Upon touchdown, Blue Ghost will operate 10 NASA instruments for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days). On March 14, Blue Ghost will capture high definition imagery of a total eclipse from the Moon where the Earth blocks the Sun.

The Blue Ghost lunar lander will then capture the lunar sunset on March 16 before operating several hours into the lunar night.

Blue Ghost will capture imagery of the lunar sunset and provide critical data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions. The lander will then operate for several hours into the lunar night.
Artwork credit: Firefly Aerospace/Inside Outer Space screengrab