NASA Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 Moon Landing Updates and LIVE view form Space Station

Mission Summary
Blue Ghost Mission 1 will deliver 10 science and technology instruments to the lunar surface as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Upon launching on January 15, Blue Ghost is spending approximately 45 days traveling to the Moon, allowing ample time to conduct health checks on each subsystem and begin payload science. Blue Ghost is set to land in Mare Crisium on March 2 and operate payloads for a complete lunar day (about 14 Earth days). On March 14, Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon. Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset on March 16, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several hours into the lunar night.
The payloads on Blue Ghost Mission 1 will help advance lunar research and conduct several first-of-its-kind demonstrations, including testing regolith sample collection, Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation. These investigations will help pave the way for humanity’s return to the Moon. The data captured will also benefit humans on Earth by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth, among other valuable research.
Standing 2 m (6.6 ft) tall and 3.5 m (11.5 ft) wide, Blue Ghost is designed for stability with shock absorbing feet, a low center of mass, and a wide footprint. Blue Ghost’s core components, including the panels, struts, legs, harnesses, avionics, batteries, and thrusters, were built using many of the same flight-proven technologies common to all of Firefly’s launch and orbital vehicles, enabling lower costs and improved reliability.
Our Destination
Blue Ghost will land near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a large basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side (when observing the Moon from Earth’s northern hemisphere). Formerly an ancient asteroid impact site, Mare Crisium was created by volcanic eruptions that flooded the basin with basaltic lava about 3 billion years ago. This unique landing site will allow Firefly’s payload partners to gather critical data about the Moon’s regolith, geophysical characteristics, and the interaction of solar wind and Earth’s magnetic field.