SpaceX Launches Blue Ghost Spacefront To The Moon

The launch of the Blue Ghost ride (photo: Doc. NASA)

JAKARTA The Blue Ghost, which transports NASA's instruments, was finally launched to the Moon. The lander belonging to Firefly Aerospace was flown on January 15 at around 13.13 WIB.

As explained by NASA some time ago, the Blue Ghost used a Falcon 9 rocket to fly beyond Earth's orbit. The spacecraft was launched from the 39A Launch Complex (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida carrying ten payloads.

Falcon 9 only escorts Blue Ghost to the lunar transfer orbit. After that, the lander will travel to the moon for 45 days. Firefly targets a moon landing on the lunar surface on March 2.

The launch of the Blue Ghost with ten payloads this time is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) mission. The purpose of launching this mission is to explore the Moon's territory and provide data that supports the Artemis mission.

All NASA officials, especially Pam Melroy's Deputy Administrator, are very supportive of this mission. According to them, CLPS is a big program to realize the Artemis campaign. This mission will encourage exploration and scientific discoveries with the best technology.

"This mission embodies the spirit of the NASA Artemis campaign," Melroy said after the Blue Ghost was launched. "Every scientific instrument and demonstration of technology brought us closer to realizing our vision. Congratulations to the NASA team, Firefly, and SpaceX for this successful launch."

NASA had revealed ten payloads brought by Blue Ghost, some of which were the Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) instrument to monitor the interaction of Earth's magnetosphere with solar winds and anti-radiation computers.

Upon arrival on the Moon, NASA will test all the technology transported by Blue Ghost. The US space agency will also demonstrate lunar drilling technology to collect rock and soil samples.