Blue Ghost Takes First Image On Way To The Moon

The first image of the Blue Ghost ride in space (photo: dock. Firefly Aerospace)

SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket delivered Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost on January 15. The lander was successfully launched and is currently carrying the cargo to the moon.

As part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program to support the Artemis campaign, there are ten payloads carried by the vehicle. The launch of the Blue Ghost went smoothly, even this vehicle can already share its appearance in space.

After connecting with the Mission Operations Center at Cedar Park, Texas, six payloads aboard the aircraft are active and sending initial data to Earth. During the data delivery process, Blue Ghost also sent images featuring the top deck.

This is the first image taken and shared by Blue Ghost to the team on Earth. According to NASA's explanation, the image that Firefly Aerospace shared was taken when the Blue Ghost began a transit period to get to the Moon.

In the future, NASA will share more photos of Blue Ghost while in space. What's more, this lander will be on the track to the Moon's surface for 45 days.

NASA also revealed that the instruments that have been active are now in excellent condition. Some of the reported payloads have been active are Radiation Tolerant Computer (RadPC), Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS), and Lunar PlanetVac (LPV).

There are also Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity (LISTER), Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LUGRE), and Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS). The next four instruments will be activated after the Blue Ghost makes a landing.