Two Lunar Landers are Off to the Moon

Back in the 60’s and 70’s it was all about the Moon. The Apollo program took human beings to the Moon for the first time and now over 50 years later things are really hotting up again. The latest mission to head toward our celestial neighbour is a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching Blue Ghost … Continue reading "Two Lunar Landers are Off to the Moon" The post Two Lunar Landers are Off to the Moon appeared first on Universe Today.

Jan 22, 2025 - 12:21

Back in the 60’s and 70’s it was all about the Moon. The Apollo program took human beings to the Moon for the first time and now over 50 years later things are really hotting up again. The latest mission to head toward our celestial neighbour is a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launching Blue Ghost Mission 1 and the HAKUTO-R lander. The Blue Ghost is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) and it carries a total of 10 NASA payloads, the other is a private Japanese enterprise to explore the Moon. The launch went well and both landers will arrive shortly.

The exploration of the Moon has been a key part of space research offering key insight into the origins of the Moon and the Solar System itself. With the possibility of future human bases on the Moon the interest in lunar exploration has started to gain momentum. Of particular note is NASA’s Artemis program and other international missions like those from China and India are making great progress. They not only intend to learn more about the Moon and its physical properties but also hope to serve as stepping stones for future exploration.

Global map of the Moon, as seen from the Clementine mission, showing the lunar near- and farside. If we’re going back to the Moon, we’ll need a Lunar GPS. Credit: NASA.

Yet another chapter has opened in the book of lunar exploration with a launch atop a Falcon 9 rocket. This reusable two-stage launch vehicle was designed and developed by SpaceX to reduce the cost of a launch. It’s first flight was back in 2010 and since then has enjoyed success with around 200 successful launches to its name. One of its two charges this time was the Commercial Lunar Payload.

Carrying the a payload from Firefly Aerospace, the Commercial Lunar Payload set off on its journey from launch complex 39A ahead of its landing on 2 March 2025. As wonderfully articulated by NASA’s Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy ‘The mission embodies the bold spirit of NASA’s Artemis campaign – a campaign driven by scientific exploration and discovery.’

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches with NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) spacecraft onboard from Launch Complex 39A, Thursday, Dec. 9, 2021, at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The IXPE spacecraft is the first satellite dedicated to measuring the polarization of X-rays from a variety of cosmic sources, such as black holes and neutron stars. Launch occurred at 1 a.m. EST. Credits: NASA/Joel Kowsky

It’s destination is near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium. On arrival at lunar the surface, it will test and demonstrate drilling capability, collection technology of the lunar regolith, the use of GPS, radiation tolerant computing and lunar dust protection methods. The mission will help to set the stage for a later human visit to the Moon, possibly even to develop a permanent lunar base.

NASA has selected three commercial Moon landing service providers that will deliver science and technology payloads under Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) as part of the Artemis program. Each commercial lander will carry NASA-provided payloads that will conduct science investigations and demonstrate advanced technologies on the lunar surface, paving the way for NASA astronauts to land on the lunar surface by 2024…The selections are:..• Astrobotic of Pittsburgh has been awarded $79.5 million and has proposed to fly as many as 14 payloads to Lacus Mortis, a large crater on the near side of the Moon, by July 2021…• Intuitive Machines of Houston has been awarded $77 million. The company has proposed to fly as many as five payloads to Oceanus Procellarum, a scientifically intriguing dark spot on the Moon, by July 2021…• Orbit Beyond of Edison, New Jersey, has been awarded $97 million and has proposed to fly as many as four payloads to Mare Imbrium, a lava plain in one of the Moon’s craters, by September 2020. ..All three of the lander models were on display for the announcement of the companies selected to provide the first lunar landers for the Artemis program, on Friday, May 31, 2019, at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. ..Read more: https://go.nasa.gov/2Ki2mJo..Credit: NASA/Goddard/Rebecca Roth

There will be a total of ten payloads on as part of the CLPS; Lunar Instrumentation for Subsurface Thermal Exploration with Rapidity, Lunar PlanetVac, Next Generation Lunar Retroflector, Regolith Adherence Characterisation, Radiation Tolerant Computer, Electrodynamic Dust Shield, Lunar Environment heliospheric X-ray Imager, Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder, Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment and Stereo Camera for Lunar Plume Surface Studies.

Being launched alongside Blue Ghost but following its own trajectory to the Moon is the Japanese built HAKUTO-R M2 Resilience lander. Unlike Blue Ghost, HAKUTO-R will take a low energy trajectory to the Moon arriving in about four months time in Mare Frigoris. On arrival, it will deploy a lunar rover called Tenacious which will collect small samples of lunar regolith. Under a contract which was awarded by NASA back in 2020, the regolith will be sold back to NASA for $5,000 USD.

Source : Liftoff! NASA Sends Science, Tech to Moon on Firefly, SpaceX Flight

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