NASA-funded Blue Ghost Mission 1 is set to make the first lunar landing of 2025 on Mar. 2 at about 2:45 a.m. Central Standard Time (2:15 p.m. IST), touching down at Mare Crisium on the Moon's near side.
Launched on Jan. 15, the Blue Ghost Mission 1 spacecraft entered the Moon's orbit on Feb. 13. It is currently hovering roughly 100 kilometres above the surface.
Led by Texas-based Firefly Aerospace, the mission will last for one lunar day or 14 Earth days. During this period, NASA will attempt to study factors like lunar heat flow and electric and magnetic fields, among other things.
The Moon is so close, we can taste it!
February 26, 2025
New footage from @Firefly_Space shows their lunar lander's view from 60 miles (100 km) above the Moon. Blue Ghost will land at Mare Crisium, on the near side of the Moon, on March 2, no earlier than 3:34am ET (0834 UTC). pic.twitter.com/EBZyXHEerLBlue Ghost Mission Moon Landing Live Streaming Details
The Blue Ghost lunar lander will touch down on the Moon's surface on March 2 after 2 p.m. (Indian time). Firefly Aerospace and NASA will live stream the event on their YouTube channel, beginning at 1:20 a.m. CST. This means that live streaming will commence at about 12:45 p.m. in Indian time, about 75 minutes ahead of touchdown on the Moon.
About The Landing Destination
As per the information on Firefly Aerospace website, 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.
Blue Ghost Mission Objectives
Blue Ghost Mission 1 will deliver 10 science and technology instruments to the lunar surface. These include dust mitigation, regolith sampling, and Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, among others. The lander has a payload capacity of 155 kilograms.
The US space agency said that the spacecraft, which will be powered by solar energy, will also take X-ray images of Earth's magnetosphere. On Mar. 14, it will also capture high-definition images of a total eclipse when the Moon appears red from the Earth. During the celestial phenomena, the Earth will block the Sun above the Moon's horizon. Blue Ghost will also record the lunar sunset on Mar. 16. Following the sunset, the lander is also expected to operate several hours into the lunar night, Firefly said.
This marks the first instance of Firefly Aerospace deploying its lander on the Moon. The mission is alternatively called ‘Ghost Riders In The Sky, ' a reference to the classic song of the same name to mark its significance.
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