NASA’s Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS) successfully demonstrated its ability to remove regolith, or lunar dust and dirt, from its various surfaces on the Moon during Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, which concluded on March 16. Lunar dust is extremely abrasive and electrostatic, which means it clings to anything that carries a charge. It can … Read more
After landing on the Moon with NASA science and technology demonstrations March 2, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 concluded its mission March 16. Analysis of data returned to Earth from the NASA instruments continues, benefitting future lunar missions. As part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign, Firefly’s Blue Ghost … Read more
NASA and Firefly Aerospace will host a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT Tuesday, March 18, from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston to discuss the company’s successful Blue Ghost Mission 1 on the Moon’s surface. Watch the news conference on NASA+. Learn how to watch NASA content through a variety of platforms, including social media. U.S. media … Read more
A team at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, has captured first-of-its-kind imagery of a lunar lander’s engine plumes interacting with the Moon’s surface, a key piece of data as trips to the Moon increase in the coming years under the agency’s Artemis campaign. The Stereo Cameras for Lunar-Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS) 1.1 instrument … Read more
James Gentile always wanted to fly. As he prepared for an appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy to become a pilot, life threw him an unexpected curve: a diagnosis of Type 1 diabetes. His appointment was rescinded. With his dream grounded, Gentile had two choices—give up or chart a new course. He chose the … Read more
Shortly after touching down inside a crater on the Moon, carrying NASA technology and science on its IM-2 mission, Intuitive Machines collected some data for the agency before calling an early end of mission at 12:15 a.m. CST Friday. As part of the company’s second Moon delivery for NASA under the agency’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar … Read more
When astronauts walk on the Moon, they’ll serve as the eyes, hands, and boots-on-the-ground interpreters supporting the broader teams of scientists on Earth. NASA is leveraging virtual reality to provide high-fidelity, cost-effective support to prepare crew members, flight control teams, and science teams for a return to the Moon through its Artemis campaign. The Artemis … Read more
Carrying NASA technology demonstrations and science investigations, Intuitive Machines is targeting their Moon landing no earlier than 12:32 p.m. EST on Thursday, March 6. The company’s Nova-C lunar lander is slated to land in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and … Read more
NASA and the Italian Space Agency made history on March 3, when the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) became the first technology demonstration to acquire and track Earth-based navigation signals on the Moon’s surface. The LuGRE payload’s success in lunar orbit and on the surface indicates that signals from the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) … Read more
Carrying a suite of NASA science and technology, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed at 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300-mile-wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side. The Blue Ghost lander is in an upright … Read more