Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Ride Ready To Launch To The Moon

Blue Ghost ride display (photo: dock. Firefly Aerospace)

JAKARTA Firefly Aerospace announced that the Blue Ghost, a spacecraft for NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, has completed the environmental testing phase.

Now, the ride is being prepared to deliver to the Cape Canaveral launch pad in Florida. Blue Ghost is targeted to arrive in mid-December, while the launch window will open as early as mid-January.

Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim revealed that the environmental test results prove that Blue Ghost is working according to the company's expectations. With this success, Blue Ghost is believed to be able to land on the Moon's surface without any problems.

The lander works 100 percent as expected, which is proof of the extraordinary Firefly team, Jason said. "I believe this team has what it takes to land smoothly on the lunar surface and complete this mission."

Blue Ghost's environmental test was held last October at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), one of NASA's research facilities. During the trial, Firefly replicated the most extreme temperatures the ride might face during transit and landing.

In addition to testing temperature resistance, Blue Ghost testing also includes vibrational, acoustic, electromagnetic interference, and compatibility tests. All of these tests were carried out to confirm that the spacecraft could survive at every flight stage.

Blue Ghost will fly on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. This spacecraft will land in an area called Mare Crisium. While in the area, Blue Ghost will operate payloads carried for a full day on the Moon or about 14 days on Earth.

There are 10 payloads that will operate to carry out various scientific and technological demonstrations. A number of these payloads will collect samples, mitigate dust to advance research, and much more.