WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - A suite of NASA scientific investigations and technology demonstrations is on its way to Moon aboard a commercial spacecraft.
Carrying science and tech on Firefly Aerospace's first Commercial Lunar Payload Services flight for NASA, Blue Ghost Mission 1 launched at 1:11 a.m. ET Wednesday aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The company is targeting a lunar landing on March 2.
There are 10 NASA payloads flying on this flight.
Blue Ghost Mission 1 will provide insights into the Moon's environment and test technologies to support future astronauts landing safely on the lunar surface under NASA's Artemis campaign.
Once on the Moon, NASA will test and demonstrate lunar drilling technology, regolith (lunar rocks and soil) sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data captured could also benefit humans on Earth by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact our home planet.
As part of NASA's modern lunar exploration activities, CLPS deliveries to the Moon will help better understand planetary processes and evolution, search for water and other resources, and support long-term, sustainable human exploration of the Moon in preparation for the first human mission to Mars.
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