Goodbye , Earth . Firefly ’s lunar lander captured views of its home major planet in the rearview mirror as it channelize toward an orbital cavity around the Moon , aim for a touchdown on its dusty surface in about two weeks .
The Blue Ghost lander complete its trans - lunar injection maneuver on Wednesday , a series of locomotive engine Robert Burns designed to place the spacecraft in lunar orbit . After spending three weeks in a highly oviform orbit around Earth , the mission has officially leave the major planet behind and is on its way to the Moon , harmonise toFirefly Aerospace . Before ditch Earth whole , Firefly ’s Blue Ghost captured gorgeous farewell shots to commemorate the beginning of its journeying .
The Blue Ghost missionlaunched on Wednesday , January 15 , on plank a SpaceX Falcon 9rocketand is presently around halfway through its journey to the Moon . The military mission , named “ Ghost Riders in the Sky , ” will spend around 16 twenty-four hour period in lunar orbit before undertake a soft touchdown on the lunar open .
Firefly’s Blue Ghost lunar lander captured an Earth selfie during its journey to the Moon.Firefly Aerospace
Blue Ghost enchant this trippy image of Earth reflected off the solar panel with the Moon on the skyline . Firefly ’s X - band antenna and NASA ’s LEXI freight can also be seen on the top deck of the lander .
Four weeks into the mission , Blue Ghost has downlinked more than 15 gigabytes of data , including data point from NASA ’s science payload . The blank agency packed 10 load on board Blue Ghost , which are ready to be deploy on the Moon as part of NASA ’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services ( CLPS ) initiative . The load are designed to study the lunar surface and foregather data to support succeeding human missions to the Moon .
The Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume - Surface Studies ( SCALPSS ) 1.1 instrument , design by researchers at NASA ’s Langley Research Center , will use four cameras to catch trope of the fundamental interaction between Blue Ghost ’s garden rocket plumes and foot pads with the Moon ’s surface during the spacecraft ’s descent and touchdown . “ All 10 NASA payloads onboard are currently healthy and ready for aerofoil operations on the Moon , ” the agencywrotein a web log update .
Blue Ghost captured this image of Earth with the Moon below in the distance. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
Once it reaches the Moon , Blue Ghost is targeting Mare Crisium , the land site of an ancient asteroid shock once filled with basaltic lava . The basalt in Mare Crisium are between 2.5 and 3.3 billion years old , accord toNASA . We ’re all rooting for Blue Ghost to have a smooth touchdown on the Moon and bewilder the landing place .
blue ghostFireflythe Sun Myung Moon
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Earth’s reflection on Blue Ghost’s solar panels. Credit: Firefly Aerospace
