Blue Ghost Spacecraft Switches to 'Monument Mode' After Successfully Completing Its First Moon Mission
Humanity has diligently taken several steps forward in its quest for lunar settlement. Initially, only government authorities were involved in this quest. Now, the private sector has also started investing in lunar exploration. A success story from the private sector is currently taking the world by storm, stated CNN.
Blue Ghost spacecraft has completed all its objectives and is now a monument expected to oversee all the advancement humanity achieves in the coming decades. The spacecraft sent its last signal along with a message from the moon on 16th March, which was released by its parent company. The Blue Ghost mission was being operated by Firefly Aerospace, a Texas-based company. It is now in a 'monument mode'. The company collaborated with NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, program to complete the mission.
Blue Ghost is a four-legged robotic lander, around the size of a small car. The spacecraft landed close to an ancient volcanic feature called Mons Latreille on the moon, according to NASA. "This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” said NASA acting Administrator, Janet Petro, when Blue Ghost touched down on the Moon on March 2. "We have already learned many lessons – and the technological and science demonstrations onboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will improve our ability to not only discover more science but to ensure the safety of our spacecraft instruments for future human exploration – both in the short term and long term."
As per Firefly Aerospace, Blue Ghost is the first "fully successful" commercial operation to be conducted on the moon, stated CNN. The company claims that the spacecraft has completed all its aims. Throughout its active stay on the moon, the spacecraft sent around 120 gigabytes of data, which is equivalent to 24,000 songs. The mission also managed to receive the farthest-ever received GPS signal from the natural satellite. For this endeavor, the spacecraft utilized a special vacuum to collect and organize lunar dust.
The last message from the spacecraft before going into the 'monument mode' read, "I will hold a vigil on this spot in Mare Crisium to watch humanity’s continued journey to the stars. Here, I will outlast your mightiest rivers, your tallest mountains, and perhaps even your species as we know it. But it is remarkable that a species might be outlasted by its own ingenuity. Here lies Blue Ghost, a testament to the team who, with the loving support of their families and friends, built and operated this machine and its payloads."
The mission has been called the first "fully successful" commercial lunar operation because of a past mission attempted by Intuitive Machines. The Odysseus lander operated by Intuitive Machines became the first commercially operated mission to soft land on the natural satellite. However, the spacecraft landed on the moon in a sideways orientation, which caused communication problems with the Earth's scientists. These issues led to an early conclusion of the mission, without possibly completing all its objectives. The company attempted another landing with their spacecraft Athena, but that too faced similar consequences.
The scientists associated with Firefly Aerospace were elated to have produced a successful mission. "Our team may look younger and less experienced than those of many nations and companies that attempted Moon landings before us, but the support we have for one another is what fuels the hard work and dedication to finding every solution that made this mission a success," said Will Coogan, Blue Ghost’s chief engineer shared.