Artykuły o Blue Ghost (lunar lander, Firefly Aerospace)

[Orionid]

Firefly selects SpaceX to launch its lunar lander
by Jeff Foust — May 20, 2021 [SN]


Firefly's Blue Ghost lander will deliver 10 NASA payloads to the surface of the moon in 2022 under a CLPS task order announced Feb. 4. Credit: Firefly Aerospace

WASHINGTON — Firefly Aerospace announced May 20 it selected SpaceX to launch its first lunar lander mission for NASA, the latest in a series of contract wins by SpaceX for lunar missions.

Firefly said that a SpaceX Falcon 9 will launch its Blue Ghost lunar lander in 2023 on a mission to land in Mare Crisium on the near side of the moon. The lander will be carrying 10 payloads for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program under a contract it won in February, along with additional commercial payloads.

Source: https://spacenews.com/firefly-selects-spacex-to-launch-its-lunar-lander/


Southwest Research Institute delivers device to study moon's makeup for NASA's Artemis program
Eric Killelea March 30, 2023 [SAE-N]


Southwest Research Institute principal investigator Robert Grimm led the development of the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder to study the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program.  Courtesy of Ian McKinney

Southwest Research Institute will play a key role in exploring the composition of the moon as part of NASA's Artemis program, as the San Antonio-based organization continues to grow its business of packing big science in small packages.

The independent nonprofit has developed scientific instruments and satellites for NASA and commercial entities such as Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' aerospace company Blue Origin.

For its latest project, SwRI delivered a scientific device called a Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder — or LMS — to Firefly Aerospace, a startup based in Cedar Park, a suburb of Austin. The gadget, SwRI said, is designed to study the moon’s electric and magnetic fields.

Plans call for Firefly's robotic Blue Ghost 1 lunar lander to carry the LMS and several other commercial and government payloads to the moon. The Blue Ghost is expected to fly to the moon on SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in 2024. NASA has awarded Firefly about $93.3 million to deliver 10 science payloads to the moon for its Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, meant to spark partnerships between the space agency and the private sector. NASA also awarded $4.1 million in contracts to SwRI and other teams, including its Goddard Space Flight Center, to develop the LMS.
https://www.expressnews.com/sa-inc/article/swri-firefly-spacex-nasa-artemis-17865096.php