February 22, 2025

Private Spacecraft On Awesome Mission Sends Back Footage Of The Far Side Of The Moon – IFLScience

CLOSEWe have emailed you a PDF version of the article you requested.Please check your spam or junk folder You can also addnewsletters@iflscience.comto your safe senders list to ensure you never miss a message from us.CLOSEComplete the form below to listen to the audio version of this articleListenCancel and go backIFLScience needs the contact information you provide to us to contact you about our products and services. You may unsubscribe from these communications at any time.For information on how to unsubscribe, as well as our privacy practices and commitment to protecting your privacy, check out ourPrivacy PolicyAdvertisement GO AD FREE!ACCOUNTSIGN INSIGN OUTSearchBecome anIFLScience memberMY ACCOUNTTHE VAULTMY ACCOUNTTHE VAULTMAGAZINESIGN OUTJames FeltonJames FeltonSenior Staff WriterJames is a published author with four pop-history and science books to his name. He specializes in history, strange science, and anything out of the ordinary.BookView full profileBookRead IFLScience Editorial PolicySenior Staff WriterKaty EvansManaging EditorKaty is Managing Editor at IFLScience where she oversees editorial content from News articles to Features, and even occasionally writes some.BookView full profileBookRead IFLScience Editorial PolicyDOWNLOAD PDF VERSIONThe far side of the Moon, captured by the Apollo 16 crew.Image credit: Apollo 16 Crew, NASADOWNLOAD PDF VERSIONA private spacecraft on a pretty badass mission has sent back footage of the far side of the Moon, on its way to land in the Mare Crisium region of our satellite on March 2.ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREEBlue Ghost, a spacecraft funded by NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and operated by Firefly Aerospace, is currently conducting a number of maneuvers to bring it into a lower orbit around the Moon. During these maneuvers, ahead of a hopefully soft landing to deliver 10 scientific and technological instruments to the lunar surface, the spacecraft captured footage of the Moon’s far side.”The Firefly team completed another lunar orbit maneuver with a 3 minute, 18 second burn at 3:09 am this morning,” the team said in an update. “This maneuver moved the lander from a high elliptical orbit to a much lower elliptical orbit around the Moon. Shortly after the burn, Blue Ghost captured incredible footage of the Moon’s far side, about 120 km above the surface.”       Footage of the approach to the Moon was also awesome.      On board the Blue Ghost Lander, NASA has placed some pretty cool equipment.ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE”The objectives of the mission are to investigate heat flow from the lunar interior, plume-surface interactions, crustal electric and magnetic fields. It will also take X-ray images of the Earth’s magnetosphere,” NASA explains. “Technology tests include regolith sampling, regolith adherence, Global Navigation Satellite System abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and dust mitigation using electrodynamic fields.”These experiments will hopefully help as humanity plans its next trip to the Moon’s surface. The coolest of the experiments set to take place will come at the end of the lander’s planned 14-day mission.”On March 14, Firefly expects to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse when the Earth blocks the sun above the Moon’s horizon,” the team explains.”Blue Ghost will then capture the lunar sunset on March 16, providing data on how lunar dust levitates due to solar influences and creates a lunar horizon glow first documented by Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following sunset, Blue Ghost will operate several hours into the lunar night.”ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREEThe lunar horizon glow is thought to be caused by dust being levitated by electrostatic forces, and, while it produces a neat sight at sunset, it could be a problem for astronauts.”In addition, the Moon has no atmosphere and is constantly bombarded by radiation from the Sun that causes the soil to become electrostatically charged,” the European Space Agency explains.”This charge can be so strong that the dust levitates above the lunar surface, making it even more likely to get inside equipment and people’s lungs.”Soon, Blue Ghost will help NASA get more data on the phenomenon. For now, they are in orbit ahead of lowering themselves towards the lunar surface.ADVERTISEMENT GO AD FREE”In this orbit, the team will experience planned rolling comms blackouts as Blue Ghost goes around the far side of the Moon,” the team wrote. “When on the near side, the team will continue to downlink data and finalize the plan for our next maneuver that will get Blue Ghost even closer to the lunar surface and keep us right on track for landing on March 2.”nasa,Astronomy,private space explorationlink to articlelink to articlelink to articleAdvertisement Advertisement Advertisement link to articlelink to articlelink to articleReceive weekly science coverage direct to your inbox© 2025 IFLScience. All Rights Reserved. RSS

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