The Moon has been a quiet world for much of its 4.5-billion-year history. A steady rain of micrometeorites grinds mountains and craters to dust over the course of millions of years. This cosmic form of erosion is punctuated only by occasional larger impacts and potentially by small volcanic eruptions.
Over the next three weeks, however, the Moon will temporarily become a hotbed of activity. During the first week of March, two landers from NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program will attempt lunar landings within four days of each other. These spacecraft will operate a total of 15 scientific payloads over the subsequent two weeks until they are silenced by the cold, dark lunar night. Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 and Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 are both targeting unexplored regions which have the potential to expand our understanding of the Moon’s history.
Information on these missions is scattered. Therefore, as a service to our readers, AmericaSpace has compiled publicly-available facts into a detailed guide on Blue Ghost Mission 1 and IM-2. We hope that this timeline will help our readers track the events which will unfold over the coming weeks.
The Landers:
The first CLPS mission to attempt a lunar landing in 2025 will be Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost. As we reported in detail, Blue Ghost’s flight began with a flawless launch on January 15th. The spacecraft’s commissioning was also refreshingly smooth, as it established communications with Earth, executed its first engine burn, and began collecting data with six of its scientific instruments.
When we left Blue Ghost, it was still in its initial, highly elliptical Earth orbit. SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket placed the spacecraft onto a trajectory with an apogee, or highest altitude, of 200,000 miles (322,453 km), which is 80% of the way to the Moon [1]. Its perigee, or lowest point, was just 118 miles (189 km) above Earth’s surface. After an uneventful three weeks in orbit, Blue Ghost performed a Translunar Injection (TLI) maneuver to break free of the shackles of Earth’s gravity.
Four days later, on February 18th, Blue Ghost ignited its main engine again to enter a distant orbit around the Moon. Since then, it has gradually lowered itself into a circular orbit which is 62 miles (100 km) above the lunar surface. From this altitude, its cameras can observe the Moon from a vantage point which is similar to the views seen by the Apollo astronauts in their Command Modules. Blue Ghost is scheduled to land on the Moon on March 2nd.
IM-2 experienced a more eventful first day in orbit, but it is likewise in good health. The mission arguably has a higher probability of success than its counterpart because of Intuitive Machines’ prior experience with lunar landers. Many of the company’s employees previously worked on NASA’s Morpheus lunar lander testbed, and of course, they executed the partially successful IM-1 mission last winter. According to CEO Steve Altemus, the Nova-C team documented and resolved 65 lessons learned during their first test flight.
The expectations for this lander, named Athena, are correspondingly elevated [2]. Intuitive Machines and NASA have consistently declared that IM-1 was a complete success, even though the Odysseus spacecraft experienced a hard landing, tipped over, and returned a very limited amount of scientific data to Earth. While this allowed the CLPS program to claim an early victory, it also created some pressure to achieve an equivalent, if not superior, outcome with the subsequent mission.
Athena lifted off from historic Launch Complex 39A in the evening of Wednesday, Feburary 26th. Like Blue Ghost, the lander rode a SpaceX Falcon 9. SpaceX’s dependable booster has become the workhorse of the CLPS program due to its affordable pricing for small businesses, such as Intuitive Machines and Firefly. It is worth noting that Athena’s Falcon 9 also deployed NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer spacecraft. This small orbital mission, led by CalTech’s Bethany Ehlmann, aims to map the distribution of water across the lunar surface. Because it is following a longer and more fuel-efficient trajectory than the CLPS landers, Trailblazer will enter lunar orbit on July 7th, assuming that an evolving issue with its power system can be resolved [3].
Athena’s separation was followed by 20 minutes of tension as the moment when the lander was expected to contact the Deep Space Network came and went. After a delay, Intuitive Machines began receiving data from Athena. The next morning, a press release confirmed that the lander is functioning splendidly. While the cause of Athena’s early anomaly has not been disclosed, it was likely due to a communications issue. To minimize the boil-off of its cryogenic propellant, Athena is following a much more direct trajectory to the Moon. It is slated to land on March 6th.
The Blue Ghost and Athena landing attempts represent pivotal moments for the CLPS program. While neither of the program’s 2024 missions could claim complete success, NASA always knew that some of its landers would not reach their destinations intact. Thomas Zurbuchen, the father of the CLPS program, estimated that the early missions would have a 50-50 success rate [4]. CLPS’ champions argue that an occasional failure is acceptable so long as a higher risk tolerance can drive down costs, increasing the total number of missions which fly. However, CLPS eventually needs to deliver on its goal of returning worthwhile quantities of data on the Moon’s geology and its natural resources. If one – let alone both – of the active missions succeed, it will be a major step in that direction.
The closely-spaced landings also raise an enticing possibility. If Blue Ghost and Athena both touch down successfully, they will operate simultaneously on the lunar surface for ten days. This would be the first time that two U.S. lunar landers have explored the Moon concurrently. (China’s nuclear-powered Chang’e 3 and 4 landers have operated together for five years and counting.) Regardless of the outcome, the next three weeks promise to be an exciting period for lunar science and exploration.
What follows is a rough timeline which describes the planned operations for the Blue Ghost and Athena landers. It is worth noting that some of these dates are estimates which are based off of ambiguous wording (for example: “IM-2 will orbit the Moon for approximately 3 days”). Therefore, it is possible that some values may be off by 1-2 days.
March 1st-3rd: Athena TCM-1
While it cruises towards the Moon, Athena will perform a series of three trajectory correction maneuvers (TCMs). As of this writing, Intuitive Machines is still preparing for these short engine burns. The purpose of the maneuvers is to tweak the lander’s trajectory so that it enters the intended 62-mile (100-kilometer) circular orbit. Due to a navigational error, IM-1 nearly impacted the Moon; initially, its perigee was a mere 0.8 miles (1.3 km) above the lunar surface [5]. The ongoing maneuvers should prevent a repetition of this issue. If Athena is on course, it is possible that Intuitive Machines will elect to skip TCM-3, as they did during IM-1.
March 2nd: Blue Ghost Landing Attempt
Blue Ghost is scheduled to land on the Moon in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Currently, touchdown is slated for 3:34 AM EST. About an hour beforehand, the lander will perform a short 19-second engine burn to enter a staging orbit with a perigee above its landing site. It will then fire its main engine one last time as it decelerates and navigates towards its final destination.
Blue Ghost will land in Mare Crisium, which is one the large volcanic plains on the lunar nearside. In addition to providing a wide, flat target for Firefly’s first lander, this landing site meets the requirements of two instruments [6]. It is far enough from the Procellarum KREEP Terrane, an area with elevated concentrations of radioactive elements, for the heat flow probe to measure the average amount of energy emanating from the lunar interior. It is also far from any magnetic anomalies, which is ideal for the lander’s magnetotelluric sounder. As a bonus, the landing site is just 1.9 miles (3 km) from an enigmatic volcanic feature named Mons Latreille. It is possible that this mountain is a cinder cone, a type of small explosive volcano which has never been explored on the Moon.
March 3rd: Athena LOI
While Blue Ghost is busy assessing its surroundings and deploying its instruments, Athena will hurtle past the Moon at a distance of 62 miles. At its closest approach, the lander will ignite its VR-900 cryogenic main engine, which was tested in space during IM-1, to enter lunar orbit. This Lunar Orbit Insertion (LOI) burn will last approximately 6.8 minutes. Simultaneously, Lunar Trailblazer will conduct a lunar flyby, setting up the next stage in its circuitous journey.
March 3rd-5th: Blue Ghost Instrument Deployment
After imaging its surroundings, Firefly’s lander will begin collecting scientific data. Unlike IM-2, which revolves around mobile rovers and hoppers, Blue Ghost is primarily a stationary science platform. However, it will first need to deploy two instruments. Once again, the heat flow probe and the magnetotelluric sounder will be the payloads of interest. Blue Ghost must drill 9 feet (3 meters) into the lunar regolith to create a borehole for the former. The latter instrument features a magnetometer on an extendable vertical boom, as well as four cables which will be launched out to a distance of 65 feet (20 m) by powerful springs. This instrument is the first of its kind to fly in space, and it will attempt to probe the Moon’s internal structure.
March 6th: Athena Landing Attempt
Athena is scheduled to join Blue Ghost on the Moon on Thursday. Like Blue Ghost, it will enter a temporary descent orbit and then decelerate for a soft landing over the course of about an hour. The precise time of arrival has not yet been published.
IM-2 is targeting Mons Mouton, a plateau the size of Delaware in the lunar south polar region. This heavily-cratered feature is actually a flat-topped mountain which towers 3.7 miles (6 km) above the rest of the south pole. It was raised up to this impressive height by the incomprehensible force of the South Pole-Aitken Basin impact event, the largest collision in the history of the Moon. It then was shaped into a mountain by the smaller impact craters which ring its circumference. Because Mons Mouton was excavated from a depth of several miles, it might harbor primordial rocks from the Moon’s original crust.
March 7th: Athena Rover and Hopper Deployment
Athena carries two mobile payloads, which will collaborate to explore its surroundings. Lunar Outpost’s MAPP rover will serve as a testbed for its much larger Lunar Terrain Vehicle, which will hopefully transport astronauts across the rugged lunar plains towards the end of the decade. The rover will carry a prototype lunar WiFi system from Nokia, which will ultimately be used on Axiom Space’s Artemis space suits. It will also collect a small sample of lunar regolith, which will be sold to NASA for the ceremonial price of one dollar. This will establish the precedent that lunar resources, particularly water ice, can be sold on the commercial market.
As for Intuitive Machines’ Micro-Nova hopper, named Grace, it can travel up to 15 miles (25 km) from its landing site. The first flight will be much more modest. Grace will launch vertically and fly 65 feet (20 meters) from Athena before landing softly. We know that the first flight will take place around 14 hours after landing; the rover will be deployed at some point before then.
March 8th: Athena Drilling Operations
Once MAPP and Grace are roaming safely across the lunar surface, Intuitive Machines’ focus will shift to history’s first attempt to prospect for lunar resources. NASA’s PRIME-1 drill will bore 3.3 feet (1 meter) into the regolith beneath Athena. As pulverized tailings from the drill are brought to the surface, a mass spectrometer will search for water vapor as any ice sublimates. If the hunt is successful, PRIME-1 will have made the first detection of lunar water from the surface. However, Mons Mouton experiences higher temperatures than IM-2’s original landing site at Shackleton Crater, so there may not be any ice present within reach of the drill [7]. The drilling operation will likely proceed over the course of multiple days.
March 10th: Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
By happenstance, the two lunar missions happen to overlap with the world’s largest planetary science conference. LPSC began during the Apollo program, and it is held every spring in Houston, Texas. While no formal sessions could be scheduled in advance, preliminary results from Blue Ghost Mission 1 and IM-2 are sure to be one of the primary topics of discussion at the meeting.
March 11th: Athena PSR Exploration
Meanwhile, Intuitive Machines’ Grace hopper will gradually travel further from its mothership. The second hop is projected to take place 62 hours after Athena arrives at Mons Mouton; the third should happen 86 hours after landing. The fourth hop will take the lander inside a Permanently Shadowed Region (PSR). While the date of this hop has not been published, we can guess that it will take place on or around the sixth day of the surface mission if all of the flights are similarly spaced. After photographing the floor of the PSR, which is cold enough to harbor ice, Grace will exit the crater during its final flight. In addition to providing us with the first images of a PSR, this flight will provide a second opportunity to search for water in case PRIME-1 comes up empty-handed.
March 14th: Lunar Eclipse for Both Landers
As both missions near their conclusion, we will be treated to a lunar eclipse on the night of Friday, March 14th. From the perspective of the landers, this event will be a solar eclipse, with the Earth temporarily blocking their view of the Sun. Earth will be surrounded by a brilliant red halo, which will contain the light of every sunrise and sunset in the world happening at once. Just as this light makes the Moon appear red from our point of view, the terrain around the landers will possess a red tint during totality.
NASA’s Surveyor 3 experienced a lunar eclipse in 1967, but it lacked a color camera; therefore, the images from the two modern landers should be unprecedentedly beautiful. While only Intuitive Machines mentions the eclipse in their press kit, Blue Ghost should also be able to observe the event since it will cover the entire lunar disk. The eclipse will begin at 11:57 PM, and it will end at 6:00 AM [8]; both landers will only be in shadow for a portion of that time.
March 16th: End of Mission for Both Landers
All good things must come to an end, and we will likely bid farewell to Blue Ghost and Athena on March 16th. Athena will power down as the Sun vanishes, as will MAPP and Grace. Blue Ghost, on the other hand, can store enough battery power to observe a lunar sunset. During one last experiment, it will attempt to determine whether lunar dust is lofted into the air by electrostatic fields at dusk. It will continue operating for six hours before it, too, falls quiet.
As the Sun sets, the temperature will plunge to -208 degrees F (-130 degrees C), and the darkness will persist for 14 days. These conditions are often fatal to a solar-powered spacecraft, though Firefly and Intuitive Machines will presumably attempt to reestablish contact with the landers when the Sun shines on their solar arrays again.
2 Comments
Leave a Reply2 Pings & Trackbacks
Pingback:Um Guia Para As Atuais Missões Lunares do Program CLPS da NASA
Pingback:Um Guia Para As Atuais Missões Lunares do Program CLPS da NASA | Mestre Jedi