SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket has launched two lunar landers, Blue Ghost and Resilience, on their journey to the moon, marking a significant milestone.
Florida: Early Wednesday, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying two lunar landers, Blue Ghost and Resilience. They’re on their way to the moon, which is super exciting!
The rocket took off at 1:11 a.m. EST from Kennedy Space Center. This launch was special because it marked the 100th Falcon rocket launch from that site. Pretty cool, right?
Firefly Aerospace was thrilled, saying, “Blue Ghost is on its way to orbit! Go Ghost Riders in the sky!” It’s always nice to see companies celebrating their achievements.
After the launch, the Falcon 9’s booster made a successful landing on a droneship in the Atlantic. This was its fifth flight, showing how reliable these rockets have become.
This mission is the first for Blue Ghost and the second for Resilience. Ispace is also sending a micro rover called Tenacious along with Resilience.
The Blue Ghost mission, named “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” will carry ten science and tech payloads for NASA. It’s set to land in early March at the Mare Crisium crater after a 45-day journey.
Meanwhile, Resilience will take about four to five months to reach the moon. It will deploy the Tenacious rover at an undisclosed spot.
Resilience is also carrying some interesting commercial payloads, like equipment for water production and a food experiment. Plus, there’s a cool commemorative plate from Bandai Namco Research Institute.
The Tenacious rover will even have a “Moonhouse” model home created by a Swedish artist. It’s going to collect rock and dust samples from the moon’s surface.
This mission is a big deal for ispace, especially after their first attempt to land on the moon failed last year. It’s also SpaceX’s first lunar launch, kicking off a series of missions for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.
