Touchdown For The Blue Ghost Lunar Lander
13:13 minutes
Last weekend, the Blue Ghost lander, built by the Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace, became the first commercial spacecraft to execute a fully successful landing on the surface of the moon. On board the lander were 10 NASA instruments flown as part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. The lander will be in operation on the moon over the course of one lunar day (about 2 Earth weeks), before running out of battery power as the lunar night falls.
Kevin Scholtes, an engineer at Firefly Aerospace, and Dr. Nicky Fox, associate administrator for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, join Host Flora Lichtman to talk about building a commercial spacecraft, the role of private companies in spaceflight, and some of the science the mission aims to achieve.
Further Reading
- Watch a video of Blue Ghost’s moon landing via Firefly Aerospace on YouTube.
- Read about another commercial lunar lander, Intuitive Machines’ Athena, that reached the moon this week but is on its side, via SpaceNews.
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Segment Guests
Nicola Fox
Dr. Nicola Fox is the Associate Administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC.
Kevin Scholtes
Kevin Scholtes is the Future Systems Architect at Firefly Aerospace in Cedar Park, Texas.
Segment Transcript
The transcript of this segment is being processed. It will be available early next week.
Meet the Producers and Host
About Charles Bergquist
As Science Friday’s director and senior producer, Charles Bergquist channels the chaos of a live production studio into something sounding like a radio program. Favorite topics include planetary sciences, chemistry, materials, and shiny things with blinking lights.
About Flora Lichtman
Flora Lichtman is a host of Science Friday. In a previous life, she lived on a research ship where apertivi were served on the top deck, hoisted there via pulley by the ship’s chef.