Nasa's Firefly first commercial robotic Moon launch set to lift off on Jan 15

The Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 has been set for launch this Wednesday, January 15, carrying Nasa science and technology to the Moon as part of the space agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative and Artemis campaign.

According to Nasa, at the agency’s Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, the mission will lift off on a SpaceX’s Falcon 8 rocket from Launch Complex 39A.

Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander will spend approximately 45 days in transit after the launch to the Moon before landing on the lunar surface in early March.

Moreover, the lander will carry 10 Nasa science investigations to further our understanding of the Moon’s environment.

As part of the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, it will also help prepare for future human missions to the lunar surface.

Additionally, on this flight, science investigations aim to test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods.

By providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth, the data captured could benefit humans on Earth.