Dual Lunar Adventures: SpaceX’s Revolutionary Dual-Mission Rocket Launch

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A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket thundered into the sky on Wednesday, transporting two lunar landers on a voyage to our nearest celestial companion — initiating what is anticipated to be a vibrant year of lunar missions amid a rejuvenated competition to create a sustained human foothold on the moon’s surface.

The SpaceX rocket launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 1:11 a.m. ET.

Nestled within the rocket’s pointed nose cone were the two lunar landers — arriving from two distinct nations. The first is Blue Ghost, a lunar lander standing 6.6 feet tall (2 meters) developed by Firefly Aerospace, a company based in Cedar Park, Texas.

This uncrewed mission signifies Firefly’s initial venture into dispatching a spacecraft to the lunar terrain. The firm serves as a contractor for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, which is a segment of the space agency’s Artemis initiative — a system under which NASA aspires to send humans back to the moon for the first occasion in over half a century.

“It’s an excellent time for the lunar economy,” Firefly Aerospace CEO Jason Kim remarked to CNN in December, expressing that he’s “100% confident in our team’s capability” — even if assurance of success isn’t ensured for Blue Ghost’s debut flight.

Accompanying the journey inside the Falcon 9 rocket’s payload compartment is a 7.5-foot-tall (2.3-meter-tall) lunar lander from Ispace, headquartered in Tokyo. The launch on Wednesday marked the company’s second attempt to deliver one of its Hakuto-R spacecraft to the moon.

Ispace is a firm that seeks to offer its services to space organizations or private enterprises wanting to deploy scientific or other payloads on the lunar surface. Similar to Astrobotic Technology from Pittsburgh, which designed the Peregrine lunar lander that met a fiery demise during its first attempt in January 2024, the company has its origins in the Google Lunar XPrize. This competition offered $20 million to any entity that could successfully land a spacecraft on the moon, aimed at stimulating innovation in space technology within the private sector. (The competition ultimately concluded in 2018 with no victor as development timelines extended beyond expectations.)

Ispace, now listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, made its first attempt at a lunar landing in 2023, but the Hakuto-R spacecraft utilized in that mission ultimately crash-landed, leaving a new dent on the lunar landscape. The company later linked its unsuccessful landing attempt to inaccurate data regarding the spacecraft’s altitude.

Nonetheless, Ispace claims it has returned — equipped with insights gained — and is poised to achieve a soft landing this time.

“We obtained a wealth of data, extremely valuable data, from mission one,” Jumpei Nozaki, the company’s CFO stated on Monday. “Thus, we will 100% incorporate this on mission two. And indeed, we possess the confidence to successfully complete this mission this time.”

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Although the Ispace Hakuto-R and Firefly Aerospace Blue Ghost lunar landers may be sharing the same voyage to outer space, they will pursue distinct trajectories toward the moon.

The Hakuto-R and Blue Ghost landers have now commenced their separate expeditions.

In the end, Blue Ghost is scheduled to orbit Earth for approximately 25 days before embarking on a four-day journey to the moon, followed by a few weeks in lunar orbit. The spacecraft is anticipated to conduct its thrilling landing attempt roughly 45 days post-launch.

The Hakuto-R lander, known as Resilience, is pursuing an even more gradual route to the moon.

“It’s a low-energy trajectory,” remarked Nozaki. “However, that isn’t necessarily a negative aspect. This extended journey allows us to verify multiple types of systems.”

The organization has yet to publicly announce a projected landing date for Resilience, but Nozaki informed CNN that the spacecraft will follow a route akin to the previous Hakuto-R mission, which took four to five months to reach the moon.

Hakuto-R’s first mission ended unsuccessfully due to the spacecraft miscalculating its descent while traversing over a crater, resulting in a drop of about 3 miles (5 kilometers) to the surface, according to Ispace.

“Nearly all systems functioned flawlessly — including propulsion, communication, and structure,” Nozaki reflected on the initial Hakuto-R mission. “The complication lay within the software and altitude measurement, which encountered issues.”

A NASA spacecraft captured a picture of the impact crater formed during the crash landing.

What’s included on the Blue Ghost moon lander

Blue Ghost aims to land on the lunar terrain close to Mons Latreille, an ancient volcanic structure located within a basin exceeding 300 miles (483 kilometers) wide, known as Mare Crisium, or “Sea of Crises,” situated on the extreme eastern end of the moon’s near side.

The Blue Ghost carries a collection of scientific instruments and technological demonstrations aimed at testing satellite navigation, radiation-adapted computers, self-cleaning glass capable of removing lunar dust, and a “Lunar PlanetVac” for collecting and sorting lunar soil samples, based on information from Firefly Aerospace.

Kim, the CEO of the company, expressed enthusiasm about the potential of sharing images and videos the Blue Ghost lander might capture.

“There’s
“`a phenomenon referred to as the lunar horizon glow that only the Apollo 15 and 17 astronauts have witnessed personally,” Kim informed CNN. “We plan to capture this in 4K-by-4K ultra high-definition video and share it with the global audience.”

The lunar horizon glow takes place when solar photons interact with the moon’s soil, or regolith, resulting in electrostatic particles becoming airborne. This lifted dust scatters the light.

Blue Ghost is set to function for approximately 14 days on the lunar surface until its landing zone is plunged into lunar darkness. During this nocturnal phase, temperatures can plummet to minus 280 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 173 degrees Celsius), compelling the spacecraft to halt its operations.

Guided by its motto “Never Abandon the Lunar Pursuit,” Ispace is striving for redemption with its Resilience lander.

The enterprise’s inaugural lunar landing endeavor sought to place a Hakuto-R lander in the Atlas crater located on the northeastern segment of the moon’s near side.

In this attempt, Ispace targets a distinct lunar site: a 750-mile-long (1,200-kilometer) expanse known as Mare Frigoris — or the “Sea of Cold” — which is situated in the moon’s far northern regions.

Mare Frigoris is considerably more level compared to the Atlas crater area, which may provide more straightforward navigation. Ispace stated that this new landing location was selected due to the “flexibility” it offers.

The area also has conditions suitable for a small rover, termed Tenacious, to investigate, according to the company. This vehicle, which is 10 inches (26 centimeters) tall and weighs around 11 pounds (5 kilograms), is designed to depart from the Resilience lander and survey the nearby terrain.

The rover, produced by Ispace’s European division with partial funding from the Luxembourg Space Agency, is fitted with a compact shovel to gather samples of lunar soil. Ispace plans to transfer ownership to NASA — however, the sample will stay on the moon, as stated by Nozaki. (NASA refrained from commenting during a Tuesday press conference.)

The lander is also carrying experiments and technological demonstrations, such as a water electrolyzer and a module intended to evaluate algae-based food production. The payloads were supplied by various corporations and academic entities.

Additionally, commemorative items, including a metallic plate that honors the Japanese sci-fi series Gundam, along with artwork are aboard the spacecraft.

Swedish artist Mikael Genberg has contributed a small red house known as the “Moonhouse.” Genberg has been working towards placing a red house on the lunar surface for over two decades.

“The Moonhouse, the inaugural house on the moon, could symbolize humanity’s capability to attain the seemingly impossible through transcending barriers and collaboration, perhaps serving as an emblem of humanity’s perpetual and collective aspirations; a viewpoint on existence and an awareness towards Earth,” as indicated on a web page detailing the art initiative.

The project aspires to follow a series of other novelties, artistic pieces, and curiosities that have been part of previous lunar missions.

An art series by Jeff Koons titled “Moon Phases,” for instance, was transported on the Odysseus lunar lander from Houston-based Intuitive Machines last year, marking the first “authorized” artwork on the moon.