Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: ‘Blue Ghost’ Mission 1
Why in the News?
US’s Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed on the Moon, becoming the second private mission to do so and the first to land upright.
What is ‘Blue Ghost’ Mission 1?
- Blue Ghost Mission 1 is a private lunar landing mission by Firefly Aerospace under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program.
- It was launched aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.
- It successfully landed on the Moon, at Mons Latreille, Mare Crisium.
- The mission is designed to operate for 14 Earth days (one lunar day).
Key Features of Blue Ghost Mission 1:
- Carries 10 scientific instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-tolerant computer, and a GPS-based navigation experiment to test satellite navigation on the Moon.
- Equipped with a high-definition imaging system to capture a lunar eclipse (March 14, 2024) and lunar sunset (March 16, 2024).
- Successfully navigated a rocky and cratered surface using hazard-avoidance technology, slowing from thousands of miles per hour to just two mph before touchdown.
- The lander is golden in color and about the size of a hippopotamus.
- It supports Artemis missions by testing lunar technologies and reducing costs for future human exploration.
PYQ:[2016] What is ‘Greased Lightning-10 (GL-10)’, recently in the news? (a) Electric plane tested by NASA (b) Solar-powered two-seater aircraft designed by Japan (c) Space observatory launched by China (d) Reusable rocket designed by ISRO |
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