Posted on 01/15/2025 12:08:48 PM PST by Red Badger
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket rolls from its horizontal integration facility to Pad 39A in preparation to launch a pair of lunar landers from Launch Complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center in Merritt Island, Fla., early Wednesday morning. Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo
Jan. 14 (UPI) -- SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying a pair of lunar landers into space early Wednesday, sending Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost and ispace's Resilience on their lengthy journeys to the moon.
The rocket launched at 1:11 a.m. EST Wednesday from Launch Complex 39A at Florida's Kennedy Space Center, marking the 100th launch of a Falcon rocket from that particular platform, according to SpaceX.
"Blue Ghost is on its way to orbit!" Firefly Aerospace celebrated in a statement following the launch. "Go Ghost Riders in the sky!"
VIDEO AT LINK.............
Minutes after the launch, the Falcon 9's first-stage booster, on its fifth flight, successfully returned to Earth where it landed upon the Just Read the Instructions droneship that had been stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
SpaceX later confirmed deployment of the two landers, sending them on their way to the moon.
The launch is the first mission for the Blue Ghost lander and the second attempt for the Resilience lander.
Tokyo-based ispace is also sending its Tenacious micro rover to the moon inside the Resilience lunar lander.
The Blue Ghost mission is dubbed "Ghost Riders in the Sky" and will carry 10 technology and science payloads to the moon's surface for NASA.
The Blue Ghost is to land on the moon in early March, after completing its 45-day journey through space, with the 350-mile-wide Mare Crisium crater as its intended landing area.
The Resilience lander will spend between four and five months traveling to the moon before making a soft landing at an undisclosed location to deploy the Tenacious micro rover.
The Resilience lander also will carry commercial payloads that include water electrolyzer equipment, a food-production experiment, a deep space radiation probe and a commemorative ally plate developed by the Bandai Namco Research Institute.
The Tenacious micro rover will carry a "Moonhouse" model home created by Swedish artist Mikael Genberg and mounted on the rover.
The micro rover will collect rock and dust samples from the moon's surface.
The moon mission is the second for ispace after its first attempt to send a lander to the moon failed in 2022.
It is also SpaceX's first launch to a lunar surface and the first of several that a Falcon rocket will launch for NASA's Commercial Lunar Paylor services program this year, the Elon Musk-owned company said in a statement.
Space-X is operating more efficiently than NASA ever did.
Private enterprise will always be more efficient as there is an incentive to be so. The gov’t couldn’t care less about efficiency because there is no penalty for inefficiency. Spending OPM (Other Peoples’ Money) is easy.
Odd that its going to take 6 weeks and 5 months for the two landers to get there.
They’re taking the scenic route.............
“Odd that its going to take 6 weeks and 5 months for the two landers to get there.”
Probably the most cost efficient orbits. No life support for the machines on board, so time is not an object.
I did a quick search. Energy conservation. It will take numerous earth orbits and getting farther out each time. They will be using that time to run various tests of the system.
They will spend 16 days in lunar orbit. I suppose for additional data gathering.
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I wanted to see what the difference was with the Saturn V. I was surprised to read that the SpaceX has twice as much thrust power in it’s engine. Something to do with the Saturn V using a 3 stage vs a 2 stage system was better for the moon. BUT:
“The Saturn V had a specific mission to deliver crew and cargo to lunar orbit. During each Saturn V mission, the different stages were discarded when they weren’t needed anymore. Ground crews rebuilt the rocket for the next mission.
Starship allows for more diverse missions like Mars exploration and lunar landings. Its reusability makes space exploration much more affordable, putting ambitious missions, such as crewed flights to Mars, within reach economically.”
SpaceX is scheduled to launch its Starship Flight 7 mission at 5 p.m. EST (2200 GMT) on Thursday, Jan. 16 - unless it gets pushed back again due to heavy overcast.
I think we’re talking about the Falcon, not the Starship. But your point is well-taken.
I LOVE MUSK’S SENSE OF HUMOR:
LANDING SHIP NAMED :
“JUST READ THE INSTRUCTIONS”.
WOW! HOORAY Elon!
They're going to do something similar, but on a larger scale, with the Lunar Gateway space station. It's going up on Falcon Heavy, which has about 1/2 the lifting capability the Saturn V had, and will take a couple of months to get there.
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