EST on January 15, On-orbit spacecraft commissioning was then completed by a. Upon launching, Blue Ghost will spend approximately 45 days in transit to the Moon, allowing ample time to conduct health checks on each subsystem and begin payload science. Blue Ghost will then land in Mare Crisium and operate payloads for a complete lunar day about 14 Earth days. Following payload operations, Blue Ghost will capture imagery of the lunar sunset and provide critical data on how lunar regolith reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions.
The lander will then operate for several hours into the lunar night. LISTER will characterize heat flow from the interior of the Moon by measuring the thermal gradient and conductivity of the lunar subsurface. It will take several measurements to a meter final depth using its pneumatic drilling technology with a custom heat flow needle instrument at its tip.
The Lunar PlanetVac will demonstrate pneumatic sample collection of lunar regolith by collecting and sorting regolith within its sample collection chamber. Upon deployment to the surface, PlanetVac will fire a blast of gas into the lunar surface. In a matter of seconds, the surface regolith would be lofted to a collection chamber for visual camera inspection. Additional gas jets within the sorting station will perform sieving. The sorting station includes material coupons to test regolith dust adhesion and efficiency of gas jets as a cleaning agent.
In comparison to alternative sample collection methods, such as robotic arms, PlanetVac will demonstrate a fast and low cost, low mass solution.
NGLR will greatly improve the data that is still being obtained from the Apollo era retroreflectors and will support sub-millimeter range measurements.
