Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost lunar lander is set to land on the Moon's surface as part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. This mission will deliver a magnetotelluric probe designed to investigate the Moon's subsurface.
Under the Artemis campaign, NASA continues its series of increasingly complex lunar missions to establish a sustained human presence on the Moon for decades. The Blue Ghost mission will take place over 14 days, landing in Mare Crisium, where it will deploy NASA's scientific payloads to explore previously uncharted lunar depths.
The NASA Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder (LMS), developed by the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), aims to study the Moon's interior up to 1,000 kilometers deep, providing insights into its differentiation and thermal history—key elements for understanding the evolution of solid planetary bodies.
Magnetotellurics utilizes natural variations in surface electric and magnetic fields to determine how easily electricity flows through underground materials, revealing their composition and structure. Dr. Robert Grimm, the LMS principal investigator, noted that this will be the first extraterrestrial application of magnetotelluric technology.
Mare Crisium, a large impact basin with a diameter of 350 miles, is distinct from other dark lava plains on the Moon, which have been the landing sites for most Apollo missions. The LMS will provide geophysical measurements representative of a significant portion of the Moon.
The LMS consists of five subsystems that weigh about 14 pounds and consume approximately 11 watts of power. The payload will be delivered under NASA's CLPS initiative, with SwRI managing the scientific research and development.
As part of the CLPS model, NASA is investing in commercial lunar delivery services to foster industry growth and support long-term lunar exploration. NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, oversees the development of seven of the ten CLPS payloads being delivered by Firefly's Blue Ghost lander.