Firefly Aerospace will team up with NASA to explore the lunar surface’s Gruithuisen Domes, using sophisticated instruments developed by BAE Systems and Arizona State University.
This initiative, part of NASA’s CLPS program, aims to shed light on the unique volcanic formations of the domes and support future lunar exploration and economic growth. The mission, valued at $179 million, will deliver crucial data on how the moon’s regolith can aid long-term lunar missions.
Mission Overview
NASA has chosen Firefly Aerospace to deliver the Lunar Vulkan Imaging and Spectroscopy Explorer (Lunar-VISE) payload, developed by the University of Central Florida (UCF), to the Moon’s Gruithuisen Domes. This mission aims to uncover how these mysterious silica-rich volcanic formations came to be.
The Lunar-VISE payload, built by BAE Systems and Arizona State University (ASU), is equipped with multiple instruments to analyze the lunar regolith over a 10-Earth-day period. The data gathered will help scientists explore how lunar soil could support future missions and long-term lunar exploration.
Firefly Aerospace is part of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which partners with American companies to deliver scientific and exploration payloads to the Moon. Through CLPS, companies like Firefly can compete for NASA contracts, enabling faster progress in lunar research and exploration.
“The CLPS initiative carries out U.S. scientific and technical studies on the surface of the Moon by robot explorers,” said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration and lead of NASA’s Exploration Science Strategy and Integration Office. “As NASA prepares for future human exploration of the Moon, the CLPS initiative continues to support a growing lunar economy with American companies. Understanding the formation of the Gruithuisen Domes, as well as the ancient lava flows surrounding the landing site, will help the U.S. answer important questions about the lunar surface.”
Lander Contract and Future Missions
Firefly was awarded its fourth task order worth $179 million to deliver six experiments, including Lunar-VISE, to the Gruithuisen Domes on the near side of the Moon in 2028.
Similar silicic volcanic domes on Earth are formed due to properties not observed on the Moon, including plate tectonics and oceans, leaving lunar scientists puzzled on how these mysterious domes formed. The Lunar-VISE science team will take what is learned at the Gruithuisen Domes and what is already known from other silicic volcanic spots on the Moon to reconstruct the history of its evolution and volcanism.
Preparing for the Lunar Journey
“We are beginning to have actual hardware and are building our instruments, and now we know how we will get them deployed on the lunar surface and what our rover will look like,” says Lunar-VISE’s co-investigator Jessica Sunshine, a professor of astronomy and geology at the University of Maryland. “What started as a concept and then figures in a proposal is now amazingly really happening. While the project has a lot of work to do, particularly as we integrate with Firefly, this marks a new exciting phase that gets us tantalizingly close to going from paper to the Moon.”
In the upcoming year, the Lunar-VISE team anticipates the final check, or the System Integration and Acceptance Reviews (SIR), in August to ensure all components are suitable and safe for intended operations.
“I’m very proud of our Lunar-VISE team in developing, building, and testing our payload instruments and getting us ready for integration onto Firefly’s Ghost lunar lander and rover,” says Principal Investigator Kerri Donaldson Hanna, an associate professor in UCF’s Department of Physics. “The Lunar-VISE team is excited to work with Firefly to plan our science and exploration operations at the Gruithuisen Domes in 2028.”
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