Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 is making strides toward the Moon, with NASA’s SCALPSS 1.1 successfully capturing high-resolution test images from all six of its cameras.
Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 has reached day 15 of its 45-day journey to the Moon. Aboard the spacecraft, NASA’s Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) 1.1 successfully captured high-resolution test images using all six of its cameras. The instrument, developed at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, is designed to document the spacecraft’s descent and touchdown on the lunar surface.
SCALPSS 1.1 includes four short-focal-length cameras that focus on capturing interactions between Blue Ghost’s rocket plumes, foot pads, and the Moon’s surface. The remaining two long-focal-length cameras are designed to record images of the lunar surface before the rocket plumes disturb it. These images will allow researchers to analyze the before-and-after effects of the landing. Some images were taken as part of an initial test run to confirm the cameras’ functionality.
As trips to the Moon increase and the number of science and tech instruments touching down in proximity to one another grows, researchers need to accurately predict the effects of landings. These test images demonstrate that the hardware is functioning well and is capable of collecting images of plume-surface interactions upon lunar touchdown.
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