A Very Mixed Week in Space

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): One of the last images of the eighth Starship flight on Thursday right before the rocket exploded. (SpaceX)

Let’s start with the good news. This past week two U.S. commercial space companies put landers on the Moon. Both Firefly’s Blue Ghost and Intuitive Machines’ Athena are now residents of the Moon. This is a terrific accomplishment for these relatively new players.

Now the bad news. Athena landed incorrectly and cannot carry out its mission. In fact, it died after only one day on the lunar surface. In addition, the Lunar Trailblazer that accompanied Athena on this mission with plans to orbit and map the Moon also appears to be a lost cause. And finally, SpaceX’s eighth test of its Starship ended with a fiery explosion over the Caribbean, much like its seventh test.

Add to this the potential dismantling of NASA should rumors of a 50 percent cut be true, and you have a very mixed week with too little good news (much like the stock market).

One common element in at least two of the stories – Starship explosion and NASA cuts – relates to Mr. Musk. One wonders whether more attention to SpaceX and less time ransacking the federal government might have led to better outcomes this week. I’m not a rocket scientist, but that seems to make some sense to me.

Pic of the Week: Athena Lands on Moon

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Athena approaching the Moon on March 6, 2025. (NASA)

This week’s image is from earlier today when Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander was approaching the Moon’s South Pole. The good news is that the lander made it safely to the surface. However, the lunar lander may have landed in an odd way, creating solar generating issues similar to the company’s first attempt at landing this time last year.

NASA and Intuitive Machines are still trying to determine the status of the lander as well as its exact location. The lander’s goal was to land in Mons Mouton, a lunar plateau near the Moon’s South Pole. NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter should help to pinpoint the lander’s location and orientation in the next few days.

Hopefully, some if not all of the planned experiments are still possible. But for now it’s just a matter of waiting for more news on the mission.

Space Quote: Lunar Trailblazer Mission May be Over Before it Started

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Artist’s rendering of NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer orbiting the Moon. (NASA)

“The Lunar Trailblazer team has been working around the clock to re-establish communications with the spacecraft…NASA sends up high-risk, high-reward missions like Lunar Trailblazer to do incredible science at a lower cost, and the team truly encapsulates the NASA innovative spirit — if anyone can bring Lunar Trailblazer back, it is them.”

-Statement by Nicky Fox, the associate administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate, as quoted by CNET. The Lunar Trailblazer was launched with Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander on March 26th. The satellite was designed to orbit about 60 miles above the Moon’s surface as it mapped potential water on the lunar surface.

SPHEREx and PUNCH Missions Delayed

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Image (Credit): NASA’s SPHEREx and PUNCH satellites being prepared for launch inside the Astrotech Space Operations facility at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, on Thursday, February 27, 2025. (NASA)

While NASA’s Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization and Ices Explorer (SPHEREx) and Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere (PUNCH) missions were expected to launch last weekend, they have been delayed until Thursday, March 6th. The launch will take place from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.

SPHEREx will spend two years collecting data on the origins of the universe by studying more than 450 million galaxies as well as more than 100 million stars in the Milky Way. You can learn more about the satellite’s mission by watching this Jet Propulsion Laboratory video.

PUNCH will be focused on events here in our own solar system. Consisting of four small satellites in low Earth orbit, the mission will study the entire inner heliosphere to learn how the Sun’s corona becomes the solar wind. You can learn more about the mission by watching this NASA video.

Thursday should be a busy day with these two satellites being launched and Intuitive Machines’ Athena lunar lander touching down on the Moon.

Blue Ghost Lands on Lunar Surface

Posted on by onespaceman2000
Image (Credit): Blue Ghost completed a precision landing in Mare Crisium at 2:34 a.m. CST on March 2 , touching down within its 100-meter landing target next to a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille. (Firefly Aerospace)

Above is the first image shared by the Blue Ghost lunar lander as it touched down on the Moon. Being the first attempt by Firefly Aerospace to land on the Moon, it is an impressive feat. The lunar lander will spend the next 14 days conducting planned experiments on the Moon using the various NASA instruments it is carrying.

In a press release, Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace, stated:

Firefly is literally and figuratively over the Moon…Our Blue Ghost lunar lander now has a permanent home on the lunar surface with 10 NASA payloads and a plaque with every Firefly employee’s name. This bold, unstoppable team has proven we’re well equipped to deliver reliable, affordable access to the Moon, and we won’t stop there. With annual lunar missions, Firefly is paving the way for a lasting lunar presence that will help unlock access to the rest of the solar system for our nation, our partners, and the world.

It is a bold statement by a bold company, and hopefully the start of many more such missions down the road. NASA should also be thrilled with what appears to be a solid success for its Commercial Lunar Payload Services program.

NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro shared her enthusiasm, stating:

This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all…We have already learned many lessons – and the technological and science demonstrations onboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will improve our ability to not only discover more science, but to ensure the safety of our spacecraft instruments for future human exploration – both in the short term and long term.

Congrats to everyone involved in this mission.