Two New Missions to the Moon; America's Efforts to Normalize Space Exploration

More than 50 years after the last Apollo mission, the United States is returning to the Moon again in February 2024. Now, starting Sunday, March 2, two more missions will take place within a week, demonstrating NASA and its partners' efforts to make lunar landings a routine part of space exploration. The 'Blue Ghost 1' mission, conducted by Firefly Aerospace under the name 'Sky Ghosts,' is the first mission in this series. After launching in January and preparing for a 45-day journey, the final landing is set for 3:34 AM Eastern Time near the northeastern side of the Moon. Along the way, stunning footage of the Moon was captured, coming as close as 100 kilometers from its surface. This lander is the size of a hippopotamus and carries 10 different instruments, including one for analyzing lunar soil and another for radiation resistance calculations. 'Blue Ghost' is designed for a full lunar day of exploration (14 Earth days) and is expected to capture high-resolution images of a total lunar eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon's horizon. The landing of 'Blue Ghost' will be followed by the 'IM 2' mission from Intuitive Machines and its lander, Athena. Athena was launched on Wednesday, February 28, with a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. In the 'IM 2' mission, Athena aims to land near the Moon's South Pole, an area considered important for exploration, where scientists believe it is rich in frozen water reserves, a resource that could be converted into breathable air, drinking water, or even rocket fuel. Last year, Intuitive Machines made history as the first private company to achieve a 'soft landing' on the Moon. However, a rapid descent caused one of the lander's legs to get stuck on the lunar surface, toppling it and ultimately limiting its ability to generate solar energy, shortening its mission. This time, the company claims to have made significant advancements in its hexagonal lander, which has a taller and slimmer shape compared to 'Blue Ghost' and is approximately the size of a giraffe. Landing on the Moon presents unique challenges. Before Intuitive Machines' first successful mission, only five national space agencies had achieved this success: the Soviet Union, the United States, China, India, and Japan. Now, the U.S. is trying to normalize private lunar missions through a $2.6 billion NASA program, which is essentially a public-private partnership aimed at reducing traditional costs in lunar exploration.