Dual lunar landings and Starship test mark space exploration leap
Two landers, Athena and Blue Ghost, are set to land on the Moon in early March. Around the same time, SpaceX's eighth Starship rocket test is scheduled to occur.
The American company Firefly Aerospace launched the Blue Ghost lander toward the Moon on January 15. Its landing in the Mare Crisium area is slated for March 2. The mission includes scientific experiments, such as testing regolith adhesion and assessing computer resistance to cosmic radiation. Its aim is to support future manned missions as part of NASA's Artemis program.
The Athena lander, built by Intuitive Machines, launched on February 26 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. The planned landing is set for March 6 in the Mons Mouton area.
The mission focuses on mobility, advanced communication, drilling into the Moon's surface, and data transmission and storage beyond Earth. After landing, Athena is expected to send photos. Additionally, it will release the Lunar Outpost MAPP rover and the Grace robot, and deploy the NASA PRIME-1 drill set.
The data collected by these devices will be sent to Earth and the Freedom data center in lunar orbit. The mission will also allow testing a new 4G/LTE communication system.
Starship rocket test
SpaceX plans to launch the eighth test of the Starship rocket on March 3. After reviewing the previous unsuccessful flight, changes to hardware and operations were made to enhance reliability. The goals include the rocket's first deployment of a payload and experiments related to atmospheric entry.
Starship is a two-stage mega-rocket that is over 394 feet tall. Its first stage is the Super Heavy booster, and the second stage is the Starship spacecraft. SpaceX plans to launch, return to, and catch the upper stage with the mechanical arms of the Mechazilla tower and launch, return to, and catch the Super Heavy booster.
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