Falcon 9 • ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a pair of lunar landers to begin independent journeys to the Moon. The primary payload was Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander. It will carry 10 science payloads from NASA as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky’ mission will target a landing at Mare Crisium, near Mons Latreille, in early March. Japan-based ispace’s Resilience lander will also travel to the Moon as a secondary payload on the Falcon 9 rocket. It will take between four and five months before making its landing attempt near the center of Mare Frigoris. It too caries a number of payloads, including the Tenacious micro rover.