According to the SpaceNews portal, NASA’s third lunar mission is planned for 2028. The mission will be implemented under the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program and will cost $179.6 million.
The mission’s goal is to explore the region of Gruithuisen domes on the Moon, also called Gruithuizen City, a formation located on the outskirts of the Central Gulf. This is necessary to help scientists understand the formation of these domes.
The region consists of granite-like rocks that typically form on Earth through plate tectonics and the presence of water. However, since these conditions do not exist on the Moon, scientists do not yet know how Gruithuisen domes form.
The Firefly mission will carry a variety of imaging, spectroscopy and regolith sampling instruments to the Moon, as well as a rover from another NASA contractor.
“This order is one of CLPS’ largest orders to date, the second order following Astrobotic’s order to develop the Griffin lander, which was originally intended to carry NASA’s VIPER rover. Originally valued at $199.5 million, this order has since grown to over $300 million,” NASA said.
Source: Ferra
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