Firefly Aerospace Selects Blue Origin Unit To Explore Volcanic Formations On Moon

Firefly Aerospace has teamed up with Blue Origin's Honeybee Robotics unit to deploy a rover on its 2028 lunar mission to study the Gruithuisen Domes -- rare volcanic formations that may reveal insights into the moon's geology and potential resources. The announcement follows Firefly's successful Blue Ghost Mission 1, which outlasted all prior commercial lunar landings. Reuters reports: The Gruithuisen Domes, located on the moon's near side, are unusual volcanic formations believed to be rich in silica -- a composition rare on the lunar surface -- and studying them could unlock clues about the moon's geological history and potential resources for future human missions. [...] The upcoming mission, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, will use Firefly's Blue Ghost lander and Elytra Dark orbital vehicle, alongside the Honeybee Robotics rover, to explore the domes, building on the success of its debut effort, Firefly said.

Innocent question

[hcs_$reboot]

Would they have chosen Blue Origin three months ago?

Re:Innocent question

[Smidge204]

You seem to be implying that they chose Blue Origin over SpaceX for political reasons.

And the answer to your question is: Probably, because Blue Origin's role is to build a rover, not a rocket, and SpaceX doesn't build rovers. Firefly doesn't need to partner with a rocket builder because they make their own rockets and have already successfully landed a probe on the moon.
=Smidge=

SpaceX doesn't build rovers

[rossdee]

True, Rovers are built in the UK and have been for over 75 years.

Re:

[Tx]

Firefly doesn't need to partner with a rocket builder because they make their own rockets and have already successfully landed a probe on the moon.

Umm. Firefly's Blue Ghost lander was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, so yeah, they actually do need to partner with a rocket builder at the moment. Firefly's own Alpha rocket had limited success with their test flights to date, and I don't really know where they are with that, but they seem to be focussing more on non-rocket activities for the moment.

Re:

[Smidge204]

> they actually do need to partner with a rocket builder at the moment

Their MLV platform is expected to be ready by the 2028 date for this mission. Unless something changes, they do not need to partner with anyone for their launch vehicle.

=Smidge=

Space Courrier!

[Spinlock_1977]

I guess Amazon really does deliver everywhere. If the rover gets smashed on landing, free returns?

Re:

[supremebob]

Are they also delivering the whaling robots to the moon?

It's been 26 years, and we still haven't figured out how to make that Futurama plot tie-in happen yet. I'm disappointed in this.

"Silica rich"

[RockDoctor]

On Earth, most igneous silica-rich rocks are formed by the re-melting of a previous generation of igneous rock which itself has typically been formed by settling-out of a "cumulate" fraction of iron-magnesium-rich (and relatively silica-poor) minerals from a "primordial" magma ocean phase. That remelting is a common event in a scenario of plate tectonics, with a relatively high proportion of volatiles (principally water) in the melt. In the much drier chemistry of the Moon, that's rarer. The Moon's structur