Twitter Facebook
To prepare for the next giant leap in space exploration traveling to Mars the NASA Artemis program is planning to send humans back to the moon by 2024. But first, Artemis scientists are sending up a bunch of science projects, and a BU telescope is one of them.
The Lunar Environment Heliospheric X-ray Imager (LEXI) is being designed and built in a lab on Cummington Street by a team of engineers led by Brian Walsh, a BU College of Engineering assistant professor of mechanical engineering. In 2023, LEXI will be hitching a ride on Firefly Aerospace’s
Ghost lunar lander, alongside nine other science and technology payloads.
Illustration of of Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface. The lander will carry a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the moon in 2023 as part of NASA s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. Photo Credit: Firefly Aerospace
On Feb. 4, NASA announced that it has awarded Firefly Aerospace (Cedar Park, Texas, U.S.) approximately $93.3 million to deliver a suite of 10 science investigations and technology demonstrations to the moon in 2023. The delivery, planned for Mare Crisium, a low-lying basin on the moon’s near side, is expected to investigate a variety of lunar surface conditions and resources. Such investigations are intended to help prepare for human missions to the lunar surface, NASA says.