Made in Canada, tested on the Moon
Blue Ghost Mission 1 - Moon Fly By (Credit: Firefly Aerospace)
On , the lunar surface welcomed a new visitor when Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 achieved historic success with a soft landing on the Moon's Mare Crisium. Among the scientific instruments and payloads aboard this lander were three Canadian technologies, marking a significant milestone for the country's contribution to lunar exploration.
Snapping high-resolution images of regolith samples: Canadensys
Canadian company Canadensys provided a narrow field-of-view sample imaging system as part of the Lunar PlanetVac payload on the Blue Ghost lander. PlanetVac successfully collected, transferred, and sorted lunar regolith from the Moon using pressurized nitrogen gas. The Canadensys camera was then used to take images of the inside of the canister that stores the collected regolith.
The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) awarded a $2.49 million contribution to this project through its Lunar Exploration Accelerator Program (LEAP).
The high-resolution camera developed by Canadensys. (Credit: Canadensys)
Reinventing GPS for the Moon: NGC Aerospace
NGC Aerospace's optical navigation system was also successfully demonstrated during the mission. By using lunar craters as reference points, this technology can determine the position of an orbiter or a lander just like a GPS would on Earth, relying solely on a camera and advanced software.
Example of detected and matched craters during descent trajectory. The matched craters are shown in green. (Credit: NGC Aerospace)
During its inaugural test in the lunar environment, the system demonstrated robust performance, achieving position measurements with an accuracy within 100 metres. These results validate the potential of leveraging Earth-based navigation technologies for high-precision landing and autonomous navigation in future lunar operations.
This groundbreaking technology developed in Sherbrooke, Quebec, was also through LEAP ($726,000 contribution).
Lab used to validate software ahead of flight. (Credit: NGC Aerospace)
Moon-proofing material samples: Integrity Testing Laboratory
The Regolith Adherence Characterization (RAC) payload provided by Integrity Testing Laboratory (ITL) consisted of two space-grade polymer and paint material panels treated with their proprietary “diamond-like” coating. The samples were exposed to the lunar environment upon landing and for the duration of the mission to evaluate to what extent the coating would collect Moon dust and how well it would resist this highly abrasive substance.
Prior to the mission, ITL had already conducted tests that produced promising results. The company is now evaluating the mission data to determine how the materials performed under true lunar conditions. Being able to improve dust-mitigation techniques and develop new dust-resistant materials would mark an important step toward protecting critical assets such as spacecraft, spacesuits and solar panels, to name a few.
This innovation was supported by the CSA with a $1.5 million contribution from LEAP.
ITL's Regolith Adherence Characterization samples (inside the rectangular) on a mock-up of the RAC Cassette. (Credit: ITL)
The Blue Ghost mission was a complete success, achieving 14 days of lunar surface operations. With many future Moon missions depending on imaging, navigation, and dust protection technologies, Canada is well positioned to take advantage of its expertise and play a key role in the next wave of lunar exploration.