The SCALPSS imaging system on the Blue Ghost lander recorded a rare sunset on the lunar surface, helping to understand the impact of lander engines on the lunar surface in preparation for future missions.
The SCALPSS camera took time-lapse images of a lunar sunset while analyzing the effect of lander engines on lunar dust. This compressed, low-resolution GIF captures the sunset on the moon as captured by one of the six SCALPSS 1.1 cameras on Firefly's Blue Ghost lander. The lander operated on the lunar surface for a little over 14 days before being shut down, as expected, a few hours after the lunar night began.
During sunset, SCALPSS took images every ten minutes. The bright swirling light seen in the upper right corner of the GIF is sunlight reflected from the lander itself.
SCALPSS 1.1 collected images during Blue Ghost's descent and landing, as well as during the lunar day. These images will help scientists better understand how the thrusters created by a lander's engine affect the lunar surface, especially the regolith (the lunar soil).
In total, the device took nearly 9,000 images and generated 10 gigabytes of data. The value of this information is growing as lunar missions become more frequent and many payloads are expected to land in close proximity.
Blue Ghost also filmed the sunset using an HD camera, as seen in the photo above.
SCALPSS 1.1 (Stereo Cameras for Lunar Surface Impact Studies) is an imaging system developed by NASA to study the interaction of lunar landers with the lunar surface – the disturbances in the lunar surface created by the engines.
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