Overview
- NASA JPL’s Environmental Test Laboratory finished vibration and acoustic testing on a full‑scale structural qualification model of the dual‑spacecraft stack with the Blue Ghost lander atop the Elytra Dark orbital vehicle.
- Engineers drove the stack along three axes on a shaker table with hundreds of sensors, then exposed it to acoustic loads up to 153 decibels inside a nitrogen‑horn chamber to replicate Falcon 9 launch noise.
- Data from multiple runs were compared with computer models to tune configurations and simulations, indicating the design can withstand ascent on a SpaceX Falcon 9.
- The tested article was not flight hardware, so electromagnetic compatibility checks and thermal‑vacuum cycles remain for the flight spacecraft now moving into assembly and final test.
- Mission 2 is slated to launch as early as 2026 under NASA’s CLPS program, carrying LuSEE‑Night and JPL’s User Terminal to the lunar far side while Elytra Dark deploys ESA’s Lunar Pathfinder for relay services.