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<v Speaker 1>Let's say good morning now to Associate Administrator for the

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<v Speaker 1>NASA Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, Niki Fox.

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<v Speaker 2>Good morning, Niki, Good morning.

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<v Speaker 1>So Nikki, it's not only door Dash and grubhub that

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<v Speaker 1>does deliveries. NASA does deliveries too, except they just DoD.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah, that's right, that's right actually, to be to.

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<v Speaker 2>Be fair, it's our it's our industry partners that are

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<v Speaker 2>doing the deliveries.

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<v Speaker 3>We are we are being delivered by them. So we're

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<v Speaker 3>very excited.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so tell us you're saying, so you've got somebody

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<v Speaker 1>else is actually uh flying there, but it's got NASA

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<v Speaker 1>gear on the on the payload basically absolutely.

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<v Speaker 3>Yeah. Through our Commercial.

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<v Speaker 2>Payload Delivery Service basically or clips Commercial Lunar Payloads, we

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<v Speaker 2>we actually are working very closely with our industry partners

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<v Speaker 2>enabling them to build the actual landers. They are you know,

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<v Speaker 2>they're responsible for getting the launch and every thing arranged,

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<v Speaker 2>and we provide the payloads and also kind of you know,

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<v Speaker 2>the delivery location that we want to go to and

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<v Speaker 2>then they are taking us there and taking us right

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<v Speaker 2>now with the two that are going there to very

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<v Speaker 2>different locations on the moon.

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<v Speaker 3>So it's a very exciting time. Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>So Nikki, tell us, first of all, tell us, we've

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<v Speaker 1>got two deliveries going, and one of them gets there tomorrow,

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<v Speaker 1>right or no, Sunday, Sunday.

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<v Speaker 3>Yep, that's correct. One of them gets there on Sunday.

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<v Speaker 2>And that is Firefly, our blue ghost one lander.

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<v Speaker 3>So really excited. That is that is.

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<v Speaker 2>Heading there on track to do their landing attempt on

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<v Speaker 2>Sunday morning.

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<v Speaker 3>And that is that is actually going to an interesting region.

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<v Speaker 2>That is, it's the site of an asteroid impact and

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<v Speaker 2>so when the you know, an ancient asteroid impact kind

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<v Speaker 2>of flooded that area with lava and so it's a

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<v Speaker 2>very different kind.

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<v Speaker 3>Of of of solus.

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<v Speaker 2>Sorry, you can tell I'm a helif this different kind

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<v Speaker 2>of lunar sort of surface there. And then the other one,

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<v Speaker 2>the Intuitive Machines, is going about five degrees off the

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<v Speaker 2>south pole of the Moon, so very different area, and

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<v Speaker 2>it's landing on a sort of our high high ridge there.

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<v Speaker 2>It's about the size of Delaware, about the height of

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<v Speaker 2>Mount McKinley, and so a very different area.

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<v Speaker 3>And that one is going to be looking for water

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<v Speaker 3>and other volatiles on the moon.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, And so though it sounds like they're going to

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<v Speaker 1>have two very different missions because the one that's going

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<v Speaker 1>to be near the south pole is looking for water,

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<v Speaker 1>and what's the one the Firefly Blue Ghost mission one

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<v Speaker 1>where what is the goal of that?

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<v Speaker 2>Uh, there's several goals, but you know, largely speaking, it's

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<v Speaker 2>really characterizing what the regless or what the what the

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<v Speaker 2>lunar surface does during you know, when when you actually

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<v Speaker 2>land on it, like does it does it kick up?

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<v Speaker 3>How is the dust kicked up? What does that look

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<v Speaker 3>like as you're landing.

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<v Speaker 2>Also got instruments that look at kind of how sticky

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<v Speaker 2>the the regarless.

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<v Speaker 3>Is or the you know, the lunar surface, the lunar

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<v Speaker 3>dust is.

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<v Speaker 2>We know from the Apollo missions that you know it's

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<v Speaker 2>stuck to the spacesuits, et cetera. And you know, we're

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<v Speaker 2>just going to figure out like how sticky, how tacky

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<v Speaker 2>it is. And then it also has some technology that's

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<v Speaker 2>looking at whether or not you can actually clean the

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<v Speaker 2>dust off the surface.

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<v Speaker 3>You know, if you.

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<v Speaker 2>Think about sending great scientific equipment, great life support systems,

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<v Speaker 2>and then as you keep doing landings and you keep

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<v Speaker 2>kicking up the dust, you want to be able to

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<v Speaker 2>clean off those surfaces to keep everything pristine, and so

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<v Speaker 2>sort of.

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<v Speaker 3>Doing that that kind of early.

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<v Speaker 2>Testing of that, so as we you know, land more

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<v Speaker 2>and more on the Moon, we can actually protect the

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<v Speaker 2>environment around the landers. Also great science experiments on there

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<v Speaker 2>looking at looking at the sun in X rays and

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<v Speaker 2>doing some very sort of precise location like the sort

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<v Speaker 2>of navigation precision locations with that lander as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, so Nikki, you've got me really interested in the

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<v Speaker 1>dust because you think about it kicking up and I

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<v Speaker 1>remember like when when our troops first went over to

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<v Speaker 1>Operation Desert Storm and they were dealing with the sand.

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<v Speaker 1>They were literally using nylons to cover some of the

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<v Speaker 1>weapons to keep the sand out. So I'm wondering it's

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<v Speaker 1>it's sort of like you're finding out what it does

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<v Speaker 1>so when there are future missions, you know how to

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<v Speaker 1>deal with it. Is that accurate?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's actually a really great way of putting it.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, you want to understand what the what the

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<v Speaker 2>material or you know, the dust is made of, like

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<v Speaker 2>you know, is it how and really it is, how

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<v Speaker 2>sticky is it? How much will it stick to surfaces?

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<v Speaker 2>And then you want to know how to protect those surfaces,

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<v Speaker 2>so that that's exactly right, okay.

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<v Speaker 1>And so then Nikki, let's look look to the future.

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<v Speaker 1>We're doing this because what is what's the goal? Is

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<v Speaker 1>it to put a station on the Moon? Is it

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<v Speaker 1>to make us stop over, to like have people on

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<v Speaker 1>the Moon all the time, or just to keep experimenting

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<v Speaker 1>up there?

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<v Speaker 3>Oh, a little bit of everything. I mean set the

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<v Speaker 3>the ultimate goal is to set up a sort of

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<v Speaker 3>a sustainable.

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<v Speaker 2>Lunar economy for our US companies, so that you know,

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<v Speaker 2>they they they have a sustainable Your delivery services, as

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<v Speaker 2>you know, is one thing, but also instruments on the moon,

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<v Speaker 2>payloads going to the Moon, large cargo delivery, you know,

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<v Speaker 2>on the intuitive machines. We have a hopper which is

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<v Speaker 2>a little bit like a helicopter that you know, can

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<v Speaker 2>actually sort of do mapping out of the terrain for us, so,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, really interesting things. But to be able to

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<v Speaker 2>set up that sustained presence on the Moon, and then

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<v Speaker 2>to to to be able to look after our astronauts,

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<v Speaker 2>and of course not only just on the surface of

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<v Speaker 2>the Moon, but.

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<v Speaker 3>As we then turn our attention to.

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<v Speaker 2>Sort of further out in the Solar system, we think

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<v Speaker 2>of the moon kind of lighting our way to Mars

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<v Speaker 2>as we you know, we are ready to support crude

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<v Speaker 2>missions eventually to Mars, you know, looking at the technology,

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<v Speaker 2>looking at the various things that you want to get

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<v Speaker 2>ready to be able to support those long term, long

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<v Speaker 2>duration trips to Mars, and then of course exploration on

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<v Speaker 2>the surface of Mars, which I personally could not be

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<v Speaker 2>any more excited about.

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<v Speaker 1>And do we have any kind of a timeline on

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<v Speaker 1>when that might come to fruition?

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<v Speaker 2>I mean, I think you know, we're certainly ready to

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<v Speaker 2>support any opportunities that we have to go, either to

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<v Speaker 2>the Moon or to autun Mars. I think you'd have

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<v Speaker 2>to talk to the various providers about their timelines for

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<v Speaker 2>actually getting the equipment there.

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<v Speaker 3>But NATA Science is ready to go.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay, and Nick, thank you. One last question for you.

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<v Speaker 1>The first landing is supposed to happen on Sunday, and

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<v Speaker 1>the next one I believe is on March sixth and greth.

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<v Speaker 1>Where can people watch this?

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<v Speaker 2>Oh yes, you can, thank you so much for asking.

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<v Speaker 2>You can watch it on Nataplus is our streaming service,

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<v Speaker 2>and we will be streaming all of the information live.

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<v Speaker 2>So actually that the landing, but also lots of information

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<v Speaker 2>about the two missions, and of course if you want to.

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<v Speaker 3>Know more about it ahead.

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<v Speaker 2>If you can't wait till Sunday for the landing, you

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<v Speaker 2>can go to NASA dot gov, where you'll find information

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<v Speaker 2>about all things NATA, or follow us on social media.

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<v Speaker 2>We are doing updates all the time on these both

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<v Speaker 2>of these missions. Plus we also have a lunar trail Blazer,

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<v Speaker 2>which is an orbiter that also launched with with Intuitive

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<v Speaker 2>machines this week and also upcoming.

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<v Speaker 3>We've got some launches from.

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<v Speaker 2>The West Coast this week as well, one studying the Sun,

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<v Speaker 2>one studying the galaxies, and one studying the Aurora.

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<v Speaker 3>So lots of exciting stuff happening in NASA sciet.

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<v Speaker 1>My goodness, they're keeping you busy, Nikki. Thank you so

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<v Speaker 1>much for the information. I love talking about space stuff.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just and you can you can hear your excitement

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<v Speaker 1>about it, and I love that too. Thank you so much,

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<v Speaker 1>Nikki Fox at NASA Headquarters. We appreciate it.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you all right, take care