Illustrative, not to scale. Generic collection schematic. Shapes, positions, routing and motion are illustrative, without a physical scale. The hose is transparent here to expose the illustrative grain path; the collection block stays opaque. This is not a reconstruction of the flight installation.
The diagram and all explanations work without 3D.
Read the steps below to follow the intended function.
Component descriptions are below.
Motion is illustrative; speeds, particle amounts and travel are not measurements. In 3D: drag to rotate; on touch screens, use two fingers to rotate and zoom, one to scroll the page. Mouse wheel scrolls the page.
Intended function — not a flight replay
- Supply gas
Release gas from the supply into the sampling system.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads · Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026) - Mobilize grains
Gas jets inside the sampling head loft and sweep surface grains toward the transfer path.
Sources: Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026) - Transfer through a hose
The grains travel along the pneumatic hose. Moving dots represent a path, not a measured flow or quantity.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads - Reach the collection system
The path ends at the collection system. Sorting is reported separately below; this schematic does not show its internals.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads
What was reported on the Moon
NASA reports that Lunar PlanetVac collected, transferred and sorted lunar soil on Blue Ghost Mission 1. This was sample collection, not demonstrated water or oxygen extraction or commercial resource production.
Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three PayloadsLimits of the result. The 2026 flight paper reports a non-optimal sampling-head deployment. The illustrative schematic does not reconstruct that deployment.
Sources: Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)collected, transferred, and sorted lunar soilSources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads
What each part does
- Gas supply
- A pressurized gas supply provides the working fluid that moves the grains. Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads · Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)
- Sampling head
- Gas inside the head mobilizes the surface grains. Nozzle positions and the head's pose here are schematic. Sources: Lunar PlanetVac flight report (2026)
- Transfer hose
- The pneumatic transfer path carries mobilized grains toward the collection system. The route shown is illustrative. Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads
- Collection system
- The illustrated path ends at this opaque block. Its internal sorting mechanism is not depicted. Sources: NASA: From Flight Test to the Moon — Three Payloads
What the schematic leaves out
Dimensions, nozzle layout, flight hose routing, operating pressures and collection-system internals are not established by this schematic. Inspect the sources for the experiment, and the linked mission record for its recorded outcome.
Firefly Blue Ghost Mission 1 (Ghost Riders in the Sky) · Compare the three mechanisms in 3D · Explore TRIDENT · Explore TAGSAM · How MOXIE made oxygen · Compare what each demonstrated
Sources behind this explanation
Source-based explanation; viewing it does not recheck or change the mission record.