263: Lunar Landings & Late-Night Shifts: Ben Tackett from Firefly Aerospace on Blue Ghost Mission 1

Ben Tackett Show Notes

TITLE: Lunar Landings & Late-Night Shifts: Ben Tackett from Firefly Aerospace on Blue Ghost Mission 1"

This week on Casual Space, it's one small step for your playlist — one giant landing for a Blue Ghost…this episode delivers big on space, story, and spirit!

Beth is joined by Ben Tackett, Lead Systems Operator at Firefly Aerospace, to relive the extraordinary journey that took him from Purdue classrooms to helping land a spacecraft on the Moon.

Ben shares how his early love of aerospace evolved into a hands-on career that's shaping the future of space exploration. From collaborating with Buzz Aldrin on a Mars colonization project, to working the operations console for Blue Ghost Mission 1, Ben gives us a raw and real look at what it takes to bring a mission like this to life.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• The long nights, tight timelines, and 500+ hours of simulations that made history possible

• Real-time moments of awe: lunar images streaming in after touchdown

• The behind-the-scenes grit of small teams doing big things

• Why parking lot champagne tastes better after a lunar landing

• And what's next with Blue Ghost Mission 2, featuring payloads from the European Space Agency and a radio telescope bound for the far side of the Moon

Ben's story is one of curiosity, commitment, and cosmic-scale inspiration — a reminder that behind every successful mission is a team of passionate people pushing past limits. This episode captures not just the technical triumph, but the human heartbeat of spaceflight.

Don't miss this inside look at a truly historic mission — and a glimpse of what's just over the horizon.

#CasualSpacePodcast #BlueGhostMission1 #FireflyAerospace #MoonLanding Credit/copyright for photo/video footage: Firefly Aerospace

About Ben Tackett:

Ben is the lead systems operator for the Blue Ghost lunar program at Firefly Aerospace, current commercial New Space systems engineer , and a prior NASA hypersonic flight mechanics engineer. For Blue Ghost, Ben maintains the technical "big picture" of the program and ensures that the sub-systems required to make a successful spacecraft work together towards a successful mission program.

In addition to Blue Ghost, Ben has been a part of the Mars Sample Return initiative as Lead Flight Mechanics Engineer for development of the Earth Entry Vehicle, supported Aerocapture and Aerogravity-Assist initiatives, and completed multiple Verification & Validation efforts for the Artemis program with the NESC. Ben completed his education at Purdue University, focusing on hypersonic mission design, re-entry trajectory guidance and optimization, and aerospace systems engineering publishing a thesis on real-time trajectory optimization for onboard optimal control.

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