Connect with us

Technology

Touchdown! Carrying NASA Science, Firefly’s Blue Ghost Lands on Moon

Published

on

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Carrying a suite of NASA science and technology, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed at 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday near a volcanic feature called Mons Latreille within Mare Crisium, a more than 300-mile-wide basin located in the northeast quadrant of the Moon’s near side.

The Blue Ghost lander is in an upright and stable configuration, and the successful Moon delivery is part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign. This is the first CLPS delivery for Firefly, and their first Moon landing.

The 10 NASA science and technology instruments aboard the lander will operate on the lunar surface for approximately one lunar day, or about 14 Earth days.

“This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” said NASA acting Administrator Janet Petro. “We have already learned many lessons – and the technological and science demonstrations onboard Firefly’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 will improve our ability to not only discover more science, but to ensure the safety of our spacecraft instruments for future human exploration – both in the short term and long term.”

Since launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Jan. 15, Blue Ghost traveled more than 2.8 million miles, downlinked more than 27 GB of data, and supported several science operations. This included signal tracking from the Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) at a record-breaking distance of 246,000 miles with the Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment payload – showing NASA can use the same positioning systems on Earth when at the Moon. Science conducted during the journey also included radiation tolerant computing through the Van Allen Belts with the Radiation-Tolerant Computer System payload and measurements of magnetic field changes in space with the Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder payload.

“The science and technology we send to the Moon now helps prepare the way for future NASA exploration and long-term human presence to inspire the world for generations to come,” said Nicky Fox, associate administrator for science at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We’re sending these payloads by working with American companies – which supports a growing lunar economy.”

During surface operations, the NASA instruments will test and demonstrate lunar subsurface drilling technology, regolith sample collection capabilities, global navigation satellite system abilities, radiation tolerant computing, and lunar dust mitigation methods. The data captured will benefit humanity by providing insights into how space weather and other cosmic forces impact Earth. 

Before payload operations conclude, teams will aim to capture imagery of the lunar sunset and how lunar dust reacts to solar influences during lunar dusk conditions, a phenomenon first documented by former NASA astronaut Eugene Cernan on Apollo 17. Following the lunar sunset, the lander will operate for several hours into the lunar night.

“On behalf of our entire team, I want to thank NASA for entrusting Firefly as their lunar delivery provider,” said Jason Kim, CEO of Firefly Aerospace. “Blue Ghost’s successful Moon landing has laid the groundwork for the future of commercial exploration across cislunar space. We’re now looking forward to more than 14 days of surface operations to unlock even more science data that will have a substantial impact on future missions to the Moon and Mars.”

To date, five vendors have been awarded 11 lunar deliveries under CLPS and are sending more than 50 instruments to various locations on the Moon, including the lunar South Pole. Existing CLPS contracts are indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts with a cumulative maximum contract value of $2.6 billion through 2028. 

Learn more about NASA’s CLPS initiative at:

https://www.nasa.gov/clps

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/touchdown-carrying-nasa-science-fireflys-blue-ghost-lands-on-moon-302389372.html

SOURCE NASA

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

TVA GROUP INC. ANNOUNCES ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

Published

on

By

MONTREAL, May 6, 2025 /CNW/ – In accordance with the TSX Company Manual, TVA Group Inc. (TSX: TVA.B) is issuing this news release to disclose the voting results for the election of its directors obtained at its Annual Meeting of shareholders held earlier today.

All of the proposed nominees were duly elected as directors of the Corporation by shareholders present or represented by proxy at the meeting. The voting result was as follows:

NAME OF NOMINEES

VOTES

FOR

%

VOTES

WITHHELD

%

Jacques Dorion

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

Nathalie Elgrably-Lévy

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

Sylvie Lalande

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

Régine Laurent

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

A. Michel Lavigne

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

Daniel Paillé

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

Marie-Pierre Simard

4,318,523

99.99

60

0.01

TVA Group

TVA Group Inc., a subsidiary of Quebecor Media Inc., is a communications company engaged in broadcasting, film production and audiovisual services, international production and distribution of television content, and magazine publishing. TVA Group Inc. is North America’s largest broadcaster of French-language entertainment, information and public affairs programming and one of the largest private-sector producers of French-language content. It is also the largest publisher of French-language magazines and publishes some of Canada’s most popular English-language titles. Its Class B shares are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol TVA.B.

SOURCE TVA Group

Continue Reading

Technology

Lightricks Launches 13B Parameters LTX Video Model, Breakthrough Rendering Approach Generates High-quality, Efficient AI Video 30X Faster Than Comparable Models

Published

on

By

JERUSALEM and NEW YORK, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Lightricks, a leader in AI-driven content creation technology, today announced the release of its LTX Video 13-billion-parameter model (LTXV-13B) – which may be the most advanced and efficient AI video generation model to date. This substantial upgrade dramatically increases quality while maintaining LTXV’s unparalleled speed generating AI videos. The 13B model is available within the company’s flagship storytelling platform, LTX Studio, shared with the open community and is being integrated across the Lightricks portfolio.

LTXV-13B introduces “multiscale rendering,” a major technical breakthrough that delivers both speed and quality through a layered process. The model drafts in lower detail first to capture coarse motion using fewer resources. This draft then guides the next stages, where the model progressively adds structure, lighting, and micro-motion (and spending time where it matters most). The result is high-fidelity video built through deliberate, multi-scale generation, with render times that can be more than 30X faster than comparable models – without compromising visual realism.

The new 13B model represents a significant leap forward in Lightricks’ generative AI capabilities, offering creators the ability to produce videos with stunning detail, coherence, and control. It utilizes the latest advancements in academia and the open source community, including unsampling controls and spatiotemporal guidance for video editing, and kernel optimization for running speeds.

Unlike other models that demand enterprise-grade GPU (and long rendering times), LTXV-13B delivers studio level video at unmatched speed, even on devices that creators already own, which differentiates LTX Video in the marketplace.

“The introduction of our 13B parameter LTX Video model marks a pivotal moment in AI video generation with the ability to generate fast, high-quality videos on consumer GPUs,” said Zeev Farbman, co-founder and CEO of Lightricks. “Our users can now create content with more consistency, better quality, and tighter control. This new version of LTX Video runs on consumer hardware, while staying true to what makes all our products different – speed, creativity, and usability.”

While developing and refining the 13B model, Lightricks entered into a strategic partnership with leading media asset provider Getty Images. In December 2024, Lightricks entered an agreement with Shutterstock to leverage their licensed content. These kinds of collaborations have given Lightricks access to an extensive library of high-quality video assets for model training, reinforcing its mission to build ethically trained, visually compelling, and commercially safe generative tools.

The LTXV-13B model now empowers creators with even more control and flexibility, seamlessly supporting all of the platform’s advanced creative tools, including:

Keyframe editingCamera motion controlCharacter and scene-level motion adjustmentMulti-shot sequencing and editing

In support of startups and small businesses, Lightricks is offering the 13B model free to license for enterprises with under $10 million in annual revenue. This initiative and the release of all LTXV models in open source reflect Lightricks’ commitment to making cutting-edge generative AI accessible to the next generation of creative companies and innovators. Open source versions of LTXV are available on Hugging Face (LTX-Video) and GitHub (LTX-Video).

“By consistently refining our models and working with the open community, we’ve built an AI system that generates physically natural movement while preserving artistic control,” added Yoav HaCohen, Director of LTX Video at Lightricks.

Since launching LTX Video in November 2024, Lightricks has collaborated with researchers and open-source contributors to improve motion consistency, scene coherence, and creative adaptability. Key open-source advancements in LTXV-13B include:

VACE Model Inference – advanced video generation and editing tools, including reference-to-video (R2V). Details on GitHubUnsampling Controls for Video Editing – Tools that reverse noise and refine frame granularity. Details on GitHub.Kernel Optimization – Efficient Q8 kernel usage allows performance scaling on lower-resource devices. Details on GitHub and HuggingFace.

With a growing library of models designed for diverse creative needs and a commitment to open development, Lightricks is shaping the future of generative AI video, bridging research-driven breakthroughs with real-world application. For more information about Lightricks, its products, technology, and open-source initiatives, visit www.lightricks.com.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/lightricks-launches-13b-parameters-ltx-video-model-breakthrough-rendering-approach-generates-high-quality-efficient-ai-video-30x-faster-than-comparable-models-302447660.html

SOURCE Lightricks

Continue Reading

Technology

CREDIT CARD VETERAN RODNEY YODER JOINS COIGN AS CFO

Published

on

By

MCLEAN, Va., May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Coign, a leading fintech company, is proud to announce the appointment of Rodney Yoder as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). With over three decades of financial leadership in banking, fintech, and high-growth companies, Yoder brings outstanding expertise to Coign’s executive team.

For more than a decade Yoder held senior leadership roles at Barclays, cultivating deep expertise in global payments, private banking, and credit. He also oversaw forecasting, risk management, and innovation strategies while leading a global finance team of 70 professionals. His earlier positions at Swift Financial and Bank of America/MBNA underscore his ability to build robust financial infrastructures, manage multibillion-dollar portfolios, and drive both cost efficiencies and revenue growth.

“Throughout his career Rodney has be a leader at Fortune 500 financial institutions, offering a unique perspective on credit, markets, and strategic vision,” said Rob Collins, CEO of Coign. “As we continue to scale and evolve as a fintech platform, his experience navigating complex transformations and delivering results across diverse markets will be incredibly valuable.”

“I’m excited to join Coign at this pivotal moment,” said Rodney Yoder, CFO of Coign. “The opportunity to shape the company’s next chapter of growth—by building strong financial foundations, optimizing capital strategy, and fostering innovation—is exciting. I look forward to collaborating with the leadership team to deliver long-term value for our customers, employees, and investors.”

Yoder’s career is marked by significant achievements, including spearheading financial planning for large-scale portfolio programs, assembling global finance teams, and developing systems and models that have driven successful audits, strategic transactions, and sustained growth initiatives.

Most recently, as CFO of Sunlight Financial, Yoder orchestrated a strategic transformation, guiding the company through its transition from public to private status. He played a pivotal role in evaluating strategic alternatives, securing $90 million in debt and $65 million in equity financing, negotiating loan agreements to enable $2.5 billion in forward flow loan financing, and implementing interest rate hedge programs to mitigate risk.

About Coign
Coign is the premier fintech platform for conservative Americans, offering credit cards and financial solutions designed to align with their values. Through a leading center-right media strategy, low customer acquisition costs, and a commitment to trust, Coign is building the largest conservative community in U.S. history, uniting millions to strengthen America’s  foundations.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/credit-card-veteran-rodney-yoder-joins-coign-as-cfo-302447661.html

SOURCE Coign

Continue Reading

Trending