Through the looking glass: Firefly’s Blue Ghost, the first fully successful private flight to the Moon’s surface, has recently completed its mission flawlessly. Along with transmitting 119 gigabytes of valuable scientific data, the lander sent back breathtaking images and footage of the Sun’s movement as observed from the lunar surface.
NASA and the private space company Firefly have made available unprecedented images that depict an eclipse and a sunset from the Moon. The videos and accompanying pictures mark a fitting conclusion to this historic mission.
On March 2, Blue Ghost achieved the distinction of being the first spacecraft from a private company to achieve a perfect landing on the Moon, capturing a remarkable lunar sunrise shortly after landing. As the lunar day came to a close on March 14, marking the end of the lander’s solar-powered operations, it recorded crisp footage of the sunset. Watch the footage below:
Following this, the company released high-resolution photos of the event at various stages. Blue Ghost also managed to capture a solar eclipse as Earth passed in front of the Sun.
During its two-week mission, the lander successfully deployed all 10 of NASA’s onboard science instruments and collected data crucial for future missions. One experiment marked the first successful tracking of the Global Navigation Satellite System both in lunar orbit and on the Moon’s surface.
Other experiments investigated innovative techniques for manipulating lunar soil and dust using pressurized nitrogen gas and electrodynamic forces, potentially facilitating sample collection and dust mitigation in future missions. Furthermore, the mission provided unprecedented measurements of the Moon’s deep interior.
Numerous governments and companies have encountered difficulties landing on the Moon in recent years, with some missions ending in crashes and others experiencing instability during landings.
Recent lunar missions aim to lay the foundation for a permanent Moon-based infrastructure, potentially including rail lines, nuclear power plants, data centers, and more. NASA plans to send astronauts to the lunar surface for the first time in over half a century through its multi-stage Artemis program, though the project has faced repeated delays.
Artemis I successfully orbited the Moon in 2023, while Artemis II’s planned flyby has been postponed until next year. A crewed mission, Artemis III, is tentatively scheduled for launch in 2027.
In other space-related news, NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore have finally returned to Earth aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after their mission—initially planned for eight days—extended to nine months. Although described by former President Donald Trump, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, and the media as “stranded,” NASA asserts that the extended stay was within mission parameters.
After docking with the International Space Station last June, Williams and Wilmore were forced to remain on board due to issues with Boeing’s crew capsule. They finally returned this month aboard a SpaceX mission. During their 286 days in space, the duo conducted over 150 scientific experiments, with Williams setting a new spacewalking time record for female astronauts.
