CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — The pioneering private lunar lander by Firefly Aerospace has concluded its mission after a successful two-week operation on the moon. Known as the Blue Ghost, the lander completed a series of scientific experiments for NASA before ceasing operations over the weekend. This pause occurred due to the setting sun, which deprived the lander’s solar panels of the necessary energy.
Firefly CEO Jason Kim expressed sentiments of accomplishment, stating late on Sunday, “The mission is completed. But the Ghost still lives on in our hearts and minds for the journey it’s taken us on!” The lander was programmed to function for five hours into the lunar night before shutting down on Sunday evening. Photographic captures of the lunar sunset and its aftermath are set to be shared on Tuesday, according to Kim.
Launched from Cape Canaveral in January, Blue Ghost is part of NASA’s commercial lunar delivery initiative. It touched down at the moon’s northeastern section on March 2, equipped with advanced tools like a drill, vacuum, and various other scientific and technological instruments for NASA’s use. Firefly has confirmed that all ten experiments conducted were successful.
In a remarkable achievement last week, Blue Ghost captured observations of a total solar eclipse from the moon, an event perceived as a total lunar eclipse from Earth’s perspective. This milestone marks Firefly as the first private company to successfully land on the moon without incident, in contrast to the unsuccessful missions by other private entities over recent years. To date, only a handful of countries, namely the United States, Russia, China, India, and Japan, have managed successful lunar landings.
Additionally, a Japanese corporation’s lunar lander, also launched alongside Blue Ghost on a SpaceX rocket, embarked on a lengthier voyage to the moon. This lander, belonging to ispace, aims to make a landing early in June.
Meanwhile, another Texas-based company, Intuitive Machines, experienced a less favorable outcome earlier this month when its lander ended up sideways in a crater by the moon’s south pole, leading to mission failure. This incident marked Intuitive Machines’ second unsuccessful mission attempt. Their first lander managed to place the U.S. back on the lunar surface last year but did not execute a perfect landing, which impacted communication abilities.
Looking ahead, Firefly Aerospace is already advancing preparations for its next lunar mission, with ambitions to conduct one moon landing each year.
