A US-based company has successfully landed its spacecraft on the Moon, marking only the second private mission to do so—this time with an upright landing.
Historic Touchdown
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 touched down near Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side at 3:34 AM US Eastern Time (0834 GMT) on Sunday. The mission control team in Austin, Texas, erupted in cheers as an engineer confirmed, “Y’all stuck the landing, we’re on the Moon.”
Unlike the first private landing in February 2024, which came down sideways, Blue Ghost landed stable and upright, as confirmed by CEO Jason Kim.
A Mission with Scientific Goals
Nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” the mission is part of a NASA-industry partnership supporting Artemis, the program aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon.
Launched on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, the hippopotamus-sized lander carries 10 scientific instruments, including:
- A lunar soil analyzer
- A radiation-tolerant computer
- An experiment testing the feasibility of using Earth’s GPS for lunar navigation
Blue Ghost is designed to operate for one lunar day (14 Earth days) and will capture high-definition images of a total lunar eclipse on March 14. On March 16, it will observe a lunar sunset, helping scientists study how dust levitates above the surface—a phenomenon first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
More Private Moon Landings to Follow
The next private lunar mission will take place on March 6, when Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission attempts to land its Athena lander. The Texas-based company made history in February 2024 as the first private company to achieve a soft lunar landing. However, its lander tipped over upon impact, cutting the mission short due to insufficient solar power.
This time, Intuitive Machines has made key design improvements, including a taller, slimmer lander that stands about as tall as an adult giraffe.
With more commercial landings ahead, private industry is playing an increasingly crucial role in NASA’s lunar exploration efforts—paving the way for future crewed missions under the Artemis program.
