Firefly Aerospace’s moon mission makes succesful touchdown
A private space mission has reached an important milestone by successfully landing on the moon. Firefly Aerospace, a start-up from Texas, achieved this feat with their robotic spacecraft Blue Ghost, making them only the second commercial company to reach the lunar surface. The landing took place Sunday on the Mare Crisium, a dark basalt plain near Mons Latreille, a lonely lunar mountain.
The mission, conducted in cooperation with NASA, consisted of a two-week journey that began 15 January. Blue Ghost is now on a 14-day operation on the surface, equivalent to a single day on the moon, and is equipped with NASA instruments and equipment to collect valuable data. One of the key instruments on board is a drill that will penetrate the lunar surface to monitor temperature.
Blue Ghost has a full schedule during its mission. On 14 March it is expected to capture high-definition images of a total lunar eclipse as Earth blocks the sun from the moon’s perspective. Two days later, it will document sunset on the moon and collect data on the “glow of the lunar horizon,” a phenomenon in which dust particles float off the moon and scatter light, first observed during the Apollo 17 mission. The spacecraft will also be active for several hours during the lunar night.
This successful landing follows an earlier attempt by Intuitive Machines, another private Houston-based company, which was the first to land on the moon in 2024. However, its mission was aborted when the lander tipped over. In contrast, Blue Ghost appears to have landed upright, as planned, on the nearest side of the Moon, which is visible to the naked eye from Earth.
Blue Ghost’s mission was partially funded by NASA, reflecting the organisation’s renewed focus on lunar exploration and its ambition to return humans to the Moon for the first time since 1972. Despite these efforts, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, has criticised the moon landing as a distraction. He advocates focusing efforts directly on Mars.
Despite Musk’s stance, a growing number of private companies are focusing on lunar missions. Blue Ghost is one of three landers expected to reach the moon in the next two months, including another attempt by Intuitive Machines on 6 March and a mission by Japanese company Ispace in April after a failed attempt in 2023.
This burgeoning global sector reflects a wave of interest and investment in space exploration. This trend is further illustrated by recent announcements such as singer Katy Perry’s leadership of a women-only space mission aboard one of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin rockets.
For Firefly Aerospace, this moon landing is a major milestone after a tumultuous history. The company, initially founded as Firefly Space Systems in 2014, faced legal challenges from Virgin Galactic and financial setbacks that led to layoffs and temporary closure. After relaunching as Firefly Aerospace, the company has now achieved this remarkable success, potentially paving the way for regular lunar missions and the development of a sustainable ecosystem on the moon.
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