Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 made its historic lunar landing this morning, March 2, at 3:34 AM EST. Firefly is only the second private company to achieve a soft lunar landing, and the Blue Ghost lander is carrying a payload of NASA scientific equipment as part of the CLPS and Artemis lunar mission programs.
Earlier this week, Blue Ghost captured incredible close-up videos of the lunar surface, and mission operators were optimistic for a successful landing.
We’re baaack! 🌕
Blue Ghost has landed, safely delivering 10 NASA scientific investigations and tech demos that will help us learn more about the lunar environment and support future astronauts on the Moon and Mars. pic.twitter.com/guugFdsXY3
— NASA (@NASA) March 2, 2025
“Every single thing was clockwork, even when we landed,” Firefly CEO Jason Kim told CNN. “We got some moon dust on our boots.”
Blue Ghost sent its first image from the Moon about 40 minutes after landing, showing the lunar dust beneath its feet and Earth in the distance.
“This incredible achievement demonstrates how NASA and American companies are leading the way in space exploration for the benefit of all,” says NASA’s 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.”
Now that Blue Ghost has made its remarkable descent to the Moon, there is much work to be done. The lander will deploy its X-band antenna to send all the data it will collect to Earth. NASA and Firefly are working together to test and deploy all the mission-critical equipment and instruments.
Over the next 14 days, Blue Ghost will perform various experiments, including soil testing and becoming the first lander to capture a lunar sunset. Just before nightfall on the Moon, Blue Ghost’s imager will try to capture the “lunar horizon glow,” a remarkable phenomenon during which dust on the Moon briefly levitates above the surface. Astronauts first observed this while in orbit during Apollo 15. Blue Ghost will also perform X-ray imaging, capture high-definition video, and drill into the Moon’s surface.
Image credits: Firefly Aerospace / NASA
