Private space exploration firm Firefly Aerospace has shared a stunning image of a sunrise on the moon, taken by its lunar lander, as it kickstarted its days-long operations on the lunar surface. The spacecraft, Blue Ghost, is busy working after a historic landing on Sunday (Mar 2).

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The image, shared on  X on Monday (Mar 3), showed a bright sunrise set against the arid lunar surface marked with several craters.

"Rise and shine! Firefly's Blue Ghost lander captured its first sunrise on the moon, marking the beginning of the lunar day and the start of surface operations in its new home," the post reads.

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The sunrise marks the beginning of the lunar day that will last for 15 days before the extremely cold lunar night sets in.

Also Read: Blue Ghost Landing: US firm's spacecraft second private lander on moon

The Blue Ghost lander made its descent in the northeastern region of the near side of the moon. It is sitting pretty near Mons Latreille, a solitary lunar peak in the vast basin Mare Crisium ("Sea of Crises").

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GhostRiders on Blue Ghost

The company further shared that the lander's "GhostRiders have already begun operating many of the 10 NASA payloads" aboard the Blue Ghost.

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They will continue to operate for the next two weeks and "into the lunar night", Firefly Aerospace shared.

The experiments planned for Blue Ghost include studying the geology of the moon and the lunar composition. It will also carry work to learn more about space weather and how heat flows on the moon. The most exciting of them is the testing of the drilling technology.

Cameras on the lander will take pictures of how lunar dust levitates on the surface at sunset.

Blue Ghost launch

Blue Ghost was launched on Jan 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Sharing the joy of achieving a historic feat, Firefly CEO Jason Kim said in an X post on Sunday, "Firefly is literally and figuratively over the moon."

"This bold, unstoppable team has proven we're well equipped to deliver reliable, affordable access to the moon, and we won't stop there," Kim continued. "With annual lunar missions, Firefly is paving the way for a lasting lunar presence that will help unlock access to the rest of the solar system for our nation, our partners and the world."
Notably, Intuitive Machines' Odysseus was the first private lander on the moon that did so in February last year.