Watch | Firefly Aerospace shares mesmerising video of Blue Ghost's historic moon landing; NASA says equipment 'healthy'
Science & Technology | Trending | World | Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost made history as the 2nd private lander to achieve a soft moon landing. Here's a stunning video.
Firefly Aerospace, the startup that on Sunday (March 2) became only the second private-sector company to soft-land a spacecraft on the moon, has shared a breathtaking video of the moment its Blue Ghost lander touched down on the lunar surface.
And it's a touch-down
The amazing moon landing footage was transmitted after Blue Ghost successfully deployed an X-band antenna. It captures the vehicle descending steadily onto its four legs within Mare Crisium, an ancient volcanic basin just north of the moon's equator. Nearby, the lander sits close to Mons Latreille, a geological feature on the far eastern edge of the moon's visible face.
Watch it here:
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A race against lunar night
With only about two weeks before the landing site plunges into extreme cold and darkness, Blue Ghost is racing to complete its mission. The mostly solar-powered lander is expected to function until lunar nightfall, though onboard batteries could extend operations for five additional hours after sunlight disappears.
Also read | Blue Ghost Landing: US firm's spacecraft second private lander on moon. Check out which was first
What part did NASA play in this?
The mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme. The NASA-sponsored mission has carried 10 of the space agency's science instruments and technology demonstrations to the moon.
According to a NASA update on Tuesday, all equipment "continue to be healthy," with several already collecting data. Among them is the Electrodynamic Dust Shield (EDS), a device that uses electrical currents to clear moon dust—a persistent issue that damaged equipment during the Apollo missions. Initial data suggests the EDS could be a "promising solution for future lunar surface operations".
Also read | NASA bumps up probability of 'city killer' asteroid 2024-YR4 slamming into our planet Earth in 8 years
The Lunar Global Navigation Satellite System Receiver Experiment (LuGRE) made history by acquiring a GPS signal from the moon's surface for the first time.
Meanwhile, NASA's Stereo Cameras for Lunar Plume-Surface Studies (SCALPSS) captured imagery to analyse how lunar soil reacts to a spacecraft's engine during landing.
The Lunar PlanetVac (LPV) also began operations, testing a vacuum-based system designed to efficiently collect soil samples in low gravity.
(With inputs from agencies)
