Firefly's uncrewed lander has completed a soft landing and will primarily investigate the Moon's geology and surface composition.
The Blue Ghost lunar lander, developed by the American company Firefly, has successfully landed, becoming the first private spacecraft to achieve a fully successful soft landing on the Moon.
The first private spacecraft to land on the Moon last year, developed by Intuitive Machines, was damaged during landing and only partially functional. In contrast, Blue Ghost is in good condition and functioning well, according to the company. The lander carries scientific experiments from NASA and other organizations, primarily for geological research and the study of lunar dust.
"We have confirmation #BlueGhost stuck the landing!" the company tweeted. "Firefly just became the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. This small step on the Moon represents a giant leap in commercial exploration." NASA also congratulated Firefly in a tweet following the landing.
Shortly after touchdown, the lander transmitted its first selfie from the lunar surface.
The first fully successful soft landing of a private spacecraft on the Moon. The first selfie from the Blue Ghost lander on the lunar surface | Source: Firefly
The lander was launched about a month and a half ago from Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. After spending several weeks in Earth orbit, it followed a fast trajectory to the Moon and entered lunar orbit about two weeks ago. The landing was successfully carried out in the Mare Crisium region, slightly north of the lunar equator on the near side of the Moon.
Since the landing occurred during the lunar morning, the lander is expected to receive about two weeks (Earth time) of continuous sunlight, providing solar energy to power its scientific instruments.
Successful landing. Cheers of joy at Firefly’s mission control upon receiving confirmation of the successful landing | Screenshot from Firefly's broadcast.
From Beresheet to Blue Ghost
Blue Ghost was launched as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) program, which funds lunar missions by private companies. In return, these missions conduct experiments, research, and technology demonstrations for NASA, supporting the broader Artemis program, which aims to land humans on the Moon again by the end of the decade. The lander, approximately 3.5 meters in diameter, bears some resemblance to the Israeli spacecraft Beresheet - and not by coincidence. Firefly collaborated on its development, at least in an early iteration, with Israel Aerospace Industries’ (IAI) Space Division, which acquired the intellectual property of the Israeli spacecraft in exchange for its share in funding the project. However, Blue Ghost is significantly larger and heavier than Beresheet, with a dry mass (excluding fuel) approaching 500 kilograms—three times that of Beresheet.
The scientific payloads aboard Blue Ghost include, among other things, an experiment examining how lunar dust adheres to different surface materials, a mobile laboratory for analyzing dust composition, and an experiment on using an electric field to repel dust. The lander also carries a radiation-hardened computer for testing its performance in space, an X-ray camera to measure the solar wind, and a drill designed to insert a thermometer up to three meters into the lunar surface. Temperature measurements at different depths will help researchers better understand the Moon's heat conductivity and its geological history. Another experiment will measure magnetic fields near the lunar surface, similar to the scientific mission carried out by Beresheet 1.
This week, another private lunar landing attempt is scheduled. Intuitive Machines is set to attempt the landing of its second lunar lander, IM-2, also known as Athena, on Monday. It was launched last Wednesday from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. Shortly after launch, an additional burn of the rocket’s second-stage engine sent the spacecraft on its trajectory toward the Moon.
The lander is expected to touch down at Malapert Massif, a large plateau not far from the Moon’s south pole. This region has drawn significant scientific interest due to the possibility of discovering frozen water beneath the surface and in craters.
Blue Ghost landing broadcast: