Private lunar lander Blue Ghost, operated by Firefly Aerospace, has captured the first-ever high-definition sunset images from the moon before falling silent over the weekend. The photos, released by Firefly and NASA, show stunning views of the moon with Venus in the distance. The Texas-based Blue Ghost landed on the moon on March 2 and was the first private spacecraft to successfully land upright and complete its mission. Despite falling silent due to lack of solar energy, the lander managed to collect important data and capture breathtaking images.
NASA’s Joel Kearns noted that the series of sunset shots captured by Blue Ghost are the first high-resolution images from the moon. Scientists will analyze the images to determine the unusual features captured, including the horizon glow, and whether it was caused by levitating dust—an idea first proposed by Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan. Blue Ghost carried 10 experiments for NASA under the commercial lunar delivery program, meeting all objectives despite a setback with the on-board drill that could only penetrate 3 feet into the moon instead of the planned 10 feet.
Firefly plans to attempt to reactivate the lander in early April after the bitter cold lunar night, although engineers are unsure of its success. The achievement of Blue Ghost in capturing these groundbreaking images marks a significant milestone in lunar exploration and opens up new possibilities for private space companies.
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