The Blue Ghost spacecraft, built by Firefly Aerospace, successfully completed its mission on the moon. The spacecraft, about the size of a small car, conducted various experiments, including drilling into the lunar soil and taking X-ray images of the Earth’s magnetic bubble. Blue Ghost became the first commercial company to achieve a successful landing on the moon on its first try. The mission was sponsored by NASA and carried 10 science and technology payloads to the lunar surface. One of the experiments, PlanetVac, demonstrated a technology to collect soil and rocks, which will also be used in a Japanese mission to Mars. Another experiment, Lunar Magnetotelluric Sounder, aimed to gather data about the moon’s interior composition.
During its time on the moon, Blue Ghost observed a total solar eclipse and snapped high-resolution images of the sunset, hoping to unravel the mystery of a lunar horizon glow. The spacecraft sent a final message before going into Monument Mode, signifying the end of its mission. Firefly plans to listen for any radio messages from Blue Ghost after the lunar night passes.
Despite not being designed to withstand the extreme cold of the lunar night, there is hope that the spacecraft may revive when the sun rises again. Blue Ghost’s successful mission marks a significant milestone in commercial space exploration and scientific research on the moon.
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