American Spacecraft Blue Ghost Lands on the Moon

Firefly Aerospace has achieved a significant milestone by becoming the second American company to land a spacecraft on the Moon. On Sunday, Firefly successfully landed their Moon lander, Blue Ghost, on the lunar surface, marking the start of a two-week research mission.

The mission, named “Blue Ghost Mission 1,” commenced on January 15. The compact, car-sized Blue Ghost lander touched down on the Moon at 2:35 PM Bangladesh time on March 2, near the Mare Crisium region. This area is a large basalt-filled basin located in the northeastern part of the Moon’s Earth-facing side, close to an ancient volcanic source.

Blue Ghost is one of two lunar landers developed by Firefly Aerospace. NASA utilizes these landers to transport scientific instruments and technological tools to various parts of the Moon as part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative. This initiative aims to deliver scientific payloads to the lunar surface efficiently and affordably.

The Blue Ghost lander is equipped with 10 scientific and technological instruments that will assist NASA in gathering data from the Mare Crisium region. Basalt, a dark gray volcanic rock, is prevalent in this area.

Firefly Aerospace, based in Texas, is a key partner in NASA’s CLPS initiative, which collaborates with various American private space companies to transport hardware to the Moon’s surface. This mission represents a significant step forward in lunar exploration and scientific research.