US spaceship Blue Ghost to attempt daring landing on Moon's ‘unexplored surface’ today
Blue Ghost's mission is part of NASA's CLPS programme, which deploys private robotic landers to transport scientific instruments to the Moon.
Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost Mission 1 is set to attempt a landing on the Moon's “unexplored surface” at around 3.34 am ET (12.20 pm IST) on Sunday, targeting a site near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon's northeastern near side. If successful, it will become only the second private lander to achieve this feat.
"Blue Ghost is ready to take the wheel!" the company posted on X on Saturday evening, announcing that flight controllers had initiated a key manoeuvre to lower the spacecraft’s orbit.
The mission, nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky,” comes just over a year after the first commercial lunar landing. It is part of NASA's collaboration with private industry to reduce costs and support Artemis, the program aimed at returning astronauts to the Moon.
The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, was launched on January 15 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, capturing breathtaking views of Earth and the Moon along its journey. It shared the ride with a Japanese company's lander, which is scheduled to attempt a landing in May.
Also Read | What instruments will NASA’s Lunar Trailblazer use to search for water on Moon?
Earlier, Blue Ghost transmitted stunning images from just above the Moon. On February 24, after lowering its orbit for the landing attempt, it captured close-up shots of the Moon’s far side.
"That feeling you get when you look out the window and realize you’re almost home!" Texas-based Firefly shared a 93-second video of the footage in a post on X on February 26.
What instruments is Blue Ghost carrying?
- Blue Ghost's mission is part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) programme, which uses private robotic landers to deliver scientific instruments to the Moon.
- The lander carries 10 NASA science instruments, including one designed to probe the Moon's interior up to 700 miles deep.
- Cameras onboard will capture X-ray images of Earth to study space weather interactions with Earth’s magnetic field, while another camera will document the lander’s descent to aid future lunar missions.
- The payload includes a lunar soil analyzer, a radiation-tolerant computer, and an experiment testing whether global satellite navigation systems can be used on the Moon.
- Designed to function for 14 Earth days, Blue Ghost will record high-definition images of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.
- On March 16, it will capture a lunar sunset, providing insights into how dust levitates above the surface due to solar radiation—causing the mysterious lunar horizon glow first observed by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
Mare Crisium on Moon
Mare Crisium is a 350-mile-wide ancient impact basin that was later filled with lava, forming a dark patch visible from Earth, according to NASA. Early astronomers mistakenly believed these dark regions, called "maria" (Latin for seas), were actual bodies of water.
Unlike the large, interconnected lava plains to the west, where most Apollo missions landed, Mare Crisium is isolated. Scientists now believe these vast lava plains differ in composition and structure from the rest of the Moon. From its unique location, LMS could provide the first geophysical data truly representative of most of the lunar surface.
