A Farewell with Spectacular Sunset Images
The Blue Ghost Mission 1, a lunar lander launched by Firefly Aerospace, successfully completed its two-week mission on the moon. As a final farewell, the lander sent back stunning images of a lunar sunset, capturing the unique beauty of the celestial event.
The mission, launched in mid-January, marked the first successful commercial moon landing. The lander delivered 10 NASA science and delivery payloads to the Mare Crisium basin, a vast lava-flooded region on the near side of the moon. These payloads, part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services and Artemis programs, were used to collect data and perform scientific operations on the lunar surface.
During its time on the moon, the Blue Ghost lander experienced one lunar day, capturing several images and videos. Among these were a total solar eclipse and the breathtaking sunset. In a social media post, Firefly Aerospace shared the sunset picture, referring to it as the lander's farewell.
"Sunsets hit differently on the Moon!" the company wrote, accompanying the post with photos of the sunset and the eclipse. "More images below of the horizon glow that comes to life just above the Moon's surface as the sun goes down. This milestone embodies all the achievements from this historic Firefly mission. Thank you #BlueGhost for the final goodbye. Until next time!"
The mission also saw the lander transmit 119 gigabytes of data back to Earth. The instruments onboard performed various first-of-their-kind science and technology demonstrations, including deploying the moon's deepest robotic planetary subsurface thermal probe and using an X-ray imager to study the interaction of solar wind and the Earth's magnetic field.
"Operating on the Moon is complex; carrying 10 payloads, more than has ever flown on a (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) delivery before, makes the mission that much more impressive," said Joel Kearns, deputy associate administrator for exploration at NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "Teams are eagerly analyzing their data, and we are extremely excited for the expected scientific findings that will be gained from this mission."
The Blue Ghost Mission 1 set a record for the longest commercial mission to the moon. The Commercial Lunar Payload Services program aims to send more than 50 instruments to various parts of the moon, further expanding our understanding of this celestial body.