Blue Ghost has landed on the moon. Watch the video!
Blue Ghost has landed on the moon
Firefly Aerospace reported early Sunday morning, March 2, 2025, that its Blue Ghost mission has landed on the moon’s surface. The touchdown took place early Sunday morning, March 2, at around 2:45 a.m. CST (8:45 UTC). The craft set down on the moon’s near side in the recognizable feature known as Mare Crisium, near an ancient volcano called Mons Latreille.
We have confirmation #BlueGhost stuck the landing! Firefly just became the first commercial company in history to achieve a fully successful Moon landing. This small step on the Moon represents a giant leap in commercial exploration. Congratulations to the entire Firefly team,…
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) March 2, 2025
Blue Ghost’s shadow seen on the Moon’s surface! We’ll continue to share images and updates throughout our surface operations. #BGM1 pic.twitter.com/iP7fWOSths
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) March 2, 2025
Blue Ghost is on the moon.
The lunar horizon, with Earth in view, seen from our lander's top deck:
— Michael Sheetz (@michaelsheetz.bsky.social) March 2, 2025 at 4:52 AM
Blue Ghost images and video
Look below for a replay of the landing.
We also have an exclusive preview of the Blue Ghost mission, obtained in an EarthSky livestream last week. It’s an interview with Firefly’s future systems architect Kevin Scholtes.
Below that, you’ll find a couple of beautiful videos showing Blue Ghost in orbit around the moon, with Earth in the distance.
Firefly Aerospace reported that Blue Ghost landed on the moon – in Mare Crisium – on Sunday, March 2, 2025. Watch a replay of the landing in the player above.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 lunar lander landed on the moon this morning at 2:45 CST (8:45 UTC). EarthSky got an exclusive insider look at the mission and the lander. On February 27, Firefly’s future systems architect Kevin Scholtes joined EarthSky’s Dave Adalian to give us a mission overview and landing preview! Watch the replay.
Credit: Firefly Aerospace
— EarthSky (@earthskyscience.bsky.social) February 25, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Blue Ghost captured the beautiful video above during one of its lunar orbits. Note the distant crescent Earth and the bright sun.
And here’s another video of Blue Ghost orbiting the moon. Firefly Aerospace released this one on February 26, 2025.
Blue Ghost launched to the moon on January 15
At 6:11 UTC (1:11 a.m. EST) on January 15, 2025, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander launched successfully from Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Fired into orbit atop a Space X Falcon 9 rocket, the craft is headed for the moon, where it’s scheduled to land on March 2, 2025.
Firefly Aerospace is a private company near Austin, Texas, that NASA contracted to take science payloads to the moon. This is the first mission to the moon for the Blue Ghost lunar lander, and the company has dubbed the mission Ghost Riders in the Sky. The lander is aiming for Mare Crisium, a dark plain you can see with the unaided eye on the right edge of a rising full moon.
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How will Blue Ghost get to the moon?
The mission needed about 45 days to get to the moon. For the first 25 days, Blue Ghost orbited Earth. Then it headed toward the moon, which took approximately four days. It then orbited the moon for 16 days. During transit, it performed health checks and began some of its science experiments. The lander will then reach the surface, where it will operate for 14 days.
Remember that on the moon, it takes 14 Earth days to go from sunrise to sunset. And then another 14 Earth days from sunset to sunrise. So when night descends on the lander, Firefly expects it to operate for the first five-plus hours of darkness before its solar-powered batteries run out.
Science payloads
NASA has 10 science payloads onboard Blue Ghost. Some of the tasks Blue Ghost has on the lunar surface will be to take soil samples, drill below the surface and capture images of the lunar sunset. NASA will also be testing a computer designed to withstand high doses of radiation, measuring the solar wind’s interaction with Earth’s magnetosphere and analyzing the pesky lunar dust that adheres to everything, among other activities.
NASA wants to learn more about the lunar environment before the Artemis astronauts make their first landing on the moon.
That mission, Artemis 3, is currently scheduled for 2027.
Bottom line: Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost spacecraft has landed on the moon. The landing took place early Sunday morning, March 2. Videos and more here.
