February 19, 2026

Blue Ghost Mission 1

March 5, 2025
  • On March 2, 2025, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1 successfully landed near Mons Latreille in Mare Crisium.
  • It is the second private lunar landing and the first to land upright, highlighting NASA’s growing collaboration with private companies.
  • Launch & Payload
  1. Launched on January 15, 2025, aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
  2. The lander, roughly the size of a hippopotamus, carries ten scientific instruments, including a lunar soil analyzer and a radiation-tolerant computer.
  • Mission duration: one lunar day (14 Earth days).
  • Scientific Objectives
  1. Capture high-definition images of a total eclipse (March 14, 2025) and a lunar sunset (March 16, 2025).
  2. Study lunar dust behavior under solar radiation.
  • Upcoming Lunar Missions: Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 (March 6, 2025) will land Athena, carrying three rovers and a hopping drone for rugged terrain exploration.
  • Challenges of Lunar Landings
  1. No atmosphere means controlled thruster burns are required for descent.
  2. Success of Blue Ghost demonstrates feasibility for routine private lunar missions.
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