Firefly’s Blue Ghost lander successfully touched down on the moon

Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its Blue Ghost lunar lander on the moon, marking a significant achievement in the Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) program. The landing occurred in Mare Crisium, and the lander is upright and communicating with Earth. Unlike previous attempts, Blue Ghost achieved a successful, upright landing. The lander is carrying NASA instruments designed to operate for approximately 14 Earth days. Data collection includes high-definition images of a lunar eclipse and sunset. NASA is also testing surface drilling and sample collection technologies. The mission launched on January 15th and reached lunar orbit a month later. Firefly has already transmitted over 27 GB of data, surpassing previous CLPS missions in data volume. The company considers the most challenging phase of the mission complete.