After spending roughly two weeks in the Moon’s orbit, a privately built US spacecraft is now just hours away from attempting to land on the lunar surface —a feat only one other company has successfully accomplished in the history of spacelift.
The robotic lander, named ‘Blue Ghost’, is preparing for its descent, aiming to touch down on Moon at around 3:34 AM ET (2:04 PM IST) on Sunday.
“Blue Ghost is slated to touch down near Mare Crisium, in the northeast quadrant on the near side of the Moon, as part of NASA’s CLPS (Commercial Lunar Payload Services) initiative and Artemis campaign to establish a long-term lunar presence,” NASA said.
With a suite of @NASA science and technology on board, @Firefly_Space is targeting no earlier than 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2, to land the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon.
Live coverage will air on NASA+ around 75 minutes before touchdown >> https://t.co/7VZfUW0mjK pic.twitter.com/yqVe0OB48v
— NASA Marshall (@NASA_Marshall) February 28, 2025
Developed by Texas-based company Firefly Aerospace, the spacecraft aims to touchdown on the lunar surface near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the Moon’s northeastern near side, AFP reported.
In a post on X on Saturday, Firefly stated: “Blue Ghost is ready to take the wheel!” It further said that the flight controllers had initiated a key maneuver that is done to lower a spacecraft’s orbit.
The misison, nicknamed “Ghost Riders in the Sky”, comes almost a year after the first-ever commercial landing on Moon. It is a part of NASA’s partnership with the industry to cut down costs and back the Artemis, a program for returning astronauts to the Moon.
In February 2024, another Texas-based company, Intuitive Machines, scripted history after its Odysseus lander made a touchdown near the Moon’s south pole. Earlier this week, the company launched another lander into space, targeting a Moon landing on or around March 6.
When And Where To Watch Landing LIVE
NASA and Firefly have jointly hosted the live coverage of the landing. It will air on NASA+ starting 2:20 AM EST, around 75minutes before the touch down on the lunar surface.
“With a suite of @NASA science and technology on board, @Firefly_Space is targeting no earlier than 3:34 a.m. EST on Sunday, March 2, to land the Blue Ghost lunar lander on the Moon,” NASA stated in a post on X.
“Live coverage will air on NASA+ around 75 minutes before touchdown >> https://go.nasa.gov/3F10naM ,” it added.
The golden lander was launched on January 15 on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. It carries ten instruments, including a radiation-tolerant computer, lunar soil analyser, and an experiment testing whether the existing satellite navigation system could be used to navigate the Moon, AFP reported.
On February 24, Blue Ghost completed its third and final lunar orbit maneuver and performed a 16-second burn with its RCS thrusters to enter a near-circular low lunar orbit. Firefly Aerospace also shared a footage captured by Blue Ghost shortly after its second lunar orbit maneuver.
Earth rise, Earth set, repeat! Blue Ghost’s third and final lunar orbit maneuver is complete! Early this morning, our #GhostRiders performed a 16-second burn with our RCS thrusters to enter a near-circular low lunar orbit. Up next, we’ll perform a 19-second Descent Orbit… pic.twitter.com/B8ptv1D0yv
— Firefly Aerospace (@Firefly_Space) February 24, 2025
The spacecraft has been designed to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days) and is expected to capture high-definition images of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth will block the Sun from the Moon’s horizon.
It will then likely record a lunar sunset on March 16, providing insights into how dust elevates above the surface due to the solar influence, creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow, which was first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
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