Two lunar landings in a week for NASA’s private moon fleet
More than fifty years passed between the last Apollo mission and the United States’ return to the lunar surface, when the first-ever private lander touched down last February.
Now, starting Sunday, two more missions are set to follow within a single week, marking a bold push by NASA and its industry partners to make moon landings a routine part of space exploration.
Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost Mission 1, nicknamed ‘Ghost Riders in the Sky,’ successfully landed near Mons Latreille, a volcanic feature in Mare Crisium on the moon’s northeastern near side, at 3:34 am US Eastern time (0834 GMT) after a 45-day journey.
During its journey, it captured stunning footage of the moon, coming as close as 60 miles (100 kilometers) above the surface before its successful landing.
The golden lander, about the size of a hippopotamus, carries ten instruments, including one to analyze lunar soil, another to test radiation-tolerant computing, and a GPS-based navigation system.
Now on the lunar surface, Blue Ghost is set to operate for a full lunar day (14 Earth days) and is expected to capture high-definition imagery of a total eclipse on March 14, when Earth blocks the sun from the moon’s horizon.
On March 16, it will record a lunar sunset, offering insights into how dust levitates above the surface under solar influence—creating the mysterious lunar horizon glow first documented by Apollo astronaut Eugene Cernan.
Hopping drone
Blue Ghost’s arrival will be followed on March 6 by Intuitive Machines’ IM-2 mission, featuring its lander, Athena.
Last year, Intuitive Machines made history as the first private company to achieve a soft landing on the moon, though the moment was tempered by a mishap.
Coming down too fast, one of the lander’s feet caught on the lunar surface, tipping it over and causing it to rest sideways—limiting its ability to generate solar power and cutting the mission short.
This time, the company says it has made key improvements to the hexagonal-shaped lander, which has a taller, slimmer profile than Blue Ghost, and is around the height of an adult giraffe.
Athena launched on Wednesday aboard a SpaceX rocket, taking a more direct route toward Mons Mouton—the southernmost lunar landing site ever attempted.
It carries an ambitious set of payloads, including a unique hopping drone designed to explore the moon’s underground passages carved by ancient lava flows, a drill capable of digging three feet beneath the surface in search of ice, and three rovers.
The largest, about the size of a beagle, will connect to the lander and hopper using a Nokia cellular network in a first-of-its-kind demonstration.
But “Grace,” the hopping drone—named after computing pioneer Grace Hopper—could well steal the show if it succeeds in showing it can navigate the moon’s treacherous terrain in ways no rover can.
